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Football Pirates TV Party….
With the recent release of the Fighting Pirates 2009 football schedule, it’s obvious someone’s been thinking.
ECU AD Terry Holland, through negotiation and/or intimidation, has smoothed the kinks out of a rough conference TV agreement and as a result, put together football schedule that’s as seamless as our league permits.
Conference USA, hungry for television exposure and market coverage, agreed several years ago to provide fodder for ESPN’s weeknight TV lineup. The thinking went that some coverage was better than no coverage and with the dry ink on the deal, relegated C-USA teams to play their far-flung league counterparts on basically every night of the week. The more traditional Saturday TV matchups are often left to our more monied friends in the Old Schools.
What the suits at the ESPN family of networks failed to mention during the course of these negotiations is that our games would take a back seat to the endless commentary about the BCS, at times making these affairs little more than an afterthought to the announcers who are allegedly covering the game.
The worst is the dreaded Tuesday night hole, which at least in the past, been ‘Interactive Tuesday’. On these brain-numbing occasions, viewers are invited to call, text, tweet or send smoke signals to the booth, with any question or comments that could even remotely divert attention away from the game at hand.
As usual though, our crack athletic administration has, for the most part, kept us out of the fray. With our obligatory ‘off-night’ games located on the distant shores of our conference mates, and our one shot at stardom (the now more socially acceptable Thursday ESPN game versus Virginia Tech) at home, we hardly feel a thing.
Last year, ECU played a Sunday night matchup against UCF (away) and played the season finale on the Friday after Thanksgiving against UTEP (where the holiday helped to diffuse the time slot). In both cases, our savvy administration found ways to buffer the negative effects of playing a game that was meant to be played on Saturday.
That’s the case again this year with the schedule listed below. While it’s too soon for predictions and the best guess on the season that is to be, I’ve listed a few game notes and the ‘preternatural premonitions’….where available…
09/05 v. Appalachian State 12N MASN/WITN
Ideally, this game is to be played under cloak of night, with no TV coverage and little press in the Sunday papers. As it stands, I hope the check from MASN was substantial.
09/12 @ West Virginia TBA
At this time of the year, all game times are subject to change, but the near-annual carnage in Morgantown is the only game on ECU’s schedule without a post time. It would be nice to beat ‘em twice…. and Skip Holtz could join Steve Logan as the only members of that little fraternity.
09/19 @ UNC-Ch 12N ESPN/ESPN2
Pound for pound, Keenan Stadium the weakest sauce in all of collegiate football. It’s so weak that spellcheck questions me when I type the name.
09/26 v. UCF 3:30 WITN
I just got back from Orlando, where I took the fam’ to a few of the city’s awesome attractions (SeaWorld, Universal, Wet-n-Wild)…. Funny, no one ever mentioned UCF… ever.
10/03 @ Marshall 12N CBS-CSTV
I’ve got four months to get and figure out TiVo.
10/10 @ SMU 8PM MASN/WITN
SMU plays in Gerald Ford Stadium…. named for a Texas billionaire banker, not the former US President.
10/17 v. Rice 3:30 MASN
Finally a date that works with the kickoff time….
10/27 @ Memphis 8PM ESPN2
Wa-hoo! It’s interactive Tuesday…. I’ll be listening to Jeff Charles, no matter how big the tv/radio delay.
11/05 v. Virginia Tech 7:30 ESPN
There’s a ‘Pirate-Out’ set for this game… where’s my peg-leg?
11/15 @ Tulsa 8:15 ESPN
The NFL must be taking a night off.
11/21 v. UAB 3:30 MASN/WITN
Any game outside of Birmingham is UAB’s Super Bowl.
11/28 v. Southern Miss 1PM
Southern Miss should be our Thanksgiving opponent every year. We give and they say ‘Thanks’.
12/05/09 Conference USA Championship Game
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End of the road….
As a Pirate fan, it’s tough to find any silver linings two game sweep of ECU in the Chapel Hill Super Regional. The best of three series that serves as the entrance exam to Omaha shows that while East Carolina has had a very strong season and have outpaced most fan expectations, it was the Tarheels who passed the test.
The Diamond Bucs were out-pitched and out-hit in the series, with the two Tarheel Aces getting out of early jams in their respective games to shut the door to Omaha for ECU and claim their fourth consecutive berth in the CWS.
Sometime in the future, Head Coach Billy Godwin and his team can look back on a season that boasted the most wins in his four year tenure in Greenville (46), and ties for the third most wins in program history. There’s also their regular season championship (their second in CUSA), a trip to the round of 16 for only the third time and an offensive performance that rivals most any team in history to wear the Purple.
But not yet. It’s too soon. This should hurt for a while.
It was also a year of tragedy, as the ECU program lost a long time supporter and local hero Les Garner. Mr. Garner’s presence was sorely missed as the crooner for the ‘Take me out to the ballgame’ rendition that was the hallmark of the seventh inning stretch at CLS, but to those close to the program and the City of Greenville, he meant a lot more.
This year’s model of the Baseball Pirates stand to lose a good deal of their offensive firepower in next week’s MLB draft. Brandon Henderson, Ryan Wood, Stephen Batts, Devin Harris and Kyle Roller are among the names that could be called.
If there’s one character trait of Billy Godwin though, it’s reloading. Each year the Pirates have done just a little better than the year before. But this year’s team will be tough to out do.
It’s true that a number of ECU’s promising pitching staff will return next year, Seth Maness, Kevin Brandt and Seth Simmons among them. Also young Bucs like Trent Whitehead, Dustin Harrington and Corey Thompson have given us a glimpse of a promising future.
But for now, it’s the end of road. The Pirates are headed back East and the Tarheels are again headed West. The Pirates can get some rest and enjoy their summer for a bit before heading off to Summer League. Pirate fans lucky enough to have tickets for the Super Regional in Chapel Hill will no longer have to endure the inordinately assertive “Tar - Heels” cheer, but I was enlightened to know that apparently, ‘Heels’ is a two-syllable word.
