Pirates' mettle tested

By Brian Bailey
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We're never going to accept losing around here ... It's not okay to lose ... I don't care if they're ranked number two or ranked number one or who they are ... There are no moral victories when you lose... — Cliff Godwin

Second-ranked Virginia came to town and swept East Carolina in Cliff Godwin's debut as the head baseball coach of the Pirates. The Cavaliers have a nice mix of experience and youth and feature a pitching staff that will rank among the nation's best all season.

East Carolina didn't have to play a perfect game in order to win, but key mistakes cost them dearly.

The Pirates dropped two inning-ending pop-ups in the first game of the series, which led to a run in one case and scored a run in the second instance. Those kinds of errors are killers in a close game against a good team.

Saturday's first game of the doubleheader included a disastrous second inning in which the Pirates gave up five runs on a single hit.

Godwin says there were other miscues as well, but nothing that can't be corrected.

"We need to get better," said Godwin. "I mean we're going to lift weights tomorrow and we're going to do infield stuff and I don't care what the weather is like, because we are going to get better."

Add in the cold temperatures both days against a great pitching staff and it's one long weekend for the offense.

"I mean, look, [UVa pitcher] Connor Jones is really good," Godwin explained. "You guys watched the best pitching staff in the country this weekend and I’m not giving our hitters any excuse for why we didn’t swing the bats. Connor Jones has major league type stuff. Brandon Waddell left some pitches up and we had a better approach and got some better swings off of him."

Confidence is a big key in baseball and Godwin has to wonder where his team is after the three losses.

"We need to get our stuff together, play better, that was what was said," he explained. "If you are mentally weak in this game, it’s going to affect you and you’re not going to play very long because it’s a game of failures. Hopefully we don’t have any infielders that have that effect on them."

Godwin knew going in just how difficult the assignment was going to be. Add in the injury to top pitcher Reid Love, who will also play outfield, and the suspension of Bryce Harmon and two other players, and the cards were stacked against this team from the start.

Love was scheduled to throw some to start the week. Harmon is still listed as day to day.

"The positives are we played one of the best teams in the country and we competed hard," said Godwin. "They [the Pirates] know we can play with those guys."

The weather was certainly a factor on the first weekend, and could be more of a problem this week. ECU is scheduled to play Old Dominion on Wednesday, but that game is in doubt because of the chance of snow.

The weather isn't expected to get much better until Saturday, meaning the first day of the LeClair Classic is also a big question mark.

Just how cold was it this weekend?

I talked to Virginia assistant coach and former ECU assistant Kevin McMullan on Saturday morning before the doubleheader.

"I played ball in Pennsylvania and I was never as cold as I was last night," McMullan said, referring to the previous night's series opener. "I don't know if I didn't dress right or what, but I was freezing."

Hopefully both the Pirates' play and the weather will warm up very soon.

BB

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