No. 9 East Carolina Plays Host To Wichita State - East Carolina University Athletics (2024)

GREENVILLE, N.C. –No. 9 East Carolina spends another weekend on home soil as it welcomes Wichita State to Greenville and Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium for an American Athletic Conference series April 19-21. The Pirates and Shockers begin the set Friday at 6:00 p.m. and reconvene Saturday at 4:00 p.m. before closing out the series Sunday at 1:00 p.m.

As always, Scott Rogers and Dr. Gary Overton will handle the radio broadcast on 94.3 The Game. All three contests will also stream live via ESPN+.

ECU (28-8, 8-4 AAC), who is just one game back of UTSA for first place in the AAC standings, traveled to Williamsburg Tuesday for its final road midweek test of the season before a sellout crowd at Plumeri Park and picked up a 14-13 win over William & Mary that spanned 13 innings and lasted five and a half hours. The teams combined for 36 hits, six errors, 23 walks and 32 strikeouts in the marathon affair. Carter Cunningham tied career-high marks in hits (four) and at bats (seven) while Ryley Johnson, Jacob Jenkins-Cowart and Bristol Carter all enjoyed three-hit performances as Johnson finished with four runs scored and Jenkins-Cowart added four RBI to his ledger.

Freshman RHP Parker Thomas collected his first collegiate save, recording the final two outs, while Erik Ritchie (1-0) was the winning pitcher in his first decision of the campaign after tossing one complete frame.

East Carolina enters the weekend leading the AAC in earned run average (3.55), opposing batting average (.210), batter struck out (396), fewest hits allowed (246), fewest runs allowed (146) and fewest earned runs allowed (127). The Pirates also top the circuit in fielding percentage (.978) and slot second in team batting average (.303).

The ECU pitching staff continues to rank among the best in NCAA Division I, checking in at fourth nationally in WHIP (1.19), fifth in fewest hits allowed per nine innings (6.88), sixth in ERA, seventh in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.91) and 10th in strikeouts per nine innings (11.1). Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkman leads the country in ERA (0.86) and is sixth in strikeouts per nine innings (15.21) while scheduled Friday starter Trey Yesavage is fourth in WHIP (0.83), fifth in strikeouts (86), eighth in ERA and 12th in strikeouts per nine innings (14.25).

On the offensive end, Cunningham ranks 28th nationally in batting average (.408) while also pacing the league in slugging percentage (.697), on base percentage (.489), runs scored (45) and RBI (43).

The Pirates have played well inside the friendly confines of Clark-LeClair Stadium this campaign, racking up a 17-2 record with series sweeps of Rider, Columbia and UAB as well as wins over then No. 15 North Carolina and Purdue.

Projected Weekend Pitching Matchups
Friday: RHP Trey Yesavage (7-1, 1.66 ERA, 54.1 IP) vs. LHP Caden Favors (5-3, 3.50 ERA, 61.2 IP)
Saturday: LHP Zach Root (5-0, 2.41 ERA, 52.1 IP) vs. TBA
Sunday: TBA vs. RHP Tommy LaPour (3-1, 3.57 ERA, 40.1 IP)

About Wichita State
The Shockers (21-17, 7-5 AAC) are just one game behind East Carolina in the conference standings after taking two of three from Florida Atlantic at home last weekend. Wichita State fell to visiting Oral Roberts 8-3 in a non-conference contest Wednesday before starting its trek to Greenville. The Shockers own the second-best statistical pitching staff in the league, boasting a 4.40 team ERA with 345 strikeouts and 173 walks in 331.1 innings of work. Camden Johnson paces a Wichita State offense that is hitting a collective .290 with his .333 batting average while Derek Williams tops the club with nine home runs to go along with 30 RBI.

The Wichita State Series
Wichita State leads the all-time series with East Carolina 11-8 after sweeping the Pirates at Eck Stadium last season. ECU picked up a series win over the Shockers the last time Wichita State visited Greenville in April of 2022.

Individual Notables
Head Coach Cliff Godwin: Owns 379 career victories and is second on the East Carolina career coaching wins list ... Has been part of 14 NCAA Regional and two College World Series teams at the Division I level as an assistant coach and head coach … Guided ECU to seven NCAA Regional berths (2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022 Greenville Regional host), four Super Regional appearances, four-straight American Athletic Conference regular season titles and three AAC Tournament crowns while posting a 351-170-1 (.673) overall record … Under Godwin's direction, 13 players have earned All-America status, 18 have been NCAA All-Regional selections, 40 have been named all-conference (25 first teamers) and 22 have been drafted by Major League Baseball teams … A four-time AAC Coach-of-the-Year selection (2015, 2019, 2021, 2022), Godwin was inducted into the George Whitfield Hall of Fame in January of 2016 … In 2018, he completed a summer stint on the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team staff that posted a 12-3 record that included series wins over Chinese Taipei, Japan and Cuba … As a player, he helped former ECU skipper Keith LeClair's teams post a 169-76 four-year ledger, including 46-plus wins in each of his final three seasons (46-16 in '99, 46-18 in '00 and 47-13 in '01) … ECU won a pair of CAA Tournament titles and advanced to the NCAA Regionals every season from 1999 to 2001 … The Pirates were the top seed in their regional all three years, including a No. 7 national seed in 2001 where they advanced to the Super Regional round before being eliminated by Tennessee.