Happy Appy is now officially on the clock (2,160 hours and counting). Time for me to dust off my copy of National Lampoon’s Vacation and settle into the summer. After spending what seems like the last four months at the CLS, I might also need to go and try and find my wife. She’s been a patient soul throughout all this.
I hope she’s around here somewhere.
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Deja Vu all over again…
The score was similar, and the opposing team jerseys read ‘Carolina,’
Like Yogi Berra once famously quipped, “It’s like deja vu all over again.”
Junior pitcher Alex White was allowed to stay in the game until he notched his personal best 12K’s against East Carolina in the first game of the Chapel Hill Super Regional before retiring to the dugout to the appreciative applause of the sellout crowd in Boshamer Stadium. White’s 128 pitches were the biggest reason the Tarheels took the game 10-1, but the Pirates had their chances to retire him early. ECU managed nine hits against the ballyhooed righty, but also left nine runners on base.
If all of this seems familiar to Pirate fans, it should. The game is reminiscent of last Saturday’s 12-2 blowout to South Carolina in the Greenville regional. Pirate Soph Seth Maness was the starter in both contests, and each week he gave up six earned runs. Maness (9-3), while brilliant through the heart of Conference play, has struggled in the post season, notching three straight losses (Southern MIss, USC, UNC).
Last week the Bucs bowed up and won the regional in dramatic fashion, including taking two from those same Gamecocks, but Sunday’s Game Two will tell the tale.
Either East Carolina will get another strong outing from Kevin Brandt (who pitched 8.1 innings and had 10K’s in a 4-0 Pirate victory in April) and ECU can force a Game 3, with a winner take-all scenario that would give ECU their best chance ever to reach the College World Series, or it’s gonna be the wrong kind of deja vu, going 0-2 in Super Regional play for the third time in as many tries.
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Night of the Jungle…
News and notes from twenty four hours of sweaty palms, sweaty backs and distended bellies in a revered collegiate baseball hotbed in the New American South…
Collegiate athletics is a dirty business. But there is a last bastion of American Collegiate Sport that has kept at least some semblance of dignity and purity. One last venue for pure competition free, for now, from Brent Musberger’s attempts to shove more Tostitos down our collective throats.
That this refuge is the game of baseball should come as no surprise. It’s the Great American Pastime, without all the barking commercials and the hype. By and large, it’s the goodliest game, with solid kids and dedicated parents and a small but giving fanbase that relishes that time at the ole’ ball park.
The sport does have it’s KingPins and the American South is full of them. But this story is not about them. The Texas Longhorns and the LSU Tigers are perennials, but it takes the likes a contender like the East Carolina PIrates to remind us of how good the game can be.
And while the destination is the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, it’s the journey that is the story….and that’s what brought me to the outfield “Jungle” parking lot of Clark-LeClair Stadium in Greenville NC. Ingeniously located between the gleaming towers in the Capitol City of Raleigh and the wild, bug-laden Outer Banks, Greenville (aka G-Vegas, Little LA and ProTown) is a quintessential baseball town in the new American South.
This is not the Pirates first taste of success. After winning a NAIA National Championship in 1961, the Diamond Bucs went Large and began to compete with the Big Boys, scoring a NCAA bid in their first year of competition. In the 58 years since the Bucs popped their first mitt, they’ve had winning seasons in 56. In a baseball world that rarely tilts too far north or south of .500, that’s beating the odds.
But Greenville and East Carolina have been, as they say, poor as Job’s Turkey. They’ve had to make-do without the trappings of high-falutin’ facilities and Vegas-style recruiting budgets. The ‘Bucs have always had to get by low, fast and on the cheap, and the elitists at the NCAA would never allow these baseball loving souls to host any of the NCAA tournament games…. Until Now.
But Money’s only half the story. You’ve got to be good -almost great- to get the bid. Over the last several years, Big Money followed the Big Passion and a new stadium was built. That was the dream of former Head Coach Keith LeClair, a man who is reverently referred to as #23. LeClair died one year after the stadium’s completion of Lou Gehrigs’ disease, an irony too big for even a grizzled baseball man to fully fathom. With #23’s dream and the mercy of a few well-heeled donors, the welcome mat was laid out. That was the first step.
The second was to field a worthy team. After the passing of LeClair, and the quick departure of his successor, Randy Mazey, it’s taken a few years for the program to get back into contention.
Enter Billy Godwin, now in his fourth season at the helm of the Pirate Program. Godwin’s made bankable, incremental progress in each season’s step towards baseball’s Holy Grail in Omaha. With yearly win totals of 33, 40, 42 and now 46 here in 2009, it’s hard to find fault with that kind of success. And by all accounts, Godwin is a solid man, a great recruiter and a savvy baseball veteran.
Now under Godwin’s stewardship, armed with a pile of wins, and aided by a lucky break here or there, all of a sudden…. It Happens.
Considering the ominous thunderheads rolling overhead as I headed into the majestic CLS, I wondered whether the weather would cooperate for the Pirates first foray of the 2009 Greenville Regional, but it didn’t take long to get the word. Game One of the tournament, featuring the second seed South Carolina and the third seed George Mason was in weather delay. Some Eagle-Eyed Official had spotted lightning somewhere within the Secret Radius, and by rule, the good people of Greenville should not fry in this manner.
Instead we were left to huddle under a giant pecan tree. It’s a safe bet we escaped by the standing hair on our electrically charged heads. It was time to find better cover.
I spent a fair amount of the next five hours with twelve other Pirates in the back a 1968 Purple Cadlillac ambulance. And yes, I was assured it was a custom ambulance and not a custom hearse. The vehicle hailed from Kansas, and we all know that no one ever died in an ambulance in the Great American MidWest. Folks out that way are too sensible for that. During the breaks in the weather, I would kick off my flip-flops and hurl rocks with my toes, the game perpetually 50 minutes away.
The Officials called the game just before the deadline (11pm) at which the game shall not be played under the all-encompassing rules of the NCAA. It meant back-to-back double headers were to follow, and no team in their right head could survive the torture. The weather cleared as we drove away….
