By By KEVIN TRAVIS, Sports Editor
GREENVILLE – Trent Whitehead, Stephen Batts and the rest of the No. 20 East Carolina Pirates are hoping the bats are still hot when they play host to the Old Dominion Monarchs today.
The game was originally scheduled for Tuesday, but cold weather prompted officials to move the game.
Today’s game at Clark-LeClair Stadium will begin at 4 p.m.
Mike Anderson (0-0, 3.38 ERA) will get the start on the mound for the Pirates. He allowed two runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings, striking out four and walking two, in his first start of the year.
The Pirates (5-1) enter the game hitting .385 as a team. Batts leads the squad with a .536 average to go with a home run and seven RBIs.
Whitehead, a former Washington Pam Pack standout who was named ECU’s Hitter-of-the-Week last week, is hitting .500 with five RBIs.
Other top hitters are Drew Schieber (.500, 2 HRs, 7 RBIs), Kyle Roller (.500, 1 HR, 7 RBIs), Brandon Henderson (.417, 2 HRs, 11 RBIs), Ryan Wood (.409, 1 HR, 5 RBIs), Dustin Harrington (.391) and Jared Avchen (.333).
The Monarchs (3-4) enter the game hitting .286 as a team. Jake McAloose leads the club in home runs (two), RBIs (six) and batting average (.385).
Other top hitters are Edgar Hernandez (.375), Brett Harris (.333), Donnie Corsner (.323) and Cameron Scott (.320).
The Pirates will hit the road for the first time when they travel to Statesboro, Ga., to participate in the Holiday Inn Eagle Invitational. ECU will face LeMoyne at 3 p.m. Friday, Indiana at 6 p.m. Saturday and host Georgia Southern at 3 p.m. Sunday.
ECU returns home March 10 for a two-game series against UNC-Asheville, followed by a three-game series with the UCLA Bruins beginning March 13. It will be part of a nine-game homestand for the Pirates.