By Staff
By KEVIN TRAVIS, Sports Editor
GREENVILLE — The No. 25 East Carolina Pirates will put their seven-game winning streak on the line tonight as they face the No. 4 North Carolina Tar Heels.
Game time at Boshamer Stadium is set for 6 p.m.
The Pirates (28-12, 6-5 Conference) are coming off a three-game sweep of Savannah State. The team’s seven-game win streak is its longest since a 14-game streak earlier in the season.
The Tar Heels (33-9, 14-7 Atlantic Coast Conference) snapped a three-game skid with a 10-6 win over No. 1 Florida State on Sunday.
North Carolina holds a 36-24 lead in the all-time series, which includes wins in the last five meetings. The teams last met in 2005 when the Tar Heels won twice, winning 18-6 in Greenville and 8-5 in Chapel Hill.
ECU’s last win over North Carolina was a 2-1 nod on April 17, 2002.
The Pirates will be looking for their first win at North Carolina since April 27, 1994. Coach Gary Overton led ECU to a 7-5 victory in that game.
Freshman Mike Anderson will start for the Pirates in tonight’s game. Anderson, 1-0 with a 1.06 ERA, will be making his fourth start. He has struck out nine and walked six in 17 innings of work.
Sophomore right-hander Adam Warren (7-0, 2.13 ERA), who has won seven straight starts, will start for the Heels. Warren, who has 34 strikeouts to 16 walks on the year, will be making his first-ever appearance against the Pirates.
The Pirates enter with a .296 batting average with 46 homers and 249 RBIs. Kyle Roller leads the club with a .375 average to go with four homers and 12 RBIs.
Other top hitters for ECU are Dale Mollenhauer (.359, three homers, 26 RBIs), Ryan Wood (.343, two homers, 14 RBIs), Stephen Batts (.333, four homers, 42 RBIs), Drew Schieber (.333, three homers, 10 RBIs), Harrison Eldridge (.315, four homers, 21 RBIs) and Ryan Tousley (.304, 10 homers, 44 RBIs).
ECU closer Shane Mathews (2-3, 4.15 ERA) leads the club with 10 saves, which is tied for second most in a single season and are the fifth most in the nation. Kevyn Fulcher saved 10 games in the 1999 season.
Cory Scott holds the record with 22 saves.
Mathews, making 25 appearances, has struck out 36 and walked 17 in 30 1/3 innings.
The Tar Heels are hitting .326 with 41 home runs and 304 RBIs. Dustin Ackley leads the Heels with a .467 average to go with six homers and 50 RBIs.
Other top hitters for North Carolina are Tim Federowicz (.363, three homers, 46 RBIs), Garrett Gore (.360), Josh Horton (.340, three homers, 28 RBIs), Tim Fedroff (.330, four homers, 17 RBIs), Kyle Seager (.322, two homers, 24 RBIs), Seth Williams (.317, six homers, 23 RBIs), Drew Poulk (.310, four homers, 10 RBIs) and Reid Fronk (.309, three homers, 29 RBIs).
The Pirates return to C-USA play by hosting Southern Miss for a three-game series beginning Friday. Game times are 7 p.m. Friday, 6 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.
CONFERENCE USA
Team Conf. All
Rice 13-2 33-11
Houston 9-3 22-17
Memphis 9-6 25-16
East Carolina 6-5 28-12
Tulane 8-7 28-14
UAB 5-7 18-24
Southern Miss 6-9 25-16
Marshall 2-9 16-21
UCF 1-11 18-23
ATLANTIC COAST
Atlantic Division
Team Conf. All
Florida State 15-3 37-6
Clemson 11-7 26-13
N.C. State 11-10 27-14
Boston College 9-12 16-21-1
Wake Forest 8-13 22-22
Maryland 7-14 23-20
Coastal Division
Team Conf. All
North Carolina 14-7 33-9
Virginia 13-7 34-9
Georgia Tech 13-7 26-14
Miami 11-10 25-17
Duke 6-15 25-17
Virginia Tech 4-17 17-23