2009 Greenville Regional
Friday May 29
South Carolina 11 - George Mason 3
Saturday May 30
East Carolina 11 - Binghamton 7
MVP Trent Whitehead: 2-4, 2 RBI, mashed the BU pitch for HR
Binghamton 11 - George Mason 6
South Carolina 12 - East Carolina 2
Sunday May 31
East Carolina 16 - Binghamton 9
Kyle Roller (2 HR, 4 RBI) led a potent offense, but the MVP goes to P Brad Mincey, whose first career complete game was critical to saving the bullpen for ECU to go deep into the tournament
East Carolina 8 - South Carolina 6
Three Pirates homered (Roller, Henderson, Harrington), but the MVP goes to P Kevin Brandt, who didn’t give up a run until the seventh and went 8 1/3 innings pitched. Again the pitching performance kept the Championship hopes alive. Monday June 1
East Carolina 10 - South Carolina 9
If Devin Harris’ ninth-inning, game-tying three-run shot to left field wasn’t enough to earn him MVP honors for the deciding game of the Greenville Regional, his base-knock up the middle (scoring Kyle Roller from second base) that won the tournament in dramatic fashion sealed the deal. Harris had 5 RBI on the night and scored twice.
Of the 24 exasperating and exhilarating hours spent in the Jungle of the CLS, the last hour was the best. All the hours of rain-sun-heat-sweat-beer-chicken-burger-baseball had left me dehydrated and delirious. But as I tried to wedge my way on the fence in the bottom of the ninth, I still felt like IT was bound to happen. When Harris’ shot left his bat and I saw that tiny white spec hurling against the black back drop of the early summer night, there was no doubt. We all hugged and high-fived, strangers and locals alike. And when Harris’ game-winner dribbled up the middle, I knew it. Roller made a mile wide turn at third and perfectly slid behind the well-thrown bullet from Whit Merrifield, the Gamecock outfielder. For a minute there, I thought I was at Woodstock. Winning’s like that. It brings out the love.
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Funny game leave Bucs smiling…
Baseball, they say, is a funny game. And anyone who’s followed America’s Pastime for any length of time know what that means.
Funny as in curious, disturbing, oddly entertaining…. Not the ha-ha variety.
That’s about all one could say about the Diamond Buc’s performance at the CUSA tournament this past weekend. It’s only that kind of funny that can have a team among the national leaders in offensive production held scoreless for 15 consecutive innings. Funny that a team that hadn’t been shut out in nearly two years fail to score in the clutch. Funny that a team with one of the best records in the country could go 1-2 and seemingly leave the hopes of hosting a NCAA tournament regional to the lonely ranks of the incurable optimists.
Again, I’m talking baseball funny. Because no one was laughing.
In hindsight, I guess we should have seen this coming. The Diamond Bucs had to pour it on late to get past the #8 seed UCF in Game One. Stephen Batts paced the Pirates with three RBI, but the Game MVP went to Jared Avchen (his second of the season) for his clutch hitting in the bottom of the seventh that included the game winner.
If first game jitters made for an explanation for a Pirate team that finished the regular season 9-1 and were hitting and pitching with power and consistency, then you’d have to ‘blame’ Southern Miss pitcher JR Ballinger for the loss in Game Two. In fact, not to be overlooked in all of this is that the Diamond Bucs faced two of the league’s hottest pitchers within hours of each other in the rain-altered schedule. Josh Zeid for Tulane pitched very well in the elimination game, and while the Pirates managed seven hits in each of the two perplexing losses, the Pirates were unable to put anything together and were uncharacteristically sloppy in the Tulane game, with two charged errors and simply outplayed (see Dustin Harrington getting hosed at home…twice).
So with the Diamond Bucs left to unceremoniously board the bus for the 13-hour, 900 mile bus trip back to Greenville, the Bucs had with plenty of time ponder what could have been.
One of the things to consider was that, since the ‘House that 23 built has been in existence, the four Pirate teams that have played there have come up short. During that span, we’ve been proud to matriculate some of the finest Pirate players to wear the purple and gold, but behind the scenes, we had a lot of stuff going on. Destined and designed to allow the Bucs to host regionals and give them a proper send off to Omaha, CLS been relegated to summer leagues and the hollow whir of the summer mower.
And when you couple that with the success of our neighbors in Chapel Hill and the sheer demagoguery of our former AD, and it’s understandable that the program hit the protracted speed bump. But since the arrival of Terry Holland and Billy Godwin, the progress has been slow, steady and decidedly real.
The goal of Godwin and Holland is much like the goals set forth for the football program under Holland and Skip Holtz: put themselves in a position to win, and by living right and taking the high road, good things will happen.
And a lot like the end of the ‘08 Pirate football campaign, the Pirates found themselves with the goal achieved. With conference titles in hand, and the post-season destination of choice realized, all that’s left is the reckoning. Baseball’s a funny game, but you need to put yourselves in a place to appreciate the humor.
All that were announced today were the host sites. The NCAA, in their usual ambiguous style, leave the schools, players and fans in a 24-hour lurch to learn what teams will serve as our guests next weekend.
Knowing what little I do about the intricacies of the selection process, I’ll venture a guess here: Virginia will be the 2 seed, George Mason will follow suit as a number 3. The final spot could go to any one of a dozen teams. If those teams were to be included in our draw, there would be subplots galore, from the UVA assistant head coach Kevin McMullan (who served as ECU’s acting head coach for Keith LeClair in 2001-2002) to the inclusion of George Mason (a team we faced regualary back in our CAA days). When it comes down to the NCAA’s, the Pirates don’t need to face anyone with any added motivation.
Regardless of the makeup of the Greenville Regional, and whether or not this year’s team is the one that realizes the ultimate dream of taking the field in Omaha, Nebraska, one thing seems certain.
Baseball is a funny game, and when the Diamond Bucs take the field this Friday at the house that Keith LeClair built, there’s at least one Pirate Legend that will be smiling.
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Games 54-56: The Memphis Series…
Game 54: Thursday May 14, ECU 9 - Memphis 4
Memphis lefty pitcher Brach Davis was the story early on in Thursday night’s game at the CLS. But by the seventh inning, the Diamond Bucs began to figure him out.
