GREENVILLE, N.C. – No. 8 national seed East Carolina (45-19) will host its first-ever on-campus Super Regional when it takes on No. 9 Texas (45-19) Friday afternoon at Lewis Field inside Clark-LeClair Stadium.
First pitch of the weekend is slated for noon and will be televised on ESPN2.
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The Pirates, who will be making their 32nd NCAA Regional appearance, won their seventh regional over the weekend with a 13-4 victory against Coastal Carolina in the Greenville Regional Championship Game. ECU claimed their third-straight American regular season title on May 15 with a 6-2 series sweeping win over South Florida. ECU also won the 2022 American Baseball Championships on May 29 with a 6-1 victory over Houston and hosted a regional for the seventh time in program history and fourth consecutive year with a Top 16 overall seed with their No. 8 selection this season (No. 12 in 2018, No. 10 in 2019 and No. 13 in 2021).
Last Monday’s selection as the overall No. 8 National Seed marks just the second time in school history the Pirates received a top eight national selection following the 2001 club that garnered a No. 7 honor in Baton Rouge. It is also the ninth time in program history that ECU is the top seed in a regional (1999 – Baton Rouge, La., 2000 – Lafayette, La., 2001 – Wilson, N.C., 2004 – Kinston, N.C., 2009 – Greenville, N.C., 2018 – Greenville, N.C., 2019 – Greenville, N.C., 2021 – Greenville, N.C.).
INDIVIDUAL QUICK HITS (prior to super regional)
- C.J. Mayhue was tabbed as a preseason All-American (third-team) by NCBWA … Prior to the season opener, he earned inclusion on the NCBWA Stopper-of-the-Year Watch List for the second consecutive year … Named AAC Pitcher-of-the-Week and one of Collegiate Baseball’s National Player’s-of-the-Week (May 9) after tossing nine no-hit innings at Memphis (5/6) where he struck out nine, walked one and faced one over the minimum (28 batters) … Has appeared in 71 career games (60 relief) posting an 9-2 record with nine saves … Owns a 2.64 career ERA and has struck out 161 batters while walking 42 over 133.0 innings … Made first collegiate start vs. No. 22 NC State (3/29) allowing one run on two hits with four strikeouts in three innings … Named Second-Team All-AAC.
- Carter Spivey earned AAC Pitcher-of-the-Year honors, was named a Third-Team All-American by Collegiate Baseball (6/2) and All-Greenville Regional Team … Tossed a career-high 7.1 innings with seven punch outs at Tulane (4/23) earning AAC Pitcher-of-the-Week honors … Previous high was 4.2 innings in relief against No. 22 NC State (3/29) … Also worked 4.1 scoreless frames vs. No. 26 North Carolina (2/27) with a career-high seven strikeouts … In 31 outings, which included a start at Campbell, he is 7-0 with five saves … Currently he sports a 243 ERA with 75 strikeouts to 18 walks in 74.0 total frames … Named to NCBWA Stopper-of-the-Year Finalist (6/8).
- Garrett Saylor named Second-Team All-AAC … Named one of Collegiate Baseball’s National Players-of-the-Week (March 14) after appearing in four games during the Pirates 3-2 week, which included a series win over Saint Mary’s … Also named to AAC Honor Roll (March 14) … In 37 outings (two starts) he is 6-3 with five saves, 100 strikeouts and 23 walks in 71.1 innings … Stands third nationally in appearances.
- Lane Hoover leads the team and The American with a .343 average and was named First-Team All-AAC … Tallied at least one hit in 43 of last 54 games … At ECU, he has started 156 of 175 games posting a .320 batting average with a home run, 23 doubles, four triples and 72 RBI … Tallied seven career game-winning RBI (four in 2022) … Ranks first in AAC in toughest to strikeout (once every 12.8 ABs) … Named to AAC Honor Roll (April 4).
- Alec Makarewicz was named Second-Team All-AAC and was an AAC Honor Roll (March 7) … Third on the team in home runs (10) and in RBI (44) … Hit first grand slam of his career on April 16 in ECU’s eight-run fifth inning at UCF … Belted a pair of home runs in series opener at Cincinnati (April 1) – one each from the right and left side of the plate … Tied career-high with four RBI at Duke (March 1) and at UCF (April 16).
