By By KEVIN TRAVIS, Sports Editor
GREENVILLE — Another strong group comprises the 7th annual Keith LeClair Classic, which begins today at Clark-LeClair Stadium.
East Carolina head coach Billy Godwin always wants to make sure his players understand the significance of the tournament. The tournament is named in honor of LeClair, a coaching great with the Pirates.
LeClair, who wore No. 23 for the Pirates, lost a courageous battle against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly referred to as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
“We work very hard in our program to make our players understand the importance of what coach LeClair did here,” Godwin said. “I mean, his name is on the stadium. He meant a lot to Pirate baseball. This is just a way to reflect and honor a great man and the great things he did here at East Carolina.
“It starts with the number 23 and how we promote that within our program. It’s the greatest honor for an East Carolina baseball player to get.”
The No. 11 Pirates (4-3) will play Illinois today at 5 p.m., West Virginia Saturday at 3 p.m. and Western Carolina Sunday at 2 p.m.
Sophomore southpaw Kevin Brandt, ECU’s Saturday starter the first two weeks of the season, gets the start today. Brandt, 1-0 with a 2.03 ERA, surrendered just three earned runs against a pair of Top 10 teams — Virginia and South Carolina — in his first two starts this season.
He has fanned 10 batters in 13 1/3 innings of work.
Brandt will face an Illinois (1-2) team that is hitting .287 collectively. Matt Dittman is hitting .667 (6 for 9) and Brandon Hohl is hitting .500 (5 for 10).
Right hander Will Strack (1-0) will get the start of the Illini.
He faces a Pirates team that is hitting .301. Dustin Harrington leads ECU with a .393 batting average while also clubbing one homer and driving in four. Trent Whitehead, a former star at Washington High School, is hitting .346 with five RBIs.
Corey Thompson, who is hitting .333 with a home run, leads the team with seven RBIs. John Wooten leads ECU with three homers while adding six RBIs and a .318 batting average.
Other top hitters for ECU are Cameron Freeman (.333), Austin Homan (.318) and Kyle Roller (.292, two homers, six RBIs).
Brad Mincey (1-1, 5.59 ERA) will start for the Pirates against the Mountaineers (2-5), who are hitting .266 as a team. West Virginia has not announced a starter as of yet.
Mincey bounced back from a disastrous start against Virginia to earn the win in a solid performance last week against South Carolina.
Matt Frazer leads West Virginia with a .450 batting average. Dom Hayes is hitting .429 while Jedd Gyorko is hitting .370 with a pair of homers and six RBIs.
Seth Maness (0-2, 6.30 ERA) gets the nod Sunday against the Catamounts (6-1). Lefty Vance Chavis (2-0, 3.00 ERA) will start for Western Carolina.
The Catamounts are hitting .328 as a team. Cameron Dullnig is hitting .435. Tyler Kirkpatrick has three homers and seven RBIs to go with a .419 average. Ollie Goulder is hitting .417 with two homers and seven RBIs. Tyler White has a pair of homers and eight RBIs while hitting .400. Austin Schultz has three homers and eight RBIs while hitting .280.
Keith LeClair Classic
Friday’s Games
1 p.m. – Western Carolina vs. West Virginia
5 p.m. – ECU vs. Illinois
Saturday’s Games
11 a.m. – Illinois vs. Western Carolina
3 p.m. – ECU vs. West Virginia
Sunday’s Games
10 a.m. – West Virginia vs. Illinois
2 p.m. – ECU vs. Western Carolina