Trent Whitehead was a stellar 4-5 from the plate, including 4 RBI, but the MVP has to go to Dustin Harrington. Using the late Les Garner’s rendition of ‘Take Me Out to the Ballgame’ as a cue, Harrington uncorked a first pitch into straightaway center, clanking of the new batter’s eye and sparking the Pirate rally.
ECU went on to score three more in the seventh to tie the game, and the bludgeoned the Tigers in the bottom of eighth with five more runs to seal the deal.
The win, coupled with Rice’s loss to UAB move the Bucs into a tie for first in the league standings, and certainly doesn’t hurt our slim but still relevant chances to host a regional.
Game 55: Friday May 15, ECU 9 - Memphis 1
Friday was Senior Day at CLS, with seven Diamond Bucs officially taking the nod as their collegiate careers wind down. Bailey Daniels, Ryan Wood, Brandon Henderson, Britton Cole, Trent Ashcraft, Drew Schieber and Stephen Batts will all soon exit the Pirate program, but chances are the Pirate in them will never escape. The four year Senior class has amassed a solid record of 155-85 and is Coach Billy Godwin’s first full fledged offerings to next month’s MLB draft.
I’ve always been a sap for Senior Day. I get all nostalgic every time I think about another class by the boards and another chapter closing. And not like I need it, but it’s another reminder of my own distance from the Purple Gown and Golden Tassel.
So yeah, I thought long and hard about who to give this rather special Most Valuable Pirate award to tonight. The self-imposed rules that I laid out at the beginning of the season have held up pretty well. I only broke form once, and that was to nominate Les Garner as the MVP on the seventh inning rally on the first game after his passing. That was a cinch… and to this day that evening gives me chills. That alone should stand as the single anomaly.
Among those rules was that there would be no ties. No awards to the entirety of the senior class for example. However, there were four seniors to select from tonight — and for their careers.
Brandon Henderson (2-4, 2 RBI) hit a ball in the bottom of the first inning that, if it weren’t for the top of the light standard in left field, might still be in orbit. Drew Scheiber made his mark in the second with a bomb to right. Ryan Wood, though without a home run, went 3-3 with a walk and in the process, exemplified his role with the Diamond Bucs. But it was Stephen Batts’ game leading 3 RBI with a homer in the first that snags the Senior Night MVP.
By the way, sophomore Ace Seth Maness dealt 9 K’s in 7 innings to go 9-0 and got nice relief from from Patrick Somers and Mike Wright, who struck out the side in the ninth. The trio combined for 13 K’s.
With the win, ECU coach Billy Godwin matched Keith LeClair as the only Pirate Skippers to guide their way to three consecutive 40-win seasons.
Game 56: Saturday May 16, ECU 13 - Memphis 2
The Diamond Bucs earned a regular season Conference Championship Sunday with the sweep of Memphis, while Rice got upended by a late UAB rally to give the Bucs sole possession of first place in the league and the number one seed going into the Conference Tournament Wednesday at Hattiesburg, MS.
The Senior trio of Ryan Wood, Stephen Batts and Brandon Henderson each had a multi-RBI game and fellow Senior Drew Scheiber made a pair of serious stops at the hot corner… all while Brad Mincey kept the Tiger bats at bay through five innings. Kevin Brandt came in and shut the door over the final two innings.
On a day with a host of stellar plays, the MVP goes to Brandon Henderson, whose three run shot in the seventh gave the Diamond Bucs more than enough to invoke the ten run rule and add an exclamation point to the end of the regular season.
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Game 53: ECU 12- UNCW 5
Game 53: Tuesday May 12, ECU 12- UNCW 5
Pirate second-baseman Ryan Wood is the ‘there just ain’t no doubt’ MVP for the rubber match of the ECU-Wilmington series played Tuesday night at a very purple Brooks Field. Wood hit for the cycle in going 4-6 with four RBI and moved into a tie for first place with Kyle Roller in the number of homers hit this season (13).
Not that anyone’s counting, but Stephen Batts and Devin Harris are just behind in the Pirate HR derby with 12, Dustin Harrington has knocked out 11 while while Brandon Henderson is not out of reach at 9. As a team, the Diamond Bucs have put up an impressive 88 round-trippers for the year, which currently ranks third all time for ECU.
The Bucs used seven pitchers on ‘committee night’, with Bailey Daniels giving up three runs in the fourth and Mike Anderson notching his first ‘W’ of the year.
UNCW right-fielder Andrew Cane was taken a local hospital after a fierce collision with the fence in the sixth. Cane is a JH Rose grad and is the grandson of for ECU AD Bill Cain.
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Games 50-52: The Houston Series…
Game 50: Friday May 8, Houston 5 - ECU 4
Cougar shortstop Blake Kelso scored on a Seth Simmons wild pitch in the seventh for what proved to be the winning run Friday night over ECU at Cougar Field. Senior Stephen Batts went 3-5 and Dustin Harrington belted a HR in the fourth, but the Bucs became undone from the hill and a fielding error by Harrington in the seventh, including a walk, a plunk and giving up a sac bunt.
Game 51: Saturday May 9, ECU 12 - Houston 2
Seth Maness (8-0) pitched seven innings with five K’s and allowing only two runs, but the story of the game was the Diamond Bucs resurgent offense, in particular a six-run sixth inning that boasted long balls by Kyle Roller, Dustin Harrinton and Drew Scheiber. Roller’s shot was tracked by nearby NASA as a unidentified orb clean across the state of Texas, but the MVP goes to Steven Batts, with his four RBI performance. Ryan Wood gets a solid honorable mention as he went 3-5 and three RBI.
Game 52: Sunday May 10, ECU 13 - Houston 6
Kevin Brandt (7-1) was stellar in coming in for beleaguered starter Brad Mincey, giving but two runs 6.1 innings in relief, but the MVP nod is to Ryan Wood, who’s 4-5 performance had two dingers and four RBI. For the deciding game of the series, the Bucs amassed 19 hits, with ten Pirates contributing hits.
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Five games I’d like to have back….
It’s the college baseball silly season, the time of year where everyone seems to have a projection for the NCAA regionals and where East Carolina will wind up in their perennial quest for Omaha.
