The Memphis Tigers continue their eight-game road trip with four games against No. 8 ECU this weekend in Greenville, N.C. The Pirates will be the fourth top-10 team the Tigers face this season, Memphis has already played Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, and Arkansas.
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The Tigers face what will likely be their toughest test of their AAC season, as they try to bounce back from a road series loss to Tulane. With four games against No. 8 East Carolina, Memphis will aim to pick up its first ranked win of the season and first since May 18, 2019, a victory over then No. 6 East Carolina. The Tigers enter the series last in the AAC in batting average (.227) and second to last in ERA (6.04).
Memphis is 18-32 vs. ECU dating back to 2002, and just 1-5 over the past two seasons (2018 & 2019). Memphis won the final meeting between the two teams in 2019, which snapped a five-game losing streak for the Tigers. Memphis' last series win at ECU came in March 2015; the program's last series win vs. the Pirates at any ballpark.
The Pirates played just two non-conference games against ranked opponents, with a win at home vs. No. 25 Duke and a loss at No. 24 North Carolina. East Carolina opened up conference play last weekend with a four-game sweep of Cincinnati. The Pirates outscored the Bearcats 27-7 in the sweep.
East Carolina sports one of the best records in the country and through 27 games has the best team batting average (.298) and team ERA (3.33) in the AAC. Both are well ahead of the closest competition, as the Pirates are hitting 24 points better than USF and have an ERA that's 0.57 better than Tulane.
ECU swept last week's AAC Player and Pitcher of the Week awards. Freshman Alec Makarewicz went 9 for 21 with two home runs, seven RBIs, and six runs scored, as the freshman picked up at least one hit in each of the team's five wins. Makarewicz is hitting .326 with four home runs and 18 RBIs overall. ECU's offense has been so potent that Makarewicz ranks fifth in batting average, T-3rd in home runs, and T-3rd in RBIs despite a dominant open to conference action.
On the mound, Friday night starter Gavin Williams won the award for the second consecutive week. Williams set a new career-high with 6.2 innings and 13 strikeouts in a 7-0 win over Cincinnati last Friday. Williams has 42 strikeouts and just 10 walks in 26.1 innings this season, with three starts and three relief appearances. Williams has surrendered just 14 hits and held opponents to a .151 batting average overall. The junior is set to get the series-opening start against Memphis Friday.
