By By KEVIN TRAVIS, Sports Editor
GREENVILLE — The No. 24 East Carolina Pirates, fresh off a 4-0 win over the top-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels, will get a little exposure this weekend.
The Pirates return to Conference USA action for a three-game series against the Southern Miss Eagles at Clark-LeClair Stadium. The teams will play the first game of the series beginning at 7 p.m. today. Saturday’s doubleheader, which begins at 4 p.m., will be broadcast on CBS College Sports.
The Pirates (30-12, 10-5) have won two straight. The Eagles (25-15, 9-6) are coming off a loss to Ole Miss, and have dropped three of their last four.
Trent Whitehead, a former standout at Washington High School, is hoping to play. The sophomore centerfielder, who sat out Thursday’s practice, banged hard into the wall in the ninth inning trying to make a catch in Wednesday’s win against the Tar Heels. Whitehead was shaken up on the play, but finished the game.
Whitehead noted that he would be “fine” for the weekend series.
Chris Heston (5-0, 3.81 ERA) will get the ball for tonight’s series opener. He’ll face a Southern Miss team that is hitting .321 with 42 homers.
Bo Davis leads the Eagles with a .429 average. His 10 homers lead the team, while his 39 RBIs are tied for first with Brian Dozier, who is hitting .394 with four homers.
Other top hitters for Southern Miss are James Ewing (.353, 3 HRs, 31 RBIs), Kameron Brunty (.333, 3 HRs, 34 RBIs), Taylor Walker (.331, 2 HRs, 25 RBIs), Corey Stevens (.319, 5 HRs, 37 RBIs) and Tyler Koelling (.311, 2 HRs, 22 RBIs).
Maness (5-0, 4.76 ERA) and Brad Mincey (7-3, 3.14) will get the starts on Saturday for the Pirates.
J.R. Ballinger (4-0, 3.55 ERA), a sophomore right-hander, will start tonight for the Eagles.
Todd McInnis (5-3, 3.09 ERA), a sophomore right-hander, and junior right-hander Kyle Lindsey (3-2, 4.76 ERA) will throw Saturday for Southern Miss.
Collin Cargill (2-2, 1.69 ERA), who has six saves, is the Southern Miss closer.
ECU enters the series hitting at a .349 clip with 66 home runs. Brandon Henderson (7 HRs, 35 RBIs) leads the team with a .409 average.
Whitehead, whose 69 hits pace the Pirates, is hitting .385 with three homers and 29 RBIs.
Other top hitters for the Pirates are Ryan Wood (.371, 7 HRs, 36 RBIs), Stephen Batts (.366, 9 HRs, 35 RBIs), Devin Harris (.358, 10 HRs, 35 RBIs), Austin Homan (.357), Kyle Roller (.356, 11 HRs, 50 RBIs), Drew Schieber (.329, 4 HRs, 42 RBIs), Dustin Harrington (.327, 8 HRs, 34 RBIs) and Jared Avchen (.314, 2 HRs, 22 RBIs).
C-USA All Games
W-L W-L
Rice 11-4 28-10
East Carolina 10-5 30-12
Southern Miss 9-6 25-15
Houston 7-5 17-23
Tulane 5-7 24-17
UAB 5-7 23-18
Marshall 6-9 16-22
Memphis 4-8 18-23
UCF 3-9 13-25
Friday’s Games
Southern Miss at (24) East Carolina, 7
Houston at Marshall, 7
Memphis at Tulane (CSS), 7
UCF at UAB, 8
Saturday’s Games
Houston at Marshall, 2:50
Memphis at Tulane, 3
UCF at UAB, 3
Southern Miss at (24) East Carolina (DH), 4
(CBS College Sports)
Sunday’s Games
Houston at Marshall, 10:30
UCF at UAB, 1
Memphis at Tulane, 2
Tuesday’s Games
Georgetown College at Marshall, 3
USF at UCF, 6:30
(24) East Carolina at Elon, 7
Tulane at (6) LSU, 7:30
Southern Miss at (11) Mississippi, 8