Over the last few weeks, there have been projections that take the Diamond Bucs to Oxford Mississippi, Charlottesville VA, Atlanta, Miami, Chapel Hill NC, Austin and yes, even one projection has ECU hosting a regional in the house that #23 built.
The key figure that the selection committee looks at in determining the 64 teams that make the field, how their seated and most importantly, who will host the initial 16 regionals that take place May 29-31 is the RPI.
For the uninitiated, the RPI is the net sum of a dizzying array of percentages that include winning percentage, the winning percentage of the teams a given team defeats, loses to and all of their opponents records, etc., until it becomes a baffling composite that would make Bill Gates blush.
According to NCAA officials, RPI isn’t the be-all, end-all. But for most members of the committee, it does tend to be a crutch. It’s the number that, by and large has the biggest impact on any teams post season positioning.
Beyond that, officials look at recent performance, geography, facilities, attendance and the bids submitted by the schools to the NCAA, which if looked at cynically, amounts to little more than a kick-back to the NCAA for keeping a given team at home.
According to NCAA’s official RPI, ECU currently stands at #21. With seven games remaining in the regular season, and with a record of 35-14, the Pirates have a number of things going for them. At this point in the season, their are only three teams in the Ping!Baseball.com top 30 with more wins than the Pirates. Also according to Ping!, the Pirates are among the national leaders in hitting, slugging percentage, home runs and scoring. Also in the Bucs favor is our history of providing the NCAA with competitive bids, first class facilities and among the national leaders in attendance.
In short, we’re ready. The only thing that really has held East Carolina back as far as RPI is the relative weakness of Conference USA (particularly Southern Miss and Tulane) this year and anomalies in terms of some of our non-conference foes not being quite as strong as we would have hoped (UCLA, Oklahoma State and Louisiana-Lafayette).
And of course there are still seven key regular season games remaining. After a crucial battle at Houston this weekend, the Bucs travel for the rubber game of a three game series versus UNCW and then Memphis at home. If the Pirates can take six of those seven (not impossible by any means), ECU would finish their regular season at 41-15 and perhaps a RPI of 16 (if our past opponents do all the right things). Then, even with just a respectable showing in the Conference Tournament (say be involved when the back-room selections begin in earnest on Saturday), then it’s a no-brainer.
That all being said, it’s gonna’ be close. Here are five games that, had we won, we would have been making plans for G-Vegas already. I’ve ranked them not so much as ‘woulda’-coulda’-shoulda’, but more in terms in what they would’ve done for the team in terms of our positioning going down the stretch…
#5) Game 36: Tuesday, April 14, Campbell 12 - ECU 8
ECU tried using six different pitchers, but dug a hole for themselves Tuesday night against Campbell. Then a rain delay didn’t give them a chance to get out of it. Kyle Roller hit a homer in the 8th to cut the lead to four, followed by the Pirates loading the bases with nobody out. But then came a 35 minute rain delay and a decision to call it a night saddled the Pirates with a tough loss.
#4) Game 14: Saturday, March 14, UCLA 8- ECU 6
After trailing 5-3 Friday, the Diamond Bucs jumped back into the lead when play resumed in the rain-delayed Game 2 of the UCLA series Saturday morning, with Drew Scheiber creaming a three-run shot in the sixth inning. But the Bruins scored one run each in the seventh, eighth and ninth inning, resulting in a series-sealing 8-6 victory on another damp day at Clark-LeClair Field.
Chris Heston got no decision after pitching five innings on Friday, at one point giving up five runs on one hit. The unfortunate combination of walks, wild pitches and errors each contributed to the unusual line score. Sthil Sowers (1-2) took the loss. UCLA’s Gerrit Cole, a first round pick of the NY Yankees, gave up three runs on three hits, but settled in and struck out a career best 12 Pirate batters.
#3) Game 40: Sunday April 19, Tulane 4 - ECU 3
In what was probably the most hurtful loss in ECU’s recent baseball woes, Tulane took the series in a hard-fought, one-run game where the Pirates matched Tulane hit for hit, did not commit an error and pitched eight scoreless innings of hardball. Tulane committed two errors on the day, but snuck out of Turchin Stadium with the series. The Diamond Bucs have never won a baseball series versus the Green Wave.
#2) Game 33: Friday April 10, Rice 15- ECU 11
East Carolina’s seven run lead after five innings wasn’t enough as the top ranked Rice Owls scored 11 unanswered runs over the last four innings to upend the Pirates 15-11 in the first of the three game series at CLS.
Stephen Batts and Devin Harris each had three hits the Bucs scored at least one run in each of the first four frames, but starter Chris Heston gave way in the sixth as the Owl bats heated up. The twelfth largest crowd at CLS (3926) then watched in disbelief as skipper Billy Godwin sent in Kevin Brandt, Bailey Daniels, Seth Simmons and finally Stihl Sowers to try and stem the tide in the three and a half hour marathon that took a total of 339 pitches. With the loss, Rice is tied ECU for the league lead at 8-2.
#1) Game 31: Tuesday April 7, UNC-Ch 3 - ECU 1
The #14 Pirates went to Chapel Hill looking for their first win their since 1994. But despite a strong outing by sophomore Patrick Somers in his first collegiate start (6IP, 5H, 0ER,6K), ECU committed numerous errors and weren’t their usual overachieving selves at the plate, falling 3-1. ECU left runners on base in the third, fourth, fifth and ninth innings.
In the above games versus Tulane, UCLA and Rice, the win would have given the Pirates the series win. In the Campbell game, the Pirates just needed a do-over on that one. As for the Chapel Hill game, beating the Tar Heels is always its own reward. And by the way don’t look for the logical counterpoint on the games we should have lost any time soon…
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Games 47-49: The Louisiana-Lafayette Series
Game 47: Friday May 1, ECU 7 - ULL 1
MVP Chris Heston (7-0) retired the first eleven batters for ULL and outlasted his Cajun counterpoint Zach Osborne en route to an eight inning, 11K performance ( a career high for Heston) Friday night at CLS. Drew Scheiber and Brandon Henderson each contributed two RBI after Ryan Wood scratched in the second with a solo shot to right.
