The 2015 East Carolina Pirates baseball team represented East Carolina University during the 2015 NCAA Division I baseball season . The Pirates played their home games at Clark–LeClair Stadium as a member of the American Athletic Conference . They were led by head coach Cliff Godwin , in his first season at East Carolina.
Previous season
In 2014, the Pirates finished the season 7th in Conference USA with a record of 33–26, 16–14 in conference play. They qualified for the 2014 Conference USA baseball tournament , losing in the second round, but failed to qualify for the 2014 NCAA Division I baseball tournament .
Personnel
Roster
2015 East Carolina Pirates roster[ 2]
Pitchers
12 - David Kirkpatrick - Sophomore
17 - Brandon Taylor - Senior
18 - T.J. McDonald - Freshman
21 - David Lucroy - Junior
27 - Ross Gardner - Freshman
31 - Nick Durazo - Junior
32 - Reid Love - Senior
33 - Jacob Wolfe - Sophomore
34 - Mason Keen - Freshman
35 - Evan Kruczynski - Sophomore
36 - Joe Ingle - Freshman
37 - Luke Bolka - Sophomore
42 - Brandon Saunders - Sophomore
43 - Jimmy Boyd - Junior
44 - Evan Voliva - Freshman
Catchers
10 - Ryan Clinch - Freshman
19 - Travis Watkins - Sophomore
24 - Luke Lowery - Junior
25 - Eric Tyler - Sophomore
Infielders
3 - Charlie Yorgen - Sophomore
4 - Hunter Allen - Senior
5 - Jack Owens - Freshman
8 - Cameron Snow - Freshman
9 - Kirk Morgan - Sophomore
11 - Tyler Strawn - Junior
20 - Jackson Mims - Freshman
26 - Bryce Harman - Sophomore
Outfielders
2 - Garrett Brooks - Junior
7 - Bailey Sugg - Freshman
14 - Jeff Nelson - Junior
Coaching staff
Season
February
The Pirates opened their season on February 13 against Virginia , as part of a home-and-home series. The Pirates traveled to Charlottesville, Virginia , in 2014, and were swept in a three-game series. Once again, the Cavaliers swept the Pirates, this time over the first weekend of the 2015 season. The Pirates struggled offensively, and scored just five runs over the entire series. Josh Sborz collected two saves for Virginia.[ 3] The following Wednesday, the Pirates were scheduled to visit Old Dominion , but bad weather caused a postponement until April.[ 4] The following week, the Pirates' home game against the Monarchs on the 25th was also pushed until March 4.[ 5]
On the second weekend of the season, weather related issues caused a shakeup to the schedule of the annual Keith LeClair Classic hosted by ECU. All Friday games were cancelled, and Michigan , who was originally scheduled to participate (along with Liberty and St. John's ), was replaced by UNC Greensboro . East Carolina went 1–2 on the weekend, defeating St. John's and UNC Greensboro, but falling to Liberty, to win the classic for the third consecutive year.[ 6]
The Pirates closed the month of February (and opened the month of March in the finale) with a three-game series against Albany . Originally, ECU was scheduled to play in the annual Irish Classic in Cary, North Carolina , but it was cancelled due to weather. The Pirates swept the Great Danes over the three-game series, outscoring them by a cumulative score of 24–7.[ 7]
