ECU – UCF WEEKEND SERIES
Date: Thursday – Friday, April 6-April 7
Location: Greenville, N.C.
Site: Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium
Time: 2 p.m. (April 6) | TBD (April 6) | TBD (April 7)
Watch - ESPN+: Game One | Game Two | Game Three
Listen: UCF Athletics on Twitch
Live Stats: Stat Broadcast
Due to projected inclement weather in the Greenville area, the dates and times have been adjusted. UCF and ECU kick off a doubleheader at 2 p.m. on April 6 and will conclude the series on Friday.
Pitching Preview
Game one: RHP Trey Yesavage (ECU) vs. RHP Ruddy Gomez (UCF)
Game two: RHP Carter Spivey (ECU) vs. LHP Jacob Marlowe (UCF)
Game three: TBD (ECU) vs. RHP Dom Stagliano (UCF)
Ruddy Gomez will make his eighth consecutive series-opening start for the Black and Gold. He has a 2.84 ERA in his seven starts, posting a 4-1 record. In 44.1 innings of work, Gomez has fanned a team-leading 49 batters and allowed 14 earned runs. Gomez was named to the American Athletic Conference weekly honor roll twice in the month of March.
Jacob Marlowe remains in the middle of the weekend rotation to make his second weekend start and his sixth start of the season. With a 4.02 ERA on the season, he has 33.2 innings of work under his belt, allowing 15 earned runs with only six walks. He has 19 strikeouts on the season, six of which came from his 7.0 inning performance against Maryland.
Dom Stagliano will make his seventh start and ninth appearance for UCF. He has a 4-1 record on the season with a 5.50 ERA in 36.0 innings pitched. He has given up only seven walks and surrendered 37 hits with 22 earned runs. He is second on the team in strikeouts with 32.
ECU's' Trey Yesavage has a 4-0 record with a 2.08 ERA and .90 WHIP. He has notched 42 strikeouts through 39.2 innings and has allowed only 20 hits, 10 of which are extra base hits, and eight earned runs. Carter Spivey has posted da 3.81 ERA in 28.1 innings of work, allowing 12 eared runs and nine walks with 24 strikeouts.
Series History
UCF trails in the all-time series 17-43. Last season, ECU swept the Knights at home in three games. The Pirates scored 10+ runs in each contest.
American Conference Play
Both UCF and ECU went 1-2 in their first weekend slate of American Athletic Conference games.
UCF dropped two games to rival South Florida, losing their first Saturday contest of the year. They ended the weekend on a high note with a win and look to continue this in American play. ECU fell twice to Houston in their first AAC series.
Scouting the Pirates
The Pirates are nationally ranked in all six major national polls, coming in highest at No. 12. They have an overall record of 21-8 coming into this weekend and have swept all four of their three-game weekend series prior to conference play.
ECU has a team batting average of .292, with a .395 on base percentage and .472 slugging percentage. Six Pirates are hitting above .300, led by junior Justin Wilcoxen's .349 AVG. Very successful on the basepath, the team is 39-46 in stolen bases, only getting caught stealing seven times. Of their 286 hits, 100 are extra base hits. The Pirates' team ERA sits at a 3.53, with Josh Grosz leading the team with a 1.82 ERA and 1.01 WHIP. Grozs has one complete game shutout and has allowed only eight runs over 39.2 innings. The Pirates have a .974 fielding percentage.
Lately, ECU has found success in the postseason as they've been crowned champions of the 2019, 2021 and 2022 Greenville Regional. Last year, ECU did not face UCF in the AAC Tournament but won the AAC title over Houston, who beat UCF in the semifinals.
Scouting the Knights
UCF is 17-12 overall entering this weekend. The Knights have a team batting average of .292. The power-hitting team ranks top-25 nationally in home runs at No. 19 with 51 and home runs per game at No. 22 with 1.76. Eight different Knights have multiple home runs on the season including Ben McCabe, who leads the team with 11. Tom Josten follows with nine home runs and Drew Faurot has eight of his own.
The offense is spearheaded by veteran Ben McCabe who is slashing .389/.486/.769, leading the team in each of those categories, and sitting atop more offensive categories, including runs (36), hits (42), home runs (11), total bases (83), and hit by pitch (7).
The Knights' pitching staff has an ERA of 5.15 with a 1.43 WHIP. The starters are led by Ruddy Gomez's 2.84 ERA through 44.1 innings, and the bullpen is spearheaded by closer Kyle Kramer, who has a .86 WHIP and has notched 27 strikeouts in 18.2 innings of relief and allowed five earned runs, holding opposing hitters to a .175 average. The Knights have a .964 fielding percentage on the season.
UP NEXT
The Knights return to Florida for an in-state midweek matchup at Stetson in DeLand on Tuesday, April 11 at 6:30 p.m. The following weekend, the Knights are back at home against the Memphis Tigers for a three-game slate.