Game 48: Saturday May 2, ECU 3 - ULL 1
MVP Seth Maness won his fifth consecutive start while moving to 7-0 on the year, as East Carolina took game 2 of the three game stand 3-1 at CLS. Maness worked 7.2 innings, allowing seven hits and striking out three with 94 total pitches. Roller and Avchen both snagged RBI’s, while LaLa committed four errors on the afternoon.
Game 49: Sunday May 3, ECU 9 - ULL 4
The Diamond Bucs successfully completed their fourth weekend sweep of the season by routing the Ragin’ Cajuns 9-4 in an early Sunday start at CLS. MVP Brad Mincey shrugged off a slow start and pitched his way through seven innings, picking up a career high 7K’s along the way while allowing four runs. Mincey was followed by Kevin Brandt and Bailey Daniels who each pitched one inning in relief. Brancey (8-4) leads East Carolina in wins to date over the season. Stephen Batts contributed three RBI to highlight a solid Pirate offensive lineup where six batters combined to tag 12 hits.
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Game 46: Elon 10 - ECU 8
Tuesday, April 28: Elon 10 - ECU 8
There was a common theme for the first three pitchers ECU used against Elon at Burlington Tuesday night. When the Phoenix batters weren’t lighting up Pirate pitching, the umpire was yelling ‘ball!’.
So yeah, the strike zone got smaller as the Elon bats got hotter as the home team put up nine runs in the first three innings and held on to beat ECU 10-8. For Mike Wright, Bailey Daniels and Patrick Somers, it was a forgettable evening. PCC transfer Britton Cole came in during the third and solved the puzzle, allowing but one run the rest of the way. The Diamond Bucs scored in the first, third, fourth, seventh and ninth, but the rally came up a bit short.
The Pirates and the Phoenix have played three times this season, ECU taking two. The Bucs won 15-4 and 10-9 in Greenville, and the 10-8 loss in Burlington. The two teams were ranked 21st (ECU) and 22nd (Elon) in the most recent PING! baseball poll.
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Game 43-45 The Southern Miss Series
With CUSA front runner Rice not playing this weekend and ECU going out of league next weekend versus Louisiana-Lafayette, it’s time for the Pirates to make some hay…
Game 43: Friday, April 24, ECU 7 - So. Miss 6
After giving up significant leads and getting up-ended over the last two Friday conference series openers, the Diamond Buc held on to withstand a late rally by Southern Miss Friday night. Chris Heston pitched well into the sixth, but Austin Homan’s error in left scored two unearned for the Eagles, and the tide began to turn. While no batter had more than one hit, Devin Harris pulled in two RBI. In light of our recent Friday night history, it’s probably not a bad idea to award theMVP to Seth Simmons for closing the door on the Eagle in the ninth.
Game 44: Saturday, April 25, ECU 13 - So. Miss 5
It was a nip and tuck ball game in the first game of the made for TV double-header Saturday at CLS. The score seesawed until the Pirates settled the affair in the fifth inning with a eight run outburst.
Third baseman Drew Scheiber gets the MVP for his bat as well as his glove, with a three run monster to centerfield that landed beyond the berm in the aforementioned go-ahead inning and a couple of gonzo plays at the hot corner. Trent Whitehead (starting after sitting out Friday night with a head injury suffered Wednesday), Kyle Roller and Stephen Batts also sent baseballs over the wall.
Seth Maness (6-0) didn’t have overpowering stuff, scattered the Eagles’ ten hits over 7.2 innings with 7K’s and 4ER.
Game 45 Saturday, April 25 (DH) So Miss 2 - ECU 1
Brad Mincey was the tough luck loser on the mound for the Pirates in the DH’s nitecap, losing a 2-1 where the Wilmington sophomore gave up but one earned run in over five innings and threw 47 strikes in 71 pitches. It was Mincey’s third loss in a row and at least the second where the margin was due to unearned runs.
P Todd McInnis for the Eageles was even better, as the Diamond Bucs looked pretty well crossed up by the fifth inning on. Stephen Batt’s homer in the ninth saved the Buc’s from being shut out for the first time this year. ECU has scored one run on two different occasions this season (Chapel Hill and Marshall).
With the 4-1 week and the series over Southern Miss, the Pirates are 32-13 with three weeks to go in the regular season and maintains sole possession of second place. This weekend’s Rice/Houston matchup will be key as we go down the stretch.
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Game 42 MVP
Game 42: Wednesday, April 22, ECU 4 - UNC-Ch 0
Kevin Brandt was nearly flawless on the mound, with 10K’s in over eight innings pitched and is the no doubt MVP in the shutout of the Tarheels. The game was reportedly the largest crowd in the state to ever witness a college baseball game in the fair state of North Carolina, but the atmosphere was relatively somber until the 6th when Ryan Wood’s solo shot in the sixth put the Pirates ahead.
The Taheel rally in the ninth was thwarted by Sophomore Seth Maness, who came in for Kevin in the ninth and secured the final two outs with little difficulty.
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Game 41 MVP
Game 41: Tuesday April 21, ECU 10 - Elon 9
The Pirates had to come back to beat Elon Tuesday night… twice.
After trailing 6-0 in the second, the Diamond Bucs chipped away until they found themselves out in front with a 8-7 lead after eight innings. MVP Kyle Roller, who tied the game in the sixth with a three-run comet over the center field wall, also knocked the game winner in the ninth with a single to right that scored the pinch running Broc Sutton.
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Games 38-40/ The Tulane Series
Game 38: Friday April 17, Tulane 7 - ECU 4
The Diamond Bucs led four-nil up until the sixth, and the Green Wave’s Jeremy Schaffer hit a two-run shot in the seventh inning that was the defining shot in Tulane’s rally. With the loss, the Diamond Bucs are 2-6 since losing at Chapel Hill on April 7.
Game 39: Saturday April 18, ECU 12 - Tulane 5
The Pirates belted 15 hits, including homers by Ryan Wood and Dustin Harrington, but the MVP goes the Devin Harris for his five RBI performance. It’s was Devin’s 10th homer of the year despite not seeing a lot of playing time early on in the season. Seth Maness went strong for five-plus innings before giving up 5 in the sixth. Seth Simmons came on in the bottom of the sixth and shutout the Wave the rest of the way.