March
In the Pirates' first midweek game of March, they traveled to rival NC State and lost by a score of 0–7, extending their losing streak against the Wolfpack in Raleigh to five games.[ 8] The following day, the Pirates returned home and hosted Old Dominion in the makeup game of a February 25 postponement. In their 9–7 win, East Carolina broke a 5–5 deadlock with two runs in both the seventh and eight innings, and despite allowing a run in both the eight and ninth innings, held on for their sixth victory of the season.[ 9]
Doak Field , home field of NC State
In their first weekend series in March, the Pirates hosted Monmouth . After the game scheduled for Friday, March 6 was pushed back to Saturday, March 7, as part of a doubleheader, ECU swept the doubleheader against the Hawks, shutting out Monmouth in both games. In the first game of the doubleheader, a 2–0 victory, Evan Kruczynski threw a complete game, two hit shutout. In the second game of the doubleheader, the Pirates scored six runs in the first inning to coast to a 9–0 win. ECU completed the sweep with a 3–2 win on Sunday.[ 10]
In the second week of March, the Pirates opened with a pair of midweek games. They lost the first game to Campbell 4–9, before rebounding to defeat UNC Greensboro, 8–1. It was the Pirates' second win over UNC Greensboro on the season, after having defeated them on February 21.[ 11] Over the weekend of March 13, the Pirates traveled to Elon, North Carolina , to play a three-game series with Elon . For the second straight weekend, the Pirates picked up a three-game sweep, after sweeping Monmouth the previous weekend. East Carolina scored 41 runs in the series.[ 12]
The Pirates hosted Princeton , out of the Ivy League , for a two-game midweek series from March 17–18. The Pirates swept the Tigers over the two-game series to improve their record on the season to 15–6 and extended their winning streak to six games.[ 13] Following the midweek series against the Tigers, ECU hosted VCU , a traditional midweek opponent, for a three-game weekend series. The Pirates dropped both the first and last games of the series, dropping their first weekend series since opening weekend against Virginia.[ 14]
Schedule
Legend
East Carolina win
East Carolina loss
Postponement
Bold
East Carolina team member
2015 East Carolina Pirates baseball game log
Regular season
Date
Opponent
Rank
Site/stadium
Score
Win
Loss
Save
Attendance
Overall record
AAC Record
February 13
No. 3 Virginia
Clark–LeClair Stadium • Greenville, NC
L 1–3
Kirby (1–0)
Kruczynski (0–1)
Sborz (1)
2,541
0–1
–
February 14
No. 3 Virginia
Clark–LeClair Stadium • Greenville, NC
L 2–9
Jones (1–0)
Wolfe (0–1)
3,058
0–2
–
February 14
No. 3 Virginia
Clark–LeClair Stadium • Greenville, NC
L 2–4
Roberts (1–0)
Boyd (0–1)
Sborz (2)
3,058
0–3
–
February 18
at Old Dominion
