TOURNAMENT TIME: Pirates set sights on AAC title
Published 5:09 pm Tuesday, May 24, 2016
- MICHAEL PRUNKA | DAILY NEWS HEAVY HAMMER: Eric Tyler makes contact with the ball and takes off for first in a game earlier in the season. Tyler leads the Pirates with 33 RBI and is one of five players to have batted in at least 25 runs.
GREENVILLE — The East Carolina baseball team rolled through its final regular season series against Central Florida with a sweep to earn the No. 2 seed in the American Athletic Conference Tournament.
Tulane took two-of-three from Houston in its final series to finish first in the conference at 15-7 in AAC play while ECU finished just behind at 15-8-1. The Pirates will kick off the AAC tournament Wednesday at 11 a.m. against South Florida in Clearwater, Florida.
The double-elimination tournament kicked off Tuesday with matchups between Houston and Cincinnati along with Central Florida and Tulane. Memphis and Connecticut will play their first-round matchup following the conclusion of ECU and USF’s game.
The tournament will run through Sunday with a single championship game to be played at noon and broadcasted on ESPN. The tournament can also be watched on The American Digital Network and CBS Sports.
Despite USF’s low ranking in the conference, the Bulls handled the Pirates easily in a three-game set in Greenville two weekends ago. Starting pitcher and All-AAC First-Team member Evan Kruczynski had one of his worst outings of the season in the Friday matchup, but a nine-run sixth inning gave the Pirates the win nonetheless.
Jimmy Boyd worked into the ninth inning in the middle game of the series and let a tie game slip away as the Bulls posted a four-run ninth to earn the win.
The Bulls clinched the series as Jacob Wolfe struggled in his start, despite entering the third inning with 5-3 lead. The ECU offense could not gain any momentum after its five-run frame and couldn’t pull out the victory.
Kruczynski will get another shot at the USF lineup today as the junior southpaw will start on the mound in ECU’s first game of the tournament. The Pirates will be without senior reliever and midweek starter Nick Durazo, who, according to head coach Cliff Godwin, is no longer with the program.
ECU will lean on Dwanya Williams-Sutton offensively as the freshman led the conference in batting average at .372 with five home runs. He also led the AAC in slugging percentage and on base percentage. He is the first Pirate to lead the conference in batting since Brian Cavanaugh in 2005.
Defensively, as always, Travis Watkins will be critical behind the plate. He earned All-AAC Second Team honors Monday afternoon and was second on the team in average at .315 while finishing tied for second on the team in RBI with 31.
Last Saturday, the Pirates wrapped up a series sweep with an 8-7 win over UCF while Joe Ingle was pushed to the edge of destruction in the ninth. The sophomore allowed six ninth-inning runs while walking three batters and allowing six hits. Ultimately, after walking the bases loaded with two outs, Ingle got Sam Tolleson to strike out swinging to end the game.
Friday, Jimmy Boyd went seven strong innings and allowed just five hits and an unearned run as the ECU offense went to work against the Knights. In the third inning, Williams-Sutton knocked a two-RBI triple, and that would be enough offense to get ECU through the game. Kirk Morgan had a pinch-hit, bases-clearing, three-RBI double in the eighth inning as the Pirates won 7-1.
Kruczynski got back on track with a win in the first game of the series. He conceded just one run in the first eight innings. He entered the ninth around 100 pitches, got the first out of the frame and allowed a double followed by a two-run homer. Godwin turned to Ingle, who faced four batters and got out of the game with a 5-3 win. Ingle earned his 12th save of the season and the Pirates finished the regular season at 32-19-1.
With the conference tournament still ahead, Baseball America has projected ECU as a No. 2 seed in a Raleigh Regional, hosted by NC State.