Game 40: Sunday April 19, Tulane 4 - ECU 3
In what was probably the most hurtful loss in ECU’s recent baseball woes, Tulane took the series in a hard-fought, one-run game where the Pirates matched Tulane hit for hit, did not commit an error and pitched eight scoreless innings of hardball. Tulane committed two errors on the day, but snuck out of Turchin Stadium with the series. The Diamond Bucs have never won a baseball series versus the Green Wave.
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Games 36-37/Campbell/NCSU
Game 36: Tuesday, April 14, Campbell 12 - ECU 8
ECU tried using six different pitchers, but dug a hole for themselves Tuesday night against Campbell. Then a rain delay didn’t give them a chance to get out of it. Kyle Roller hit a homer in the 8th to cut the lead to four, followed by the Pirates loading the bases with nobody out. But then came a 35 minute rain delay and a decision to call it a night saddled the Pirates with a tough loss.
Game 37: Wednesday, April 15, ECU 7 - NCSC 0
There’s no doubt that Kevin Brandt (5-1) gets the MVP for Wednesday nights shutout of the Pack. He went 6.2 innings while Jared Avchen and Drew Scheiber each had two rbi to help make the true freshman more comfortable on the mound. ECU goes to 2-0 versus their friends from Raleigh on the year.
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PIG FRENZY….
In a world that seems hopelessly hurtling towards a PC state of blissful compliance, savage rituals seem increasingly hard to come by.
But if you or your family grew up in the East, or basically anyplace where hog raising was a way of life, then you understand the annual Great Pigskin Pigout Party for what it is. It’s more than a pig cooking competition and it’s more than an all-night festival under the lights of Dowdy-Ficklen stadium. It is more than anything, lunch for a band of purple clad football fans - and a chance to get off the laptop and down and dirty into a grill full raw pork and LP gas.
For the uninitiated, this year’s Pigout is the 26th annual rendition of the brainchild of former East Carolina Athletic Director Dave Hart, who had a vision of ‘carnivalizing’ the annual spring football game. By adding rides, games, bands and the Pigout to the mix, his hope was to turn the bucolic spring game (the culmination of the spring football practice season) into a destination weekend and a money maker for the athletics department.
Obviously the idea was a success, and over the years AD’s from around the country have visited our seasonal springtime ritual and have created similar festivals of their own.
Though the festivities have morphed over time with a different mix of bands, attractions and sideshows (the first edition boasted a long since abandoned bikini contest), two constants have remained: a sneak peak at the upcoming edition of the pigskin pirates and the pig cooking competition. And in each, the competition is fierce.
While I’m little more than a spectator and occasional conscientious objector of the football program, I am a firsthand delegate to the pig cooking ceremony, and it does qualify as a ceremonious affair. My friend Mike is really the guy behind the wheel. It’s his cooker and his expertise that have driven our motley crew to the upper echelons of pig cooking stardom; and John, our friend and resident sauce chef and beer mule rejoins our team, called the “Pigabillies,” to complete our pig roasting roster.
It’ll do down like this. On Friday April 17, we’ll hold a cooks’ meeting around 7pm, followed at nine by the ‘Parade of Pigs’, which if taken literally, would infer a grand procession of live pigs squealing about the stadium. Instead, in true Eastern NC fashion, it’s about three dozen chilled pig carcasses in the back of a sausage truck. Headless and hoofless, they’re wrapped in bacon, i mean plastic, as we shoulder our random hog to it’s cremation.
From there, we’ve got all night, with the earliest judging at about 8am. We trim it, season it, get the flame right and make our plans, based on the pig’s weight, when to turn it over, lower the lid and forget about it for a while… a long while. Like the say, ‘If you’re lookin’, you ain’t cookin’.’
In the meantime, friends drop by. Some for a few minutes, some stay ‘til the wee hours. After that, it’s a long, lonely stretch to daybreak; time to consider one’s place on this earth, or at least contemplate one’s place under the stadium’s architecture.
When the sun peeks around the tops of the surrounding pines, the ‘Fick again begins to stir. The judges are unmistakable, traveling in threes, followed closely by a ‘gator’ (a small flatbed with with greasy container in the back for hauling the cooked remains).
It’s an unnerving experience. As the head cook, my job is to stand at the ready to provide the judges with a knife, a cold bottled water or a napkin, and try to appear stolid while the judges score their marks. We’re graded on everything from meat moisture to skin crispiness. At the time, it seems like they take forever, but they move on to the next group of BBQer’s soon enough, usually without or goodbye or a look in the eye, no indication of how your pig rates.
Later in the day, usually during halftime of the spring football game, the winners are announced, but I’m usually too worn out to care. After cooking all night, I’m pretty much resigned to getting the pig done and getting out of there and back home, where it’s time for very long shower and a very long daytime nap.
As far as savage rituals go, once a year is enough.
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Games 33-35: The Rice Series
Game 33: Friday April 10, Rice 15- ECU 11
East Carolina’s seven run lead after five innings wasn’t enough as the top ranked Rice Owls scored 11 unanswered runs over the last four innings to upend the Pirates 15-11 in the first of the three game series at CLS.
Stephen Batts and Devin Harris each had three hits the Bucs scored at least one run in each of the first four frames, but starter Chris Heston gave way in the sixth as the Owl bats heated up. The twelfth largest crowd at CLS (3926) then watched in disbelief as skipper Billy Godwin sent in Kevin Brandt, Bailey Daniels, Seth Simmons and finally Stihl Sowers to try and stem the tide in the three and a half hour marathon that took a total of 339 pitches. With the loss, Rice is tied ECU for the league lead at 8-2.
Game 34: Saturday April 11, ECU 4 - Rice 1
Most Valuable Pirate Seth Maness used all four of his pitches to perfection as the CUSA pre-season pitcher of the year held the top ranked Owls to one run (unearned) over nine innings with 8K’s and with an efficient 100 pitches. Drew Scheiber, Stephen Batts, Dustin Harrington and Trent Whitehead each contributed RBI’s to help secure the victory and retake the top spot in the league.