Bud Metheny Baseball Complex • Norfolk, VA
Postponed Rescheduled for April 15
February 21
UNC Greensboro
Clark–LeClair Stadium • Greenville, NC
W 8–3
Kruczynski (1–1)
Clark (1–1)
2,207
1–3
–
February 22
Liberty
Clark–LeClair Stadium • Greenville, NC
L 3–4
Clowers (2–0)
Love (0–1)
2,207
1–4
–
February 22
St. John's
Clark–LeClair Stadium • Greenville, NC
W 9–2
Lucroy (1–0)
Magee (0–2)
2,142
2–4
–
February 25
Old Dominion
Clark–LeClair Stadium • Greenville, NC
Postponed Rescheduled for March 4
February 27
Albany
Clark–LeClair Stadium • Greenville, NC
W 5–1
Kruczynski (2–1)
Ryan (1–1)
Love (1)
482
3–4
–
February 28
Albany
Clark–LeClair Stadium • Greenville, NC
W 14–3
Boyd (1–1)
Sorgie (0–2)
587
4–4
–
Date
Opponent
Rank
Site/stadium
Score
Win
Loss
Save
Attendance
Overall record
AAC Record
March 1
Albany
Clark–LeClair Stadium • Greenville, NC
W 5–3
Morgan (1–0)
Woods (0–2)
Love (2)
422
5–4
–
March 3
at NC State
Doak Field • Raleigh, NC
L 0–7
Britt (1–0)
Boyd (1–2)
456
5–5
–
March 4
Old Dominion
Clark–LeClair Stadium • Greenville, NC
W 9–7
Morgan (2–0)
Bainbridge (0–1)
Ingle (1)
2,155
6–5
–
March 7
Monmouth
Clark–LeClair Stadium • Greenville, NC
W 2–0
Kruczynski (3–1)
McKenna (0–2)
2,263
7–5
–
March 7
Monmouth
Clark–LeClair Stadium • Greenville, NC
W 9–0
Wolfe (1–1)
Trimarco (0–2)
2,263
8–5
–
March 8
Monmouth
Clark–LeClair Stadium • Greenville, NC
W 3–2
Love (1–1)
Ciavarella (0–3)
2,226
9–5
–
March 10
Campbell
Clark–LeClair Stadium • Greenville, NC
L 4–9
Thompkins (3–0)
Boyd (1–3)
2,150
9–6
–
March 11
UNC Greensboro
Clark–LeClair Stadium • Greenville, NC
W 8–1
Morgan (3–0)
Betts (0–1)
1,928
10–6
–
March 13
at Elon
Walter C. Latham Park • Elon, NC
W 10–3
Kruczynski (4–1)
Harris (2–1)
161
11–6
–
March 14
at Elon
Walter C. Latham Park • Elon, NC
W 11–8
Love (2–1)
McGillicuddy (0–1)
318
12–6
–
March 15
at Elon
Walter C. Latham Park • Elon, NC
W 20–4
Lucroy (2–0)
Stalzer (1–3)
615
13–6
–
March 17
Princeton
Clark–LeClair Stadium • Greenville, NC
W 11–2
Boyd (2–3)
Donatiello (0–1)
2,239
14–6
–
March 18
Princeton
Clark–LeClair Stadium • Greenville, NC
W 8–3
Durazo (1–0)
Bodurian (0–1)
Love (3)
2,015
15–6
–
March 20
VCU
Clark–LeClair Stadium • Greenville, NC
L 3–4
Lees (3–0)
Boyd (2–4)
Concepcion (3)
2,069
15–7
–
March 21
VCU
Clark–LeClair Stadium • Greenville, NC
W 9–3
Morgan (4–0)
Gill (0–2)
2,862
16–7
–
March 22
VCU
Clark–LeClair Stadium • Greenville, NC
L 2–3
Lees (4–0)
Boyd (2–5)
Concepcion (4)
2,295
16–8
–
March 24
at UNC Wilmington
Brooks Field • Wilmington, NC
L 2–4
Barnes (4–0)
Love (2–2)
Gesell (2)
1,635
16–9
–
March 25
High Point
Clark–LeClair Stadium • Greenville, NC
L 2–13
Hennessey (1–2)
Boyd (2–6)
2,290
16–10
–
March 28
Memphis
Clark–LeClair Stadium • Greenville, NC
W 4–1
Kruczynski (5–1)
Wallingford (3–2)
2,315
17–10
1–0
March 28
Memphis
Clark–LeClair Stadium • Greenville, NC
L 2–3
Myers (1–0)
Boyd (2–7)
Blackwood (8)
2,315
17–11
1–1
March 29
Memphis
Clark–LeClair Stadium • Greenville, NC
L 2–4
Myers (2–0)
Lucroy (2–1)
Blackwood (9)
2,051
