By By KEVIN TRAVIS, Sports Editor
GREENVILLE — The No. 19 East Carolina Pirates, winners of a nation’s-best 14 straight games, will be on the road this weekend for the first time since Feb. 18.
ECU (20-6, 3-0), whose winning streak is tied for the fourth longest in school history, has won 18 of its last 19 games. The Pirates, fresh off completing a 20-game homestand, will take on the No. 29 Tulane Green Wave (20-7, 3-0) for a three-game Conference USA series. Tulane has won four straight and eight of its last nine.
Game times at Turchin Stadium are set for 7:30 p.m. today, 3 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.
A win tonight by the Pirates, which would give them 15 straight, will match the 1986 and 1989 clubs for the second longest streak in school history. The school record is 19 straight set in 2004.
“We’re just taking it one game at a time,” Godwin said. “Right now we’re only worried about Friday night.”
T.J. Hose will start today’s game for the Pirates. The junior, 4-2 with a 4.17 ERA, has struck out 31 and walked 18 in 41 innings of work.
Tulane will counter with Sean Morgan (5-1, 1.91 ERA), a junior right-hander who has struck out 69 and walked 16 in 47 innings.
The Pirates are coming off a thrilling 11-10 win in 10 innings over UNC-Wilmington. ECU battled back from an 8-0 deficit to capture the win.
The Pirates enter the series hitting .295 with 27 home runs and 165 RBIs. Drew Schieber, who has three homers and seven RBIs, leads the club with a .389 average.
Other top hitters for ECU are Stephen Batts (.373, one homer, 29 RBIs), Mollenhauer (.363, three homers, 22 RBIs), Harrison Eldridge (.347, two homers, 14 RBIs), Ryan Tousley (.307, six homers, 29 RBIs), Corey Kemp (.282, two homers, 15 RBIs), Ryan Wood (.279) and Brandon Henderson (.253, five homers, 18 RBIs).
Tulane is hitting .292 as a club with 22 homers and 158 RBIs. Cat Everett leads the club with a .350 batting average. Other top hitters for the Green Wave are Brad Emaus (.317, four homers, 21 RBIs), Anthony Scelfo (.316), Tim Guidry (.315, three homers, 15 RBIs) and Jared Dyer (.304).
Dustin Sasser will get the ball for the Pirates on Saturday. The junior southpaw, 3-0 with a 2.08 ERA, has struck out 31 and walked 15 in 39 innings.
The Green Wave will start Shooter Hunt (5-2, 1.57 ERA), a sophomore right-hander who has fanned 42 and walked nine in 46 innings.
Josh Dowdy will throw Sunday for ECU. The sophomore, 1-1 with a 2.03 ERA, has fanned 12 and walked six in 26 2/3 innings.
Tulane will throw Brandon Gomes (3-2, 3.15 ERA), a senior right-hander who has struck out 37 and walked seven in 40 innings.
ECU closer Shane Mathews (2-2, 1.64 ERA) has eight saves. The junior has struck out 31 and walked 10 in 22 innings.
Tulane stopper Daniel Latham (2-0, 1.66 ERA) has six saves. The senior right-hander has fanned 18 and not walked a batter in 21 2/3 innings.
After playing at N.C. State on April 4, ECU returns home to host No. 8 Rice, April 6-8.
Conference USA
Team Conf. All
East Carolina 3-0 20-6
Tulane 3-0 20-7
Houston 3-0 15-12
Rice 2-1 19-10
So. Miss 1-2 17-9
UAB 0-0 12-15
Marshall 0-0 14-8
Memphis 0-0 14-11
UCF 0-0 16-13