By By KEVIN TRAVIS, Sports Editor
GREENVILLE — The No. 20 East Carolina Pirates and UCLA Bruins are doing everything possible to get some games in this weekend.
Rain is in the forecast for the next few days. While the teams were scheduled to play single games Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the Pirates (10-2) and Bruins (3-11) will now play twice today. The first game at Clark-LeClair Stadium will begin at noon, with the second game to follow 45 minutes later.
The remainder of the schedule will be determined as the weekend progresses, based upon the weather.
While ECU is on a roll and UCLA has been struggling, senior third baseman Drew Schieber said the Pirates will have to be ready.
Seth Maness (1-0, 6.50 ERA) will get the start for ECU in today’s first game. Rob Rasmussen (1-0, 2.81 ERA), a sophomore lefty, will get the nod for the Bruins.
Chris Heston (2-0, 3.44 ERA) will start on the hill for the Pirates in the second game. UCLA will counter with Gerrit Cole (1-2, 2.40 ERA), a freshman right-hander.
The Pirates enter the series on a two-game winning streak. ECU is hitting .383 as a club. The team has collected double-digit hits in all 12 games this year.
Stephen Batts leads the way with a .510 average to go with a team-best three homers and 13 RBIs.
Other top hitters are Whitehead (.489, 7 RBIs), Jared Avchen (.352, 9 RBIs), Schieber (.413, 2 HRs, 11 RBIs), Ryan Wood (.413, 2 HRs, 13 RBIs), Brandon Henderson (.395, 2 HRs, 17 RBIs), Dustin Harrington (.375, 1 HR, 7 RBIs), Kyle Roller (.318, 2 HRs, 14 RBIs) and Devin Harris (.310).
Several Pirates will look to extend lengthy hitting streaks. Those with at least nine-game streaks are Harrington (16 games), Batts (14 games), Wood (10 games) and Whitehead.
The Bruins are hitting .277 as a team. Casey Haerther leads UCLA with a .393 average to go with a pair of homers and 10 RBIs.
Other top hitters include Justin Uribe (.371, 2 HRs, 8 RBIs), Eddie Murray (.368), Blair Dunlap (.352) and Gino Aielli (.304).
Individuals who purchased a Saturday or Sunday ticket may exchange it for a Friday ticket, use it for Game 3 versus UCLA, or exchange it for a ticket to a game later in the season (excluding N.C. State and UNC). The ticket office will open at 11 a.m. today at Clark-LeClair Stadium.