- Jacob Jenkins-Cowart shares the team lead in RBI (57) with Bryson Worrell … Named AAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player … All-Greenville Regional selection … Stands second in home runs (12), batting average (.326) and multi-RBI games (17) … Tallied career-high four hits at Memphis (5/8) … Registered first career multi-HR game at Tulane (4/23) … Fourth in multi-hit games (22) … Named to AAC Honor Roll (April 11) … Has six game-winning RBI (Saint Mary’s/March 11, Saint Mary’s/March 13, Wichita State/April 8, Duke/May 10, Campbell/May 17, Houston/May 29).
- Josh Moylan hit a pair of home runs and drove in four in ECU’s 4-1 week (3/22-27) and now has six on the year … Drew seven free passes during the Pirates 4-0 week (3/1-6) … He tallied four walks at Duke (3/1) … Tallied career-high four hits at Elon (4/12) … Has appeared in 115 career games (113 starts) and owns .268 career batting average with 12 home runs, five triples, 19 doubles and 64 RBI.
- Zach Agnos was named First-Team All-AAC marking the second-straight year with post-season honors … All-Greenville Regional Team … Tied for second on team with five game-winning RBI (two in LeClair Classic), while leading with 27 multi-hit games … Registered a career-high four RBI at Memphis (5/8) … Tallied a pair of four-hit games in AAC Championships (vs. USF and Cincinnati) … In his time at ECU, he has started all 142 games played where he is batting .293 with 13 home runs, 32 doubles and 9 RBI … Has appeared in 18 games on the mound (all relief) posting a 3-0 record with two saves in 2022.
- Ryder Giles earned First-Team All-AAC honors as a utility player … Has started 148 of 167 games played at shortstop before moving to the Friday night starters role to start conference play … Earned his sixth career save vs. Maryland … Has started 10 career games (one in 2019, nine in 2022) … Two-time AAC Honor Roll selection (March 28 & April 11) … Also used as a defensive replacement late in games with Agnos is on the mound.
- Bryson Worrell named Greenville Regional Most Outstanding Player after batting .438 (7-for-16) with four home runs, nine RBI and eight runs scored … Named Second-Team All-AAC honors, the second consecutive year with post-season honors … AAC All-Tournament Team … Two-time AAC Player-of-the-Week selection (April 18, May 21) … Started every game in center batting .324 with 18 home runs and 57 RBI … Belted a pair of home runs against Cincinnati (May 1) – one each from each side of the plate … Hit home runs from both sides of the plate in the same inning (third) against Coppin State (6/3/26) … Has started 165 of 220 games hitting at a .295 clip with 38 home runs (sixth most all-time at ECU) and 133 RBI … Has swiped 26 of 33 bases and owns a .982 career fielding percentage with nine outfield assists.
- Jake Kuchmaner has appeated in 12 games (10 starts), where he owns an 4-3 record with a 3.71 ERA where he has allowed 22 runs (18 earned) on 49 hits in 43.2 innings … Registered his second quality start of the season against Saint Mary’s (3/11) and has eight for his career … As a Pirate, he is 21-9 with a 3.90 career ERA over 59 appearances (47 starts – fifth all-time at ECU) … The lefty has worked 228.2 innings with 186 strikeouts to 62 walks … Named to AAC Honor Roll on April 18 after earning the series clinching win at UCF … A First-Team All-AAC selection in 2019, he tossed the 31st perfect game in NCAA DI history at Maryland on March 17 … Named Senior CLASS Award Finalist (May 5) and CoSIDA First-Team All-District 3 (May 12).
PROBABLE STARTERS (2022 stats)
Friday: LHP Pete Hansen (11-1, 3.08 ERA) vs. LHP C.J. Mayhue (5-1, 2.82 ERA)
Saturday: LHP Lucas Gordon (7-1, 2.36 ERA) vs. TBA
Sunday (if necessary): TBA vs. TBA
GODWIN AT A GLANCE (prior to super regional)
Cliff Godwin, who was named the 16th head coach in school history on June 25, 2014, was a four-year letterwinner for the Pirates from 1998-2001 … He has been a part of 13 NCAA Regional and two College World Series teams at the Division I level as an assistant coach and head coach … During his eight years at the helm of the program, Godwin has guided ECU to six NCAA Regional berths (2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022 Greenville Regional host), four Super Regional appearances, three American Athletic Conference Regular season and three AAC Tournament crowns while posting a 303-149-1 (.670) overall record … Seventeen players have earned All-America status, while 19 were NCAA All-Regional selections, 33 were named all-conference (26 first-teamers) and 14 were 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.