17–12
1–2
Date
Opponent
Rank
Site/stadium
Score
Win
Loss
Save
Attendance
Overall record
AAC Record
April 2
Tulane
Clark–LeClair Stadium • Greenville, NC
W 3–0
Love (3–2)
Merrill (1–3)
2,213
18–12
2–2
April 3
Tulane
Clark–LeClair Stadium • Greenville, NC
W 11–4
Boyd (3–7)
Rankin (3–1)
2,411
19–12
3–2
April 4
Tulane
Clark–LeClair Stadium • Greenville, NC
L 6–8
Massey (2–2)
Lucroy (2–2)
Duester (2)
2,261
19–13
3–3
April 7
at Campbell
Jim Perry Stadium • Buies Creek, NC
W 7–5
Wolfe (2–1)
Long (3–1)
Love (4)
828
20–13
–
April 10
at South Florida
USF Baseball Stadium • Tampa, FL
L 1–2
Herget (6–1)
Love (3–3)
Peterson (11)
862
20–14
3–4
April 11
at South Florida
USF Baseball Stadium • Tampa, FL
L 0–10
Mulholland (4–4)
Kruczynski (5–2)
868
20–15
3–5
April 12
at South Florida
USF Baseball Stadium • Tampa, FL
W 6–0
Durazo (2–0)
Cavallardo (3–1)
Boyd (1)
517
21–15
4–5
April 15
at Old Dominion
Bud Metheny Baseball Complex • Norfolk, VA
W 4–2
Boyd (4–7)
Mathesson (2–6)
Durazo (1)
445
22–15
–
April 17
at Connecticut
J. O. Christian Field • Storrs, CT
W 7–3
Kruczynski (6–2)
Cross (7–2)
Durazo (2)
71
23–15
5–5
April 18
at Connecticut
J. O. Christian Field • Storrs, CT
L 3–7
Kay (6–3)
Lucroy (2–3)
Ruotolo (5)
305
23–16
5–6
April 19
at Connecticut
J. O. Christian Field • Storrs, CT
W 4–3 (10)
Voliva (1–0)
Darras (2–2)
Wolfe (1)
287
24–16
6–6
April 21
NC State
Clark–LeClair Stadium • Greenville, NC
W 6–5
Voliva (2–0)
O'Donnell (5–3)
3,821
25–16
–
April 22
Duke
Clark–LeClair Stadium • Greenville, NC
W 3–2
Boyd (5–7)
Koplove (1–2)
3,271
26–16
–
April 24
UCF
Clark–LeClair Stadium • Greenville, NC
W 6–5
Durazo (3–0)
Hukari (4–3)
2,446
27–16
7–6
April 25
UCF
Clark–LeClair Stadium • Greenville, NC
W 3–2
Love (4–3)
Finfrock (6–4)
Ingle (1)
2,441
28–16
8–6
April 26
UCF
Clark–LeClair Stadium • Greenville, NC
W 6–5
Wolfe (3–1)
Howell (4–6)
Voliva (1)
2,069
29–16
9–6
April 29
Liberty
Liberty Baseball Stadium • Lynchburg, VA
L 0–5
Pennington (1–1)
Lucroy (2–4)
791
29–17
–
Date
Opponent
Rank
Site/stadium
Score
Win
Loss
Save
Attendance
Overall record
AAC Record
May 1
Connecticut
Clark–LeClair Stadium • Greenville, NC
L 2–13
Cross (9–2)
Kruczynski (6–3)
2,272
29–18
9–7
May 2
Connecticut
Clark–LeClair Stadium • Greenville, NC
W 5–4
Love (5–3)
Kay (6–5)
3,034
30–18
10–7
May 3
Connecticut
Clark–LeClair Stadium • Greenville, NC
W 5–2
Wolfe (4–1)
Tabakman (2–4)
Ingle (3)
3,012
31–18
11–7
May 8
at No. 28 Houston
Cougar Field • Houston, TX
L 1–10
Lantrip (7–3)
Kruczynski (6–4)
1,691
31–19
11–8
May 9
at No. 28 Houston
Cougar Field • Houston, TX
W 4–1
Love (6–3)
Dowdy (7–2)
Ingle (4)
2,013
32–19
12–8
May 10
at No. 28 Houston
Cougar Field • Houston, TX
L 1–11
Romero (7–3)
Wolfe (4–2)
1,408
32–20
12–9
May 12
Elon
Clark–LeClair Stadium • Greenville, NC
W 7–1
Lucroy (3–4)
Jones (0–1)
2,585
33–20
–
May 14
at Cincinnati
Marge Schott Stadium • Cincinnati, OH
W 7–3
Love (7–3)
Atkinson (4–6)
602
34–20
13–9
May 15
at Cincinnati
Marge Schott Stadium • Cincinnati, OH
W 6–4