Game 35: Sunday April 12, Rice 5 - ECU 4
Much has been made of the Pirate’s ability to score with two out, but ECU left eight runners on base over the last four innings, including two in the ninth and Brandon Henderson’s drive to center field with two on and two in the ninth at first crossed up Rice CF Steven Slutzbaugh, who then recovered to snag the final out over his shoulder.
Rice starter Mike Ojala improved to 2-0 with 10K’s over five innings while Pirate starter Brad Mincey (7-2) gave up four earned with four k’s in 5.2 innings.
With the win, Rice (25-8, 9-3) claims first place in Conference USA by virtue of the tie breaker over the Pirates (26-9, 9-3). Over the three-game series East Carolina out hit the Owls (34-32) but Rice outscored ECU 21-19. ECU had three errors on the weekend, Rice had two.
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Game 32: UNCW 8 - ECU 3
Every Pirate starter had at least one hit and the team totaled double digit hits for the 26th time this year, but the Diamond Bucs failed to string anything together and left 15 on base, dropping the second game in a row 8-3.
The Seahawks’ (18-11) win breaks a six game losing streak to ECU (25-7), dating back to 2007, and ECU has a chance to return the favor on May 12, but first, the Pirates need get it back together as #1 Rice visits CLS for a three-game conference series.
While there is some concern that the loss, coupled with last night’s performance versus UNC-CH, adversely affects ECU’s stated goal of hosting a NCAA regional, it’s salient to keep in mind that there’s still plenty of baseball left for the Pirates to make an undeniable case.
With 15 conference games and nine out of league tilts remaining, East Carolina is still in a good position and has plenty of reasons to feel good about their performance to date. The Pirates are ranked in all the major polls and currently are in the catbird seat with a 8-1 league mark.
While the remaining conference battles are daunting (v. Rice, v. Southern Miss, @ Tulane, @ Houston, v. Memphis), the out of league slate should prove to be challenging as well (Campbell, NCSU, Elon (2), UNC-CH, Louisiana-Lafayette (3) and UNCW).
If the Bucs can find a way to get to 12-3 in their remaining conference games, while posting a 7-2 mark non-conference, the Pirates would finish the 2009 regular season with a 44-12 record. And with the schedule ahead of us the RPI will be more than sufficient to get the bid.
While I believe that ECU could get the Regional bid with a final result just south of that 44 win mark, the odds drop sharply with each additional loss. Also, the Pirates absolutely can’t afford a late season weekend home sweep (see Tulane last year). The Rajun Cajuns (17-12-1) are another bayou team that will be making a late season visit to Greenville and is key to the Pirates success.
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Game 31: UNC-CH 3 - ECU 1
The #14 Pirates went to Chapel Hill looking for their first win their since 1994. But despite a strong outing by sophomore Patrick Somers in his first collegiate start (6IP, 5H, 0ER,6K), ECU committed numerous errors and weren’t their usual overachieving selves at the plate, falling 3-1. ECU left runners on base in the third, fourth, fifth and ninth innings.
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Games 24-30….
Game 24: Sun. Mar. 29, ECU 5 - Marshall 1
The MVP goes to Brad Mincey as he worked three scoreless innings of relief in a game that was close to the very end. Starter Seth Maness also had a good outing, giving up one run in six innings with four K’s. Austin Homan brought in Jared Avchen in the seventh to tie the game before the 36 hour rain delay. Devin Harris got the game winning RBI in the eighth and the Diamond Bucs added three in the ninth.
Game 25: Sun. Mar. 29, Marshall 6 - ECU 2
The Thundering Herd improved to 3-3 in league action and the Freshman phenom Kevin Brandt (4-1) suffered his first collegiate loss as Marshall salvaged game three of the series and avoided the sweep.
Game 26: Tues. Mar. 31, ECU 15 - Elon 4
Four Pirates jacked homers in the mid-week yawner versus Elon, but the MVP goes to Devin Harris, who led the Diamond Bucs in hits and RBI. Patrick Somers (2-1) got the win with two scoreless innings in relief.
Game 27: Wed. Apr. 1 ECU 14 - NCSU 4
The Diamonds broke the jinx against the Wolfpack with a decisive 14-4 knockout of the Pack at Doh! Field in Raleigh. Brad Mincey got the start for the Pirates and picked up his sixth win, best in CUSA. The Pack used 10 pitchers on the night, but it made little difference other than their starter who struck out the ECU side in the top of the first (the first time that has happened this season for the Pirates). The Pirates were led by Trent Whitehead, who had 5 RBI and two homers, his first a three-run shot that opened up the scoring for ECU in the third. For his efforts, Trent Whitehead is the game’s MVP.
Game 28: ECU 6 - UAB 3
Coach Billy Godwin reached a milestone with his 400th career victory as East Carolina doubled up in the opener Friday, 6-3. Stephen Batts hit the game winner in the seventh inning, but the MVP goes to starter Chris Heston (5-0), who struck out ten, walked three and was solid for 107 pitches.
Game 29: ECU 15- UAB 9
Sophomore MVP Devin Harris knocked in four RBI, including the game winner, to take the series-winning game two Saturday. Seth Maness improves to 3-0 with 5.1 scoreless innings.
Game 30: ECU 10 - UAB 9
The Pirates were able to rally and sweep the blazers with a hard fought game three on Saturday. Both Drew Scheiber and Dustin Harrington had two RBI apiece, but the MVP goes to P Brad Mincey (7-1), who came in the fourth and settled down the noisy Blazer bats with 3.1 scoreless innings of relief.
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IF we beat WV in Motown, it’ll be a first, aye?
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ABOUT NEXT YEAR?,THE WILDER KID THAT PLAYED AT ROSE LAST YEAR,WAS HE REDSHIRTED THIS YEAR?
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What does the woman keep yelling during the game? I can’t make it out - she’s relentless!
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All Pirate pitching for this game was wild. Two GSU batters were hit by pitched balls. A number of pitches hit the ground several feet ahead of home plate. Many were high. My Pirates appeared to have totally lost it in the bottom half of the 2nd inning.
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