Coming off Tuesday’s win over VCU, Liberty will look to win its third consecutive series this weekend with a three-game set at East Carolina in Greenville, North Carolina. The Flames have won 7 out of 9 games entering the weekend to improve to 7-5 on the season.
This will be Liberty’s last weekend series of the year before starting conference play. The Flames will open its ASUN schedule next weekend with a three-game set at Florida Gulf Coast.
East Carolina has become not only one of the best mid-major programs in the country but one of the most successful programs of the entire country. The Pirates have made 18 regional appearances in the past 23 seasons. They’ve also won a regional each of the last 3 years.
That success has continued into 2023 as ECU is currently 9-3 on the season. The Pirates knocked off No. 12 North Carolina in two games earlier this season. This week, East Carolina outlasted ASUN member Queens, 5-2, in 10 innings on Tuesday and Elon, 5-1, on Wednesday.
Last year, East Carolina finished the season 46-21 overall with a 20-4 mark in the American Athletic Conference. After winning the AAC, the Pirates were the No. 8 national seed and won the Greenville region, defeating Coastal Carolina, 13-4, in the regional final. ECU’s season would come to an end in the Super Regional, falling to No. 8 Texas in three games in Greenville, North Carolina.
5 players hitting over .300 this season led by Jacob Starling, Luke Nowak, Justin Wilcoxen, and Jacob Jenkins-Cowart. That foursome all have at least 15 hits so far this early season and have combined for 24 extra base hits including 8 home runs. They also have combined to drive in 52 of the team’s 90 runs this season.
Liberty is 5-8 all-time against East Carolina with the last meeting coming during the 2020 season. The three games from Clark-Leclair Stadium this weekend have first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. Saturday, and 1 p.m. Sunday.
Projected rotation:
Friday: LU’s Garrett Horn (1-1, 1.38 ERA) vs ECU’s Trey Yesavage (1-0, 1.59 ERA)
Saturday: LU’s Nick Moran (1-0, 1.69 ERA) vs ECU’s Carter Spivey (0-1, 6.75 ERA)
Sunday: LU’s Mikey Tepper (0-1, 4.15 ERA) vs ECU’s Josh Grosz (1-0, 4.15 ERA)
