A big weekend is at hand for East Carolina. The third weekend of the baseball season is always big as the Pirates host the Keith LeClair Classic in memory of the esteemed late coach.

Kent State, Indiana State and Virginia Tech comprise this year’s field.

It also will be an uncharacteristically huge occasion for the basketball team, which hosts Charlotte on Sunday at noon (ESPNU).

In contrast to Pirate tradition with the calendar turning to March — basketball has a winning record (16-12) while baseball is under .500 (3-5).

Potential winning season

A hoops win over the 49ers would assure the Pirates of their first winning season since 2012-13 when a 23-12 campaign culminated with the CIT championship at Weber State. A 3-pointer at the buzzer by Akeem Richmond provided a 77-74 win over the host Wildcats in Ogden, UT, on April 2, 2013.

The Pirates are 8-7 in the American Athletic Conference, a program record for AAC victories.

Precedent for baseball turnaround

Three of the baseball losses came to No. 5 North Carolina.

An 8-2 win over Old Dominion on Wednesday is an indication that pieces are falling into place for another strong season on the diamond as 27 new players settle into their roles under the guidance of Cliff Godwin, who has 400 wins in 10-plus seasons.

ECU was 3-5 at the outset of the 2022 season but eventually put things together, winning the American Athletic Conference regular season and tournament championships. The Pirates finished 46-21, winning a regional in Greenville before extending Texas to three games in ECU’s first Super Regional at home.

The Pirates haven’t had a losing season in baseball since going 15-27 in 2010.

Invader No 1, Kent State

ECU takes on the Mid-American Conference entry on Friday at 4:30 p.m. after the Classic opener between Virginia Tech and Indiana State at noon.

The Golden Flashes are 1-5 after opening their season with a 4-2 win over Eastern Kentucky in an event hosted by South Alabama. Gavin Jones went five innings with five strikeouts for the win. Luke Matthews drove in two runs.

Former New York Mets outfielder Jeff Duncan guides the Golden Flashes. He has been MAC Coach of the Year four times since taking over the program in 2013. His career record is 330-210.

Senior Jake Casey is hitting .474 through six games with a home run and four RBIs.

Kent State was swept at Mercer last weekend.

Indiana State

The Pirates meet the Sycamores on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.

Former NBA great Larry Bird played one game at first base during his college days at Indiana State, going 1-for-2 and driving in two runs. He struck out on three pitches in his first at-bat but singled up the middle to bring in the deciding runs in his second at-bat. Bird called an end to his baseball career after colliding with the catcher on a foul ball.

More recently, Indiana State won the Missouri Valley Conference regular season championship last year and made the NCAA field after losing in the league tournament final to Evansville, the team that won the Greenville regional as the No. 4 seed in 2024.

The Sycamores are 5-3 this season after a 12-4 win at Bethune-Cookman on Tuesday.

First-year coach Tracy Archuleta was at Southern Indiana for 18 years where he won 571 games and two Division II championships before he transitioned the Screaming Eagles to Division I.

Jeremy Martinez is hitting .360 and Eli Gipson is at .353.

Virginia Tech

The Hokies opened the season with a 19-0 win over Bucknell in Blacksburg on Valentine’s Day. The Bison bounced back to win the second game of a doubleheader, 8-6.

Virginia Tech took the series with a 27-1 win on Sunday.

The Hokies (6-2) have played all home game so far, taking two of three from UNC-Greensboro with midweek victories over East Tennessee State and James Madison.

Henry Cooke had a 3-run homer in a 7-2 win over the Dukes on Wednesday.

John Szefc is in his seventh season as coach of the Hokies after previously serving in that capacity at Marist and Maryland. The Drexel grad has 558 career wins.

Sam Tackett and Jackson Cherry are each hitting .500.

Charlotte

The 49ers are 10-18 overall and 3-12 in the AAC after a 78-64 loss at Tulane on Wednesday night.

Giancarlo Rosado had 12 points for Charlotte and Robert Braswell IV added 11 against the Green Wave.

ECU took a 75-59 road win over the 49ers on Feb. 15 as R.J. Felton scored 23 points, including seven of nine from beyond the arc.

Sunday will be Senior Day for Felton and classmates.

The Pirates are 10-6 at home, 4-5 on the road and 2-1 on neutral courts this season.

Coach Aaron Fearne guided the 49ers to a 19-12 overall record and 13-5 in the AAC in his first season in 2023-24.

Junior guard Nik Graves is averaging 16.9 points. Rosado is averaging 11.5 points while leading the team in rebounds (5.7) and assists (3.5).