East Carolina continues its midweek regional rivalries in baseball tonight and the Pirates battle on for a berth in the American Conference basketball  tournament Thursday night.

ECU plays at UNC-Wilmngton in baseball on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in a matchup of teams picked to win their respective conferences.

The Pirates are in the short rows in hoops with two games remaining in the regular season and little choice but to beat American Conference power Tulsa to enhance a late push for the league event in Birmingham starting March 11.

Milestone meeting

ECU (6-5-1) and UNCW (7-5) will be playing baseball for the 150th time. The Pirates lead the series, 84-65.

The Seahawks were picked to win the Coastal Athletic Association after going 34-24 overall in 2025. UNCW was 19-8 in the CAA, went 2-2 in the league tournament and missed the NCAA Tournament.

The Pirates fell, 9-4, to the Seahawks at Segra Stadium last March 18 and ECU evened the season series with a 7-3 win in Greenville on April 15. UNCW was 18-19 after the loss.

Zayac update

Bradley Zayac was the winning pitcher for ECU last season against the Seahawks.

He has transferred to Liberty after one season with the Pirates.

Thus far with the Flames, Zayac is 2-0 with a 1.32 earned run average.

Starting pitchers

Sophomore left-hander Alex Sobol (0-0) has been named to throw the first pitch tonight for the hosts. He has a 4.70 ERA.

Sobol went five innings in an 11-10 win in 11 innings at Charleston on Wednesday,  Feb. 25. He allowed one hit, three runs (two earned) with two walks and five strikeouts.

The Pirates are expected to counter with junior lefty Ryan Towers, a transfer from Loyola Marymount who took a redshirt year at ECU in 2025.

Towers started and went two innings in an 11-5 win at home over Northern Illinois on Feb. 18.

Region matchups

March will be a busy month in terms of bragging rights in the region.

The Pirates are 0-1 in the midweek against in-state opponents so far with a 2-1 loss at Campbell on Feb. 17.

ECU was 1-1-1 in a weekend series with UNC-Chapel Hill.

This weekend the Pirates head to Coastal Carolina for three games. The No. 16 Chanticleers, NCAA Tournament runners-up last year, are 7-5 after a 6-4 loss at No. 13 N.C. State (11-1) on Tuesday.

Old Dominion comes to Greenville on March 10 and ECU will visit William & Mary on March 11. Elon travels to face the Pirates on St. Patrick’s Day.

ECU goes to Duke on March 24. The Seahawks play in Clark-LeClair Stadium on March 31.

Hoops continuity

Athletic director Jon Gilbert issued a statement last week saying that Mike Schwartz would be back next season as basketball coach.

Sometimes coaches are victims of their own success. Schwartz guided the Pirates to a 19-14 overall record last season with a 10-8 mark in the American Conference.

That situation cost Kevin Keatts his job at N.C. State after reaching the Final Four the previous season.

ECU is 11-18 this season and 6-10 in league play. The Pirates have been playing better after an 0-6 start in the American and have managed to find a workable style following a series of injuries.

Jordan Riley has stepped up with 24.0 points per game and the January addition of Demetri Gardner has given ECU another offensive threat.

Giovanni Emejuru has provided a physical presence in the paint night after night. Corey Caulker has improved at point guard throughout the season.

The Pirates should have beaten Wichita State in Greenville but lost, 92-89, in double overtime. That setback could prove to be the difference in making the American tournament.

The sad thing about that potential scenario is that ECU is playing well enough right now to make a run in Birmingham.

Still, the decision to stay with Schwartz is a good one. Continuity in coaching is undervalued. Football is a good example.

Steve Logan and Ruffin McNeill were shown the door after uncharacteristic down seasons. In both cases, there was an extensive recovery period after their replacements struggled.

Gilbert said Schwartz was the best option going forward and he’s right. Gilbert also said the Pirates have had three winning seasons over the past 29 years.

Expectations this year should have been tempered with that realization.

Tulsa turnaround

Tulsa was picked last in the American in the Lindy’s preseason basketball magazine.

The Golden Hurricane was 13-20 overall last season and 6-12 in the American.

The magazine speculated that this could be the last time around for Coach Eric Konkol, who was 34-60 in three previous seasons with the Golden Hurricane.

Tulsa is 23-6 this season with an 11-5 ledger in the American and currently is third in the league standings.

David Green, who played previously at Louisiana Tech and Rhode Island, is the team’s scoring leader at 16.5 points per game. St. Thomas transfer Miles Barnstable is averaging 14.9 points.

The Golden Hurricane has gotten a personnel infusion and has soared into the American’s upper echelon.

Konkol may get a contract extension, which is another example of why it makes sense to go forward with Schwartz.

With the portal, any program is on the verge of a turnaround.