April 19, 2010

GREENVILLE, N.C. - No. 26 East Carolina's Conference USA series sweep of UAB capped of a perfect 4-0 week and extended its current winning streak to six games. The Pirates (24-12, 6-3) moved into a share of first place with Rice in the league standings setting up a C-USA Showdown this weekend in Houston. Saturday's game will be televised on CBS College Sports at 3 p.m. (EDT).

Apr. 19 East Carolina Baseball Notebook

National Rankings: (as of April 12, 2010)
No. 26 - NCBW
RV - ESPN/USA Today
NR - Ping!Baseball
NR - Rivals.com
NR - Baseball America

Current Streak: W-6

Last Week: 4-0
Apr. 13 Win vs. Campbell (6-3)
Apr. 16 Win vs. UAB (6-3)
Apr. 17 Win vs. UAB (12-7)
Apr. 18 Win vs. UAB (6-5 in 12 inn.)

Upcoming Week:
Road vs. Campbell (Apr. 20)
Home vs. N.C. State (Apr. 21)
Road vs. Rice (Apr. 23-25)

Pirate Hitter-of-the-Week
Kyle Roller, 1B/DH, Senior
Roller batted .400 (6-for-15) with five RBI and six runs, including the game-winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning to help ECU to a series sweep over UAB ... Registered three doubles ... Walked four time and was hit by a pitch ... Smacked eighth home of the season and 47th of his career in game two of the C-USA series ... Collected a pair of multi-hit games on the week ... Tied his season-high with four RBI in game two against UAB ... Scored multiple runs in two games ... Roped a pair of doubles in midweek action against Campbell and one in the series finale to push his season total to 15 ... Swiped seventh stolen base of the season on Sunday ... Has reached base safely in all 35 games played this season ... Moved into a tie for second place on the school's all-time HR list (47) and a tie for 10th place on C-USA's all-time charts ... Ranks third all-time on ECU's charts with 194 RBI ... Leads the Pirates with 39 RBI, total bases (82), doubles (15) and on-base percentage (.554), while ranking second in average (.368), home runs (8), runs (35) and slugging percentage (.701).

Pirate Pitcher-of-the-Week
Zach Woods, RHP, Junior
Woods picked up his first career win in C-USA action against UAB ... He struck out seven batters in 6.1 innings ... Allowed two runs (one earned) on six hits ... Walked two (one IBB) ... Posted a 1.42 ERA in his outing ... Fanned at least one batter n 4 of 6 innings, two batters in two innings and the side in the fourth frame ... From the second to sixth frames, allowed just two hits and three runners to reach base ... Registered fourth quality start (6.0-plus IP, 3 or less ER) of the season ... Has struck out seven or more batters in 5 of 13 appearances (4 of 7 starts) ... Improved overall record to 5-1 ... Currently boasts a 2.96 ERA in 51.2 innings pitched ... Leads the staff with 64 punch outs, while walking just 11 ... Opposing hitters are batting .237 against him.

PIRATE NOTES:
Junior Seth Maness recorded his seventh-straight win as a starter in the Pirates 12-7 win over UAB in game two of the three game C-USA series ... He worked seven innings allowing six runs (three earned) on nine hits with six strikeouts and one walks ... With the win he improved to 25-7 all-time at ECU (t-10th) and 15-1 all-time against C-USA teams (regular season) in 19 starts ... Moved into a share of ninth place on C-USA's all-time wins list ... Currently leads ECU and C-USA with seven victories ... Fanned 56 batters in 57.1 innings while walking just 10.

Trent Whitehead batted .421 (8-for-19) with two doubles, three runs and an RBI ... Collected at least one hit in all four games including a pair of multi-hit games against UAB ... Was 4-for-5 with two runs scored in game two of the UAB series ... Robbed a pair of home runs on the week (four in all this season) ... Swiped one base and drew a pair of walks ... Raised his batting average 16 points over the week to .331, which is fifth on the team.

Junior Devin Harris led the club with a .429 (6-for14) average over the week ... Laced three doubles, tying him with Roller for the team lead, scored three runs and drove in three ... Extended his current hit streak to five games with his single up the middle against UAB in the second inning ... Recorded a pair of multi-hit games against UAB ... Scored a run in all three games of the C-USA series ... Drove in at least one run in the first two games against the Blazers ... Drew two walks and swiped his third base of the season ... Currently is batting .344 (42-for-122) which ranks third on the team ... Tied for second on the squad with eight home runs (Roller).

Austin Homan led the team with six RBI, which included a career-best five in the series clinching win over UAB ... He was 3-for-5 at the plate with a pair of singles and a double ... Drove in at least one run in first four at-bats ... Finished the week batting .364 (4-for-11) with two starts ... All six RBI were against UAB.

Jared Avchen (7) and John Wooten (6) extended their hit streaks over the weekend ... Avchen kept his going when he smacked his third home run of the season in the sixth frame against the Blazers on Sunday ... In the series finale against UAB, Wooten was 2-for-6 with a pair of singles, which included the game-winning hit in the bottom of the 12th.

ECU's bullpen was dominate on the week working 13 innings where they allowed three runs (one earned) on nine hits with 11 punch outs ... Shawn Armstrong (4.0 IP) and Mike Wright (3.0 IP) gave up a run each, both unearned, and posted a 0.00 ERA ... Seth Simmons notched his C-USA leading seventh save against Campbell (18th career) and second win of the year versus UAB ... The right-hander pitched 5.2 innings of relief on the week, including a perfect 3.2 innings with one strikeout against the Blazers in the series finale ... Freshman Jake Harris fanned the lone batter he faced in game three of the weekend series.

Kevin Brandt had another quality outing in his Sunday start against UAB ... The sophomore went seven innings allowing four runs (three earned) on seven hits with six strikeouts and two walks ... He faced one over the minimum through four innings - allowing a single in the fourth ... Retired the first 11 batters faced and 14 of the first 15 ... It was Brandt's seventh quality start of the year ... Currently ranks fourth in C-USA with a 3.36 ERA and 60 strikeouts.

Head Coach Billy Godwin recorded his 185th win as the Pirates' skipper Sunday and picked up career win No. 448 ... With the thrilling 6-5 win over UAB in 12 innings, Godwin moved into a tie for third place on the school's all-time wins list with ECU Hall of Famer Earl Smith ... He is 28 wins away from passing another ECU Hall of Famer, Dr. Gary Overton, for second place all-time.