Kruczynski (7–4)
Zeller (2–4)
Ingle (5)
677
35–20
14–9
May 16
at Cincinnati
Marge Schott Stadium • Cincinnati, OH
W 8–7
Durazo (4–0)
Patishall (0–3)
Ingle (6)
1,036
36–20
15–9
Post-season
Date
Opponent
Rank
Site/stadium
Score
Win
Loss
Save
Attendance
Overall record
AACT Record
May 20
(7) UCF
(2)
Bright House Field • Clearwater, FL
W 4–3
Ingle (1–0)
Rodgers (10–1)
37–20
1–0
May 21
(3) Tulane
(2)
Bright House Field • Clearwater, FL
W 3–1
Kruczynski (8–4)
Merrill (4–6)
Ingle (7)
1,243
38–20
2–0
May 23
(6) UConn
(2)
Bright House Field • Clearwater, FL
W 4–2
Wofle (5–2)
Montgomerie (3–2)
Ingle (8)
1,136
39–20
3–0
May 24
(1) No. 23 Houston
(2)
Bright House Field • Clearwater, FL (Championship)
W 9–1
Durazo (5–0)
Romero (7–4)
1,037
40–20
4–0
Date
Opponent
Rank
Site/stadium
Score
Win
Loss
Save
Attendance
Overall record
NCAAT Record
May 29
(3) Columbia
(2)
Mark Light Field • Coral Gables, FL
L 3–6
Thanopoulos (6–5)
Durazo (5–1)
Cline (2)
1,845
40–21
0–1
May 30
(4) FIU
(2)
Mark Light Field • Coral Gables, FL
L 0–2
Dopico (3–4)
Love (7–4)
1,929
40–22
0–2
All rankings from Collegiate Baseball .
References
^ "2015 Baseball Standings" . American Athletic Conference. Retrieved October 2, 2015 .
^ "Official Baseball Roster" . East Carolina Pirates. Archived from the original on May 5, 2009. Retrieved November 24, 2014 .
^ "ECU baseball swept by Virginia" . witn.com. Archived from the original on February 17, 2015. Retrieved February 17, 2015 .
^ "ECU-ODU Baseball Game Postponed Until April 15th" . ecupirates.com. Archived from the original on February 21, 2015. Retrieved February 26, 2015 .
^ "ECU-ODU Baseball Game Postponed Due To Weather" . ecupirates.com. Archived from the original on February 27, 2015. Retrieved February 26, 2015 .
^ "Pirates take LeClair Classic with 9–2 win over St. John's" . witn.com. Archived from the original on February 27, 2015. Retrieved February 26, 2015 .
^ "ECU completes sweep versus Albany" . witn.com. Archived from the original on March 22, 2015. Retrieved March 3, 2015 .
^ "Pirates' Doak Field disconnect" . reflector.com. Archived from the original on March 6, 2015. Retrieved March 9, 2015 .
^ "Baseball ECU makes most of ODU's miscues to win" . hamptonroads.com. Archived from the original on March 10, 2015. Retrieved March 9, 2015 .
^ "ECU baseball sweeps Monmouth" . witn.com. Archived from the original on March 22, 2015. Retrieved March 9, 2015 .
^ "ECU Pirates dominate UNCG in baseball" . wwaytv3.com. Archived from the original on March 16, 2015. Retrieved March 18, 2015 .
^ "East Carolina thumps Elon to complete baseball series sweep" . thetimesnews.com. Retrieved March 18, 2015 .
^ "College Notebook: East Carolina tops Princeton 8–3 for sixth straight baseball win" . The News & Observer. Retrieved March 19, 2015 .
^ "Rams end ECU win streak" . The Daily Reflector. Archived from the original on March 23, 2015. Retrieved March 23, 2015 .
Venues Rivalries People Seasons College World Series appearances in italics