By By KEVIN TRAVIS, Sports Editor
GREENVILLE — The East Carolina baseball team heads to Virginia this week for a pair of midweek games. The Pirates, riding a modest two-game winning streak, will play Old Dominion today and Virginia Commonwealth on Wednesday.
Freshman Sthil Sowers (0-1, 6.75 ERA) will start for ECU in today’s game at ODU, which begins at 5 p.m. The Pirates (3-4) posted a 9-5 win over the Monarchs (4-3) last year.
ODU is coming off a 12-0 win over Temple. The Monarchs, hitting .220 as a team, are led at the plate by Chris Buss (.364, six RBI).
Jimmy Miles is hitting .357 and has driven in seven runs, while Bryan Cipolla is hitting .310 with a homer and 10 RBI.
The Pirates will take on the VCU Rams (1-6) at 3 p.m. on Wednesday. It will be the first meeting between the teams since 2002.
Matt Cox (0-0, 0.00), a transfer from North Carolina, will likely get the starting nod for ECU.
The Rams, who have dropped three straight, are hitting .247 as a team. Brad Bonney (.429) has three hits in seven plate appearances, while Joe Van Meter and Richard Gonzales are each hitting .333 on the young season. Jared Bolden (.318) leads the team with five RBI.
ECU outfielder Harrison Eldridge, who is hitting .375 and is 10-10 in stolen base attempts, said the Pirates will look to carry some momentum into this weekend’s Keith LeClair Classic.
Brandon Henderson leads the Pirates, hitting .294 collectively, with a .409 batting average. He also has a pair of dingers and seven RBI.
Other top hitters for ECU are Drew Schieber (.391, one homer, five RBI), Corey Kemp (.348), Ryan Wood (.310, two homers, nine RBI) and Kyle Roller (.250, two homers, eight RBI).
Host fifth annual Keith LeClair Classic this weekend. Will face Pittsburgh at 5 p.m. Friday, Michigan at 3 p.m. Saturday and Georgia Southern at 2 p.m. Sunday.