East Carolina gets its American Conference schedule underway against Alabama-Birmingham on Friday at 6 p.m. at Clark-LeClair Stadium (ESPN+).

The Pirates (13-8-1) were picked first in the league’s preseason poll and the Blazers (13-8) were picked last.

ECU, which was seeded sixth for the American tournament last year, is 2-3 on Friday nights thus far in 2026.

Junior left-hander Ethan Norby has been the Pirates’ Friday night starter. Norby is 1-1 with a 4.37 earned run average. He has 32 strikeouts in 22 and two-thirds innings pitched.

UAB starter

Right-hander Mason Steele has started for the Blazers in their first game of the weekend. UAB is 4-1 on Friday nights, including a 9-7 win at Florida to start the season on Feb. 13.

Steele helped Shelton State in Tuscaloosa to the Junior College World Series in 2025.

He has a 2-2 record for the Blazers with a 5.00 ERA. He has 27 strikeouts in 27 innings pitched.

Steele can also hit. He is 4-for-15 (.267) this season with a triple and two RBIs.

Casey Dunn, UAB coach

Blazers coach Casey Dunn played catcher at Auburn at roughly the same time Pirates coach Cliff Godwin was behind the plate for ECU.

As a senior in 1999, Dunn hit .379 and led the Southeastern Conference in RBIs with 81. His coach at Auburn was former ECU skipper Hal Baird.

Dunn coached at Samford for 17 seasons, guiding the Bulldogs to the NCAA Tournament in 2012, 2018 and 2021. Dunn is in his fifth season at UAB.

Last year

UAB went 24-30 in 2025 with an 8-19 record in league play. The Pirates and Blazers played a 3-game series in Birmingham, April 17-19.

ECU won the first two games, 12-7, and 5-3.

The Blazers avoided a sweep with a 15-9 win in the third game.

Colby Wallace hit a home run and pitched a scoreless inning in the first game. Braden Burress had four hits and scored three runs in game two. Both are back for ECU.

The Blazers overcame an 8-1 deficit in the third game to snap a 13-game losing streak to the Pirates that dated back to 2011.

Van Kempen

Senior right-hander Gavin Van Kempen has been a Saturday ace for the Pirates.

The 6-7, 240-pound transfer from West Virginia is 1-1 with a team-low 2.18 ERA. He has 29 strikeouts in 20 and two-thirds innings.

The Pirates are 3-3 on Saturdays with a 1-0 loss at home to Penn last week in which Van Kempen turned in six scoreless innings with 14 strikeouts.

Rankings

The Ratings Power Index (RPI) varies significantly from the national rankings.

UCLA, which is No. 1 in the D1 baseball rankings, is No. 9 in the RPI.

N.C. State, No. 10 in the D1 rankings, is No. 113 in the RPI with a 17-4 record. The Wolfpack is actually tied at No. 113 with LSU (15-7), the defending national champions.

ECU is No. 88 in the RPI. UAB is No. 34.

Forecast

The weather is looking good for the weekend with no rain in the outlook. The high will be 70 degrees on Friday in Greenville with sunny skies.

Game time on Saturday is 4 p.m. The forecast is calling for cloudy conditions with a high of 75.

First pitch on Sunday is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. with sunny skies expected and a high of 83.