For the first time since 2009 and for only the second time in school history, East Carolina will host an NCAA baseball regional at Clark-LeClair Stadium.
All told it is the sixth time that ECU has earned a top seed in a regional, dating back to 1999. Those six top seeds run down like this:
- 1999 – Baton Rouge, LA
- 2000 – Lafayette, LA
- 2001 – Wilson, NC
- 2004 – Kinston, NC
- 2009 – Greenville, NC
- 2018 – Greenville, NC
Pirate Coach Cliff Godwin played at ECU during the “LeClair” years of 1999-2001.
Godwin gets emotional when he talks about hosting a regional. He may show that rough exterior to all of us in the media but I know better.
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Two things I know about Godwin: He loves his players and he loves his former teammates.
Despite winning games at a record clip, hosting a regional was something the ECU team couldn’t do on campus when the late Keith LeClair was the coach and Godwin was catcher, co-captain and a two-time academic All-American.
It’s almost like this is Godwin’s gift to his former teammates, and I’m sure each and every one of them is absolutely beaming with pride.
“I’m just proud for East Carolina University and Pirate Nation,” said Godwin at the team’s NCAA viewing party on Monday at the Mellow Mushroom in Greenville. “These guys worked their butts off and I know they can’t wait until the weekend.”
South Carolina provided the opposition in 2009, when ECU had to rally from the loser’s bracket to force the final game. From there, Devin Harris hit a late home run to tie the game, and then brought home the game winner with an RBI single.
Bryant Packard, who now owns the school’s all-time longest hitting streak at 32, was a young baseball fan watching the hometown team that season.
“I remember it well,” said Packard. “The excitement in the park was unbelievable. Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a home run, but then Devin Harris did the same and the Pirates would win. The place went nuts when the winning run scored.”
Bradley, who currently plays centerfield for the Boston Red Sox, was a slugger for the Gamecocks when Harris matched Bradley’s blast and then delivered the 10th-inning hit that lifted ECU to victory. Harris went 4-for-5 in the game with 5 RBIs.
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This year South Carolina once again heads to Greenville for regional play.
Add in rival UNC-Wilmington from the CAA and Ohio State from the Big Ten, and it looks like this should be a tough regional.
“What you guys (media) and all of our fans have to understand is that there are no easy games in the tournament,” said Godwin. “Every team in this tournament is good. That’s why they are in the tournament.”
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The Greenville Regional was paired with the Fayetteville Regional hosted by No. 5 national seed Arkansas. The Razorbacks along with No. 2 seed Southern Miss, No. 3 seed Dallas Baptist and No. 4 seed Oral Roberts will compete to determine which team will advance to the super regional round to face the winner of the Greenville regional.
The 72nd College World Series (CWS) begins play Saturday, June 16, at the TD Ameritrade Park Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska.
2018 NCAA GREENVILLE REGIONAL SCHEDULE
Friday, June 1
Game 1: (3) Ohio State vs. (2) South Carolina (2 p.m.)
Game 2: (4) UNC-Wilmington vs. (1) ECU (7 p.m.)
Saturday, June 2
Game 3: Loser G1 vs. Loser G2 (12 noon)
Game 4: Winner G1 vs. Winner G2 (5 p.m.)
Sunday, June 3
Game 5: Winner G3 vs. Loser G4 (12 noon)
Game 6: Winner G4 vs. Winner G5 (6 p.m.)
Monday, June 4
Game 7: Winner G6 vs. Loser G6 (4 p.m. – IF NECESSARY)
All games will be televised on ESPN platforms.
It should be a great weekend of baseball in Greenville. Hopefully it’s just the start of a busy month of June.
BB
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