Danny Beal: Leads the team in appearances (20) ... Tossed 3.2 scoreless innings and surrendered just one hit while racking up four strikeouts in the Liberty series, collecting his first win and second save of the campaign Saturday and Sunday respectively ... Earned the win in the series finale versus Columbia by tossing 2.1 scoreless relief innings ... Collected his third save of the season in the 14-10 victory at UTSA ... Credited with the win at NC State with 2.1 scoreless innings of relief ... Allowed just one earned run in three innings in the William & Mary contest.
Joey Berini: Has started all 36 games at shortstop ... Drove in a run in the 7-0 win over Rider (Feb. 17) ... Registered three RBI in the series opener against Columbia ... Clubbed his first home run of the season in the series finale at UTSA ... Legged out his second career triple and registered a pair of hits in the 7-4 win over UNCW ... Logged two hits in the series finale at Florida Atlantic.
Bristol Carter: Has started 27 games in left field and one in center ... Provided the walkoff single in the bottom of the ninth in ECU's 10-9 win over then No. 15 North Carolina that clinched the series in front of a record Clark-LeClair Stadium crowd of 6,017 ... Went 3-for-4 with two runs scored, a double, a triple and an RBI in the series opener at Liberty ... Notched two hits, two runs scored and two RBI in the series opener against Columbia ... Went 3-for-4 with two runs scored in the 14-10 victory at UTSA ... Logged two hits and drove in two runs in the Florida Atlantic series finale ... Posted a career-high three RBI in the win over Elon ... Produced a pair of multi-hit performances in the Charlotte series ... Clubbed a two-run home run in the top of the 13th at William & Mary as part of a three-hit performance.
Carter Cunningham: Named the AAC Player of the Week for the first time in his career on Feb. 26 ... Owns a current 11-game hitting streak ... Hit safely in the first 19 games of the season ... Leads the American Athletic Conference in batting average, slugging percentage, on base percentage, runs scored and RBI ... Has started 33 games at first base and three in left field ... Put together a 19-game hitting streak to start the season ... Paces the club with 14 multi-RBI performances and slots second in in multi-hit efforts (16) ... Tallied a career-high four hits in the 7-4 win over then No. 15 North Carolina in Fayetteville ... Went 3-for-5 with three runs scored, four RBI and two home runs versus Southeastern Louisiana ... Collected a career-high five RBI in the series opener at Liberty ... Recorded two hits and scored three runs in the victory at UNCW ... Exploded for three hits, three runs scored and two RBI at NC State ... Turned in a three-hit performance in the Florida Atlantic series finale ... Matched career-high marks in at bats (7) and hits (4) in the contest at William & Mary.
Jake Hunter: Collected his first win of the season on the mound in East Carolina's 7-0 victory over Rider, tossing five scoreless innings and allowing just one hit while striking out six batters ... Tossed 5.1 solid frames in a no decision against then No. 15 North Carolina, surrendering just one run on one hit with six strikeouts ... Picked up his first save of the season with two scoreless innings against UAB ... Threw 4.1 hitless innings to secure the win in the Florida Atlantic series finale ... Registered five strikeouts in 1.2 innings at William & Mary.
Jacob Jenkins-Cowart: Has started all 36 games at right field ... Leads the club in multi-hit performances (18) and is second in multi-RBI efforts (11) ... Named the AAC Player of the Week for the first time in his career on Feb. 19 ... Hit .500 (6-for-12) with six runs scored, five RBI, three doubles, two home runs and a pair of stolen bases in the Rider series ... Posted at least two hits in every game of the series with then No. 15 North Carolina, rapping out three hits and driving in two runs in Sunday's 10-9 walkoff victory ... Went 2-for-4 with two runs scored, three RBI and a home run at Old Dominion ... Logged three hits and drove in three runs against Southeastern Louisiana ... Recorded five hits, four runs scored and five RBI in the Columbia series ... Notched two hits and drew two walks in the 12-4 win at NC State ... Drove in three runs in the Florida Atlantic series opener ... Registered two hits, three runs scored and three RBI in the win over Old Dominion ... Tallied three RBI in the 5-1 win over Charlotte ... Posted three hits and four RBI at William & Mary.
Ryley Johnson: Named the AAC Player of the Week for the first time in his career April 15 ... Has started 34 games at center field and has hit leadoff in all but two contests ... Has reached base safely in every game this season ... Paces the club and American Athletic Conference with 16 stolen bases in 19 attempts ... Tallied a pair of multi-hit efforts in the series with then No. 15 North Carolina ... Clubbed a pair of home runs and stole three bases in the Columbia series ... Scored three runs in the Florida Atlantic series opener ... Went 3-for-4 with two runs scored in the 5-1 win over Charlotte ... Posted three hits and scored four runs at William & Mary.
Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkman: Leads the nation with a 0.86 earned run average ... Paces the squad with five saves ... Slots third on the team in strikeouts (65) ... Is second on the club in appearances (17) ... Has surrendered just two earned runs in his last 33.2 innings of work ... Notched a seven strikeouts in three innings at Campbell before tallying seven more in four scoreless innings versus Purdue ... Logged 3.1 scoreless frames in the Liberty series, racking up seven strikeouts against one walk and earning his first save of the campaign in the weekend finale ... Recorded five strikeouts in two innings at UNCW ... Picked up the win in relief at UTSA via 2.2 scoreless innings ... Threw three scoreless innings with four strikeouts to notch the victory in the 7-4 win over UNCW ... Tallied a win and a save in the UAB series ... Allowed just one earned run and registered seven strikeouts over five innings to record two saves in the Florida Atlantic series ... Collected a career-high eight strikeouts in a four-inning save versus Charlotte ... Struck out six over three innings at William & Mary while allowing just an unearned run.
Ryan McCrystal: Has made 10 starts at catcher and 17 at designated hitter … Registered two hits (including a home run), a run scored and RBI in the series opener at Liberty … Posted multiple hits in four straight games from March 22-26 … Notched three hits in the series opener at UTSA.
Ethan Norby: Is holding opposing hitters to a .195 batting average over 21 innings pitched and nine appearances (four starts) ... Struck out six and did not allow a hit in 4.0 scoreless and hitless innings in the UAB series finale ... Became the first Pirate pitcher to register double-digit strikeouts in a relief appearance since Jake Agnos tallied 11 in a 5-4 victory over Western Carolina March 3, 2017.
Zach Root: Tabbed to the Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watchlist ... Named the AAC Pitcher of the Week for the first time in his career on Feb. 26 ... Collected his first win of the season on the mound Saturday in East Carolina's 7-0 victory over Rider, tossing 4.2 scoreless innings and notching seven strikeouts ... Was masterful in the middle contest of the series with then No. 15 North Carolina, throwing a career-best seven scoreless innings while matching his career high in strikeouts (seven) against no walks ... Turned in another quality start against Cal State Fullerton, surrendering just one run over seven innings while striking out a career-high 10 batters against one walk ... Tossed six scoreless innings with eight strikeouts in a win over Columbia ... Limited Charlotte to one run in five innings of work to claim his fifth win of the season against no losses.
Jacob Starling: Currently sidelined with an oblique injury ... Has started 27 games at second base ... Posted three hits, five runs scored, three RBI and two home runs in the Rider series ... Drove in a run and drew two walks at Campbell ... Notched a career-high four hits in the 7-4 win over then No. 15 North Carolina in Fayetteville ... Logged three RBI in the series finale at Liberty ... Went 2-for-3 with two runs scored at UNCW ... Registered two hits, two RBI and two runs scored in the win at NC State.
Colby Wallace: Has started eight-straight games at third base ... Logged three hits in the win over Cal State Fullerton in his first collegiate start (designated hitter) ... Posted three hits and two runs scored in the Charlotte series finale.
Justin Wilcoxen: Has started 27 games at catcher and eight at designated hitter ... Notched a pair of hits and drove in a run at Campbell ... Tallied two hits and an RBI in the 7-4 win over then No. 15 North Carolina in Fayetteville ... Registered three hits, three runs scored, two RBI and two home runs versus Southeastern Louisiana - his first career multi-home run effort ... Tied his career high with four hits at UNCW ... Logged three hits and four RBI in the Columbia series finale ... Notched a pair of hits and scored two runs in the win at NC State.
Dixon Williams: Has started 27 games at third base and eight at second base ... Hit .375 (3-for-8) during the Rider series while scoring three runs and compiling four RBI ... Has drawn a team-best nine walks ... Drove in a pair of runs in the season-opening 16-2 victory ... Notched two hits and scored two runs at Campbell ... Clubbed his first career home run against Purdue ... Tallied a career-high three RBI in the 8-0 win over Columbia ... Went 2-for-4 with two RBI in the win at NC State ... Went 2-for-2 with two runs scored and three RBI in the run-rule win over Charlotte.
Trey Yesavage: Tabbed to the Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List ... Named the American Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week April 8th and 15th ... Leads the league in strikeouts and opposing batting average ... Has posted five double-digit strikeout efforts this campaign ... Was dominant in the series opener at then No. 15 North Carolina, giving up just one earned run and striking out 11 batters against one walk in six innings pitched ... Went a career-long eight scoreless innings in the win over Purdue, fanning 11 hitters and scattering two hits ... Struck out nine over six innings while allowing just one run in the series opener at Liberty ... Struck out 10 batters and allowed just one earned run in six innings versus Columbia ... Tossed seven scoreless frames and struck out 11 in the series opener at Florida Atlantic ... Combined with Jackson DiLorenzo to throw a no hitter in the run-rule victory over Charlotte, striking out 12 batters over six innings.

Looking Ahead: East Carolina wraps up its season series with NC State Tuesday, April 23, hosting the Wolfpack at Clark-LeClair Stadium in a 6 p.m. first pitch.