Bart Giamatti, the former commissioner of Major League Baseball, once wrote that the game is designed to break hearts by inspiring hope at the outset, only to see it dashed by season’s end. That is a feeling shared by fans of East Carolina University’s baseball program, which has been tantalizingly close to its dream of playing in the College World Series only to fall short.

With the season set to begin, the familiar wellspring of hope has returned to Clark-LeClair Stadium and with it the rekindled aspirations of seeing the Pirates reach Omaha and play for the national championship. Optimism abounds in advance of the first pitch this afternoon and the purple and gold faithful will watch, setting aside fears of yet another broken heart.

The University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee baseball team serves as the guests this weekend as East Carolina baseball returns to Greenville. The Pirates were selected by the media to finish third in an always competitive Conference USA, and the team begins the year ranked just outside the top 25 in many of the college polls. Following that script would likely see East Carolina make the postseason but miss the College World Series once again.

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