By Al Myatt
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East Carolina baseball personnel shaved their mustaches on Thursday afternoon at Clark-LeClair Stadium. The Pirates grew mustaches in March to support awareness of ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Lou Gehrig's disease, the infirmity that took the life of former ECU baseball coach Keith LeClair in 2006.

Current Pirates coach Cliff Godwin played for LeClair and LeClair's influence continues to manifest itself in the program through Godwin. ECU junior infielder Charlie Yorgen got the fundraising effort going that culminated with the grooming session prior to the American Athletic Conference opener with Houston at 6:30 tonight.

"The way it came about was, probably in January or early February, I was in the locker room and Charlie Yorgen looks at me and goes, 'Hey. Coach, you're going to grow a mustache in March, just like we are, aren't you?' " Godwin recalled Thursday, "I was like,Chuck, I call him Chuck. I said, 'Chuck, I'm not growing a mustache. The only way I would grow a mustache was if it was for a good cause.'

"And just walked out and didn't think anything of it. Sure enough, Charlie comes back to me in about a week and goes, 'Hey, Coach, I've got something that we can do so you'll grow a mustache.' He goes, 'I'm going to raise awareness for ALS research and have a website.'

"Charlie, being the bright kid he is, he goes out, 'I can get Coach Godwin to grow a mustache.' So it's been great. We've raised over $4,000. ... It's a pretty neat deal and Charlie really is the man behind it. He's done a great job with it."

[View the ECU Baseball Mustache March website.]

It wasn't Godwin's first mustache. He grew one when he was a multi-sport star at Greene Central and he didn't need a reason back then.

"I had a mustache in high school," said the ECU coach. "I don't know why I had one in high school. I thought it was cool I guess. It was much more of a penciled-in mustache then. Now it's a real one, like a grown man's mustache."

Tyler producing

A grand slam in the eighth inning of a 13-0 series-clinching win over Jacksonville on Saturday gave Eric Tyler a school record eight RBIs. He followed that up by going 4-for-4 with a double and an RBI in a 9-6 win over UNC-Wilmington on Tuesday night.

"He's had two really good games back to back," Godwin said. "Eric is a guy who just does things the right way all the time. Couldn't be a better guy who gets put down in the record books for having eight RBIs in a single game.

"He is an epitome of what you're looking for as an ECU baseball player on and off the field. He has really done a good job of just working at it and staying positive. Before this past weekend, he probably wasn't having a great couple of weeks. He started out hot and then he kind of had a little bit of a lull, but that's baseball. He just has a positive approach and stays positive with it and keeps working hard and is consistent, He's had a good few days for sure."

Mozingo supplies pop

Pitt Community College transfer Zack Mozingo has been getting more playing time recently, starting five games and responding by batting .400.

"Zack is a guy that we thought before the season could provide some left-handed pop in our lineup and also help us on the mound," Godwin said. "The mound has been a little bit more rocky than the plate but he's a guy that can help us in both areas. He's done a good job with the opportunities he's been given."

Mozingo, who pitches right-handed, has made two mound appearances totaling one and one-third innings with a 6.75 earned run average.

Weekend starters

Godwin planned to start lefty Evan Kruczynski (3-0, 1.98 ERA) against Houston tonight.

Right-hander Jimmy Boyd (3-1, 2.41) will get the ball for game two, scheduled for Saturday at 4 p.m., and southpaw Jacob Wolfe (3-2, 2.06) will go on Sunday at 11 a.m.

Wolfe pitched into the seventh inning on Tuesday against the Seahawks. He allowed six hits and a pair of earned runs while striking out five without a walk.

Wolfe has been pitching on Saturday in the weekend rotation.

"Wolfe is going to Sunday because he needs to get another day's rest," Godwin said. "It wouldn't be smart to just pitch him on Saturday because that's where he's normally pitched. That's why Jimmy is pitching on Saturday and Wolfe is pitching on Sunday.

"Kruz (Kruczynski) has been very consistent for us. Kruz is a guy that is a leader of our pitching staff. He's a competitor. He wants the ball. The only time he gets himself in trouble is when he's trying to do too much because he wants the team to win so much. He's a selfless guy who just wants East Carolina baseball to win.

"The Southeastern Louisiana game he got a no decision and he pitched into the ninth and gave up one run. The media was asking him about a tough no-decision. He goes, 'I don't even look at my win-loss record. I just worry about what East Carolina's win-loss record is.' That's just the type of kid he is. He's a great Friday night guy for us.

