By By KEVIN TRAVIS, Sports Editor
GREENVILLE — The East Carolina Pirates wrap up regular season play with a three-game series at UAB.
Coach Billy Godwin’s Pirates (35-18, 13-7) will look to remain in second place in the Conference USA standings. The series against UAB (23-30, 10-11), which begins today and concludes Saturday, will determine the seedings for the upcoming C-USA Tournament, which will be held May 23-27 at Clark-LeClair Stadium.
Game times at Young Memorial Field are set for 8 p.m. today, 8 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday.
The Pirates are 11-1 all-time against the Blazers.
T.J. Hose will start for the Pirates in tonight’s series opener. The junior is 6-4 with a 3.76 ERA. Hose has fanned 63 and walked 38 in 81 1/3 innings.
Dustin Sasser will get the call for Friday’s game. The junior has a 5-3 record with a 3.54 ERA. The lefty has struck out 56 and walked 38 in 76 1/3 innings.
Josh Dowdy will get the ball for Saturday’s finale. The sophomore is 3-1 with a 2.81 ERA. Dowdy has fanned 29 and walked 11 in 57 2/3 innings.
The Pirates are hitting .288 with 60 homers and 311 RBIs. Freshman designated hitter Kyle Roller shares the team lead with injured shortstop Dale Mollenhauer for the team-lead with a .329 batting average. Roller has nine home runs, which is second on the team, and 27 RBIs.
Other top hitters for ECU are Ryan Wood (.319, five homers, 21 RBIs), Stephen Batts (.317, five homers, 46 RBIs), Ryan Tousley (.311, 10 homers, 48 RBIs), Drew Schieber (.309, five homers, 16 RBIs) and Harrison Eldridge (.297, five homers, 23 RBIs).
The Blazers, fresh off a sweep of Marshall, are hitting .297 with 23 homers and 309 RBIs. J.R. Bond leads the club with a .362 average to go with four homers and 43 RBIs.
Other top hitters for UAB are Ryan Keedy (.341, four homers, 31 RBIs), Phil Bell (.330, three homers, 34 RBIs), Ryne Lovdahl (.328, five homers, 45 RBIs) and Levi Patmon (.309).
CONFERENCE USA
Team Conf. All
Rice 19-2 42-11
East Carolina 13-7 35-18
Houston 12-9 28-23
Memphis 12-9 33-20
Southern Miss 11-10 34-19
UAB 10-11 23-30
Tulane 9-15 30-23
UCF 5-16 24-29
Marshall 4-16 20-30
ATLANTIC COAST
Atlantic Division
Team Conf. All
Florida State 21-6 43-9
Clemson 17-10 35-18
N.C. State 14-13 34-18
Wake Forest 12-15 29-24
Boston College 12-15 24-25
Maryland 7-20 26-27
Coastal Division
Team Conf. All
North Carolina 18-9 42-11
Virginia 17-9 39-13
Georgia Tech 15-11 31-20
Miami 14-13 32-20
Duke 8-19 29-22
Virginia Tech 6-21 22-29