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NEWS, NOTES &
COMMENTARY
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The
Bradsher Beat
Friday, April 27, 2007
By Bethany Bradsher |
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Pirates here, there and
everywhere
By Bethany Bradsher
�2007 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
Three weeks ago, you couldn�t toss a Frisbee
without hitting an athletic event on the East Carolina campus. This week
students are rolling up their posters and packing up their cars, and most of
the Pirate teams have either wound up their seasons or are deep into the
homestretch.
Which is to say, it�s a bit of a slow time in
the realm of ECU athletics. So to spice things up a little, I�m
interspersing some of the juiciest ECU tidbits with a nugget of sports news
from every other college in the country that fields a team called the
Pirates.
� � � � �
Almost before the ECU women�s golf team had
absorbed the fact that they were close to winning a Conference USA title,
the trophy slipped from their grasps Wednesday in Oneonta, AL.
After a slow start, the Lady Pirates were
surprised to find themselves in the hunt for the victory at the end of the
tournament, head coach Kim Lewellen said. But at the 18th hole, the Memphis
Tigers poured it on to steal bragging rights from the Pirates.
�The Memphis team had three birdies on 18 to
win, and one girl chipped it in,� Lewellen said. �It looked like it could
have been meant to be for them. �It was really interesting because we didn�t
know until the last moment that we even had a chance to win. And when we
found out, we went from being really sad to thinking we had won it, to
losing it by two strokes within an hour. So the emotions were incredible.�
� � � � �
If the cards didn�t quite fall right for those
Pirates, a lesser-known group of lady Pirate golfers, the ones from Park
University in Parkville, MO, won their first-ever conference title by taking
first place at the 2007 MCAC Championship in Owasso, OK. The Park Pirates�
two-round score of 675 was 70 strokes better than runner-up Peru State
College.
� � � � �
Over at Clