CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Friday at 6 p.m., East Carolina baseball will kick off its appearance in the Charlottesville Regional against Northeast Conference champions Bryant.

The Bulldogs (47-10, 26-4 NEC) boast one of the top sophomore pitchers in the country in James Karinchak. The righty threw 88 1/3 innings over the season and posted a 2.04 ERA with 104 strikeouts. His season landed him a Louisville Slugger All-America selection and the first start of the regional for Bryant.

ECU (34-21-1, 15-8-1 American Athletic Conference) ace Evan Kruczynski said he didn’t know much about Bryant Tuesday afternoon, but he was more focused on himself and his execution.

“I’ve heard (Karinchak’s) a really good pitcher so I know I’ll have to go out and throw up zeros,” Kruczynski said. “But that’s been my job all year and it’s my job every Friday night no matter who their pitcher is. I’m just going to focus on what I have to do, focus on the process and stick to it, and most of the time good things will happen.”

Bryant doesn’t have the big-name appeal of most No. 2 seeds in regional play, but the Bulldogs still pose a major threat. The team from Smithfield, Rhode Island has won three of the last four NEC championships and has built a northeast powerhouse since joining the Division I ranks in the 2009 season.

ECU head coach Cliff Godwin is not ready to let his team overlook its opponent heading into the first-round matchup.

“Tell them to just go Google their stats,” Godwin said. “Their stats are better than ours. They hit better than us; they pitch a little bit better than us; they’ve hit more home runs than us. Their stats are better than ours, so at the end of the day, we’re just going to have to go out and play our best baseball.”

At the plate, Bryant senior first baseman Robby Rinn struck out just 16 times in his 225 at bats on the season and batted .378. His 61 RBI led the team and 24 doubles were good for third in the nation. Bryant holds the NCAA’s fourth-highest team batting average at .323, only behind UNC-Greensboro, BYU and Air Force.

As is always important in college baseball, depth pitching will be at the forefront headed into the weekend. Top ECU reliever and closer Joe Ingle struggled down the stretch, lost his control and failed to close out games in the conference tournament. He said he has located and corrected his mistakes in the week off since his last outing.

“There were a couple mental things, but it’s all good now,” Ingle said. “Coach believes in me; everyone believes in me. I’ve just got to throw strikes and I can be successful. (My pitches were) up and out; honestly, I just left some pitches up. I’ve made that adjustment and everything will be all right.”

Keeping the bullpen arms fresh will be important this weekend and Godwin pointed to the pair of freshmen bullpen pitchers to help hold down the fort. Sam Lanier and Matt Bridges have pitched impressively throughout the season. Godwin said Lanier could start a fourth game in the regional if it is necessary and he did not have many innings under his belt over the weekend.

The Pirates are riding a four-game post-season losing streak since winning the 2015 AAC tournament while Bryant is rolling into the regional on a 10-game winning streak.