No smiles after series win

By Brian Bailey
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It certainly didn't seem like a series win over Monmouth this past weekend at Clark-LeClair Stadium.

Of course, it certainly didn't seem like the first day of spring, either.

The cold, dreary conditions combined with East Carolina's problems at the plate made for a long, cold day at the ballpark.

It was a series win, but there was no celebration after Sunday's finale.

The Pirates rallied late on Friday in game one and won in walk-off fashion on a wild pitch during an intentional walk attempt.

ECU then took game two in more conventional fashion on Saturday, before barely scratching out a hit in a 4-0 series-ending loss to the Hawks on Sunday.

Monmouth has historically made the trip to Greenville over the years. It's a homecoming of sorts for former Pirate Dean Ehehalt, who is in his 23rd season as the Hawks head coach.

Over the years the Pirates have dominated the series, with 21 wins in 25 games. So Sunday had to be especially pleasing to Coach Ehehalt.

The final game was especially disappointing for Cliff Godwin and his Pirates.

East Carolina managed just one hit off Hawks starting pitcher Ricky Dennis over eight innings. Dennis brought a 6.75 ERA to Greenville, but the right-hander did his best Nolan Ryan impression in totally shutting down the Pirates on Sunday.

Kirk Morgan's 8th inning single was the only ECU hit. In fact the only threat of a mini-rally came in that same frame. After a walk and the Morgan single, Garrett Brooks hit a line drive right at the Monmouth first baseman.

It was the first triple play in Clark-LeClair Stadium history. It may have been the easiest triple play in college baseball history.

The Hawks' first baseman snagged the line drive, tagged the runner in front of him and fired to second to complete the triple play.

“Just poor at-bats,” explained Godwin to the media after the loss. “Guy has a (6.75) ERA and he comes in here and makes us look terrible. When we face Connor Jones (Virginia) and (Jon) Duplantier (Rice) – guys that are going to be top ten picks, we can get up for it. Today it was just feeble at-bats and pop ups."

Dennis was dominant. He retired the first 19 Pirates he faced before hitting Charlie Yorgen with a pitch in the seventh inning.

The Pirates did absolutely nothing offensively, and the head coach took the blame.

“It’s my fault because I guess the hitters weren’t prepared," Godwin said. "I’m the hitting coach, so I’ll take responsibility for it.”

The ECU players pride themselves in being one of the toughest teams in the country. Coach Godwin called that toughness into question on Sunday.

“Today it was weak at-bats and not being tough enough,” Godwin said. “It’s one thing to press with runners in scoring position, but it was pitiful today. I am sorry that you guys had to watch this to be quite honest with you.”

ECU fell to 13-7 on the season but still maintained a spot in the D1Baseball.com rankings at No. 19.

The Pirates travel to Duke this week before starting a seven-game home-stand that will include a non-conference weekend series with Jacksonville and the American Athletic Conference opening series with Houston.

Hopefully as the weather once again warms up, so too will the Pirate bats.

BB

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