"Jimmy, who will pitch on Saturday, has grown up so much from last year — not just from pitching but also mentality wise. He's just so much more mature. You're talking about a guy who was very inconsistent. He had good stuff last year but very inconsistent for us on the mound. He's a guy now who's pitching on the weekends and he's done a great job. He's pitched great in every outing he's been out there and he's given us a chance to win. That's all you can ask for."

"Wolfe is a returning weekend guy from a conference championship team. He's pitched great as well. He's only had one rocky start against Jacksonville last week. That was so uncharacteristic of him and he didn't have many pitches so I wanted to get him back on the mound as quick as possible against a good UNC-Wilmington team. He pitched like a weekend guy against UNCW. They have one of the best offenses that we'll face and he kept them in check for six and one-third.

"Those three guys have been the difference as a pitching staff. They're the reason we have won so many games to this point because of their consistency on the mound."

Ingle in closing role

Joe Ingle got his fifth save in ECU's 17-8 start against UNCW.

"Joe is a guy who I think is an adrenaline junkie," Godwin said. "I think that if you put him in a situation that is not a close situation, he's not going to pitch great, but you put him in a situation where his back is up against the wall then he's going to pitch better. I tell him all the time, 'You don't always have to make it interesting,' but normally it's interesting. Like Thursday night against Jacksonville, we're going to face their best hitter who has eight home runs. He's going to be the tying run at the plate and Joe's going to get him out. He walked a guy to get to that point.

"He's a guy who loves it, who loves to be out there in that situation and we're very fortunate to have a guy at the back end like him."

Middle relievers getting experience

Making the adjustment to the college level has been part of the experience for much of ECU's bullpen.

"We've got some young guys," Godwin said. "I've talked about this a lot and I think people really need to understand this. Our pre-conference schedule has been as tough a schedule as anybody in the country. You look through it and you're trying to get freshmen out there to get innings. When they make a mistake against a good team, it's going to hurt.

"It's not like we've played any bad teams where they could go out there and hang a slider and the umpire calls it a strike and they didn't swing at it.

"I like where we are right now. I think Sam Lanier has done a good job. I think Matt Bridges has done a good job. They pitched well in relief against Jacksonville in the game that Wolfe didn't go very long. Chris Holba is coming along. Nick Durazo has not been his best yet but he's a guy who was standing on the mound in the conference championship game (2015) though.

"We're looking for those guys to kind of step up, keep doing what they're doing and focus on getting better. They're going to be the guys who are going to be handling those roles right now."

Conference schedule gets going

A 7-2 loss to No. 1 Texas A&M on Tuesday night put Houston at 16-8 coming into the series in Greenville.

D1Baseball.com has the Pirates ranked No. 19 nationally and the Cougars at No. 23.

ECU topped Houston 9-1 in the championship game of the AAC Tournament last year in Clearwater, FL. The Pirates were the No. 2 seed for the league championship and the Cougars were the top seed.

The AAC was rated third among conferences in RPI in 2015.

"The American is one of the best conferences in the country," Godwin said. "We have Houston, who in my opinion is as talented on the mound as any team in the country. I mean their Friday and Saturday guys, (Andrew) Lantrip and (Seth) Romero, could pitch for anybody in the country. Anybody from Florida to Texas A&M to LSU would love to have those guys pitching on Friday and Saturday. Todd Whitting (Houston coach) does a great job. They've consistently been good since he's been there. We'll have our hands full this weekend when they come into town."

Lantrip, a junior right-hander, is 4-2 with a 1.69 ERA. Romero, a sophomore lefty, is 4-0 with a 0.58 ERA.

Importance of fan support

Godwin talked about the value of fan support for the Houston series.

"It's huge," he said. "Any time that we can have a hostile environment, it's like having the 10th man in baseball. Like the (Seattle) Seahawks talk about the 12th man, it's the 10th man for us. That environment that we had the North Carolina game (5,213 on hand) was electric. The closer we can get to those crowds, the better chance we have to win.

"I hope the fans understand that the louder they are, the more into the game they are, the better our kids play. They feed off that. We need Pirate Nation to come out, tailgate and have a good time. We need the students to come out and have a good time and make it a very tough home field advantage for Houston."