The announcement Monday stated that Campbell and East Carolina mutually agreed to cancel a game scheduled for Tuesday evening at Clark-LeClair Stadium in Greenville.

That was a good move for the Pirates.

The value of ECU hitters seeing live pitching midweek before the last regular season series starts at Florida Atlantic on Thursday is outweighed by the need to conserve innings for an injury-depleted mound staff.

The Pirates have lost two weekend starters and a bullpen ace. Gavin Van Kempen (Saturdays) and Colby Weber (Sundays) have been sidelined. Weber may be back for the American Conference tournament next week in Clearwater.

Ethan Norby, Ryan Towers, Colby Wallace and Joe Webb have given the Pirates plus efforts in recent weeks in compensating for the arms shortage.

Coach Cliff Godwin said Sunday after a 3-0 win over Rice that closer Sean Jenkins was out for the season.

Series with Campbell

No program in the state has dominated against ECU to the recent extent that Campbell has.

A 2-1 win in Buies Creek on Feb. 17 this season was the sixth straight for Campbell in the series — all, incredibly, by one run.

The Pirates lead the all-time series, 56-29.

The teams generally schedule multiple midweek games in a season but haven’t played in Greenville since 2023 with weather a factor in some previous contests being canceled.

The most meaningful games in the series were in 2019 when ECU beat CU, 10-3 and 12-3, to win the Greenville regional.

Football, ECU vs. Campbell? That’s a different story.

RPI

East Carolina is currently No. 52 in the Ratings Power Index standings.

Texas-San Antonio, which leads the American Conference, is No. 50.

UCLA is No. 1 in the polls and RPI, but there are some disparities in the two rankings.

North Carolina is No. 2 in the D1 Baseball poll, but No. 5 in RPI.

NCAA Tournament projection

RPI is considered a more important factor than the national rankings in terms of how teams are seeded for the NCAA Tournament.

The most recent NCAA Tournament projection from USA Today on Tuesday had ECU as the No. 3 seed at the Oxford regional.

A lot will happen before the official bracket is released following the conference tournaments but Oxford would be a home away from home venue for Coach Godwin.

He was assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Ole Miss from 2011 to 2014, helping the Rebels to the College World Series in 2014 before returning to the Pirates.

American race

UTSA has a 2-game lead in the league race with a 16-8 conference record although the Roadrunners are coming off a series loss at Memphis last weekend.

UTSA closes the regular season at home against Alabama-Birmingham, which shares third place with Rice at 13-11.

FAU and Memphis are tied for fifth at 12-12.

ECU is second at 14-10 and controls its fate in terms of the double bye in the league tournament that would certainly reduce the pitching load.

The top two teams in the regular season standings get double byes.

Conference RPI

The American is ranked No. 7 in RPI among conferences by Warrennolan.com.

Independents, led by Oregon State, have the highest rating, The Southeastern Conference is second, followed by the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten and Sun Belt.

Rounding out the top 10 among the 30 leagues listed are the Southern Conference, Conference USA and the Western Athletic Conference.

FAU

The Owls (28-24) are No. 118 in the RPI.

FAU had a series win at Wichita State last weekend and took a 9-3 victory at Florida Gulf Coast on Tuesday night.

The Owls are hitting .288 as a team with a staff earned run average of 5.79.

Sophomore right-hander James Litman is 8-3 in 13 starts with a 3.79 ERA.

Nick Romano is hitting .318 with five home runs and 35 RBIs.

John McCormack is in his 36th year with the program and 18th as head coach.

The Owls swept the Pirates in Greenville last season.

ECU has not won a road series this season. FAU is 18-16 at home in 2026.