On the heels of Jay Cannon's walk-off home run in the
bottom of the ninth against Penn State on Friday, Mar. 16, the Pirates found
themselves once again in a dogfight with the Nittany Lions in game two of the
three game series at Lewis Field inside Clark-LeClair Stadium.
Jeff Hoffman splashed onto the collegiate season as a
true freshman in 2012 where he posted a 3-2 record with a 3.67 ERA in 73.2
innings and 55 strikeouts on his way to Conference USA All-Freshman Team
honors.
If there was one pitcher on the team last year that just
had bad luck despite his pitching performances on the mound, senior Kevin
Brandt was that guy. The left-hander from Fuquay-Varina, N.C. tossed four
complete games to lead the club and Conference USA - all in losing efforts.
Though ECU claimed just one victory in the opening
Conference USA series against No. 19 UCF in late March, the Pirates shined in
their lone appearance on national television walking away with a 15-6 win at Jay
Bergman Field.
Every year before the start of the baseball season, one
player is chosen at the annual "Meet the Pirates" fan session to wear East
Carolina's honorary No. 23 jersey and on Jan. 28, senior Timothy Younger became
the ninth recipient to earn the highest honor in the baseball program.
Drew Reynolds had perhaps the best week of his young
career during the 2012 DRASH Alabama Classic helping the Pirates to
three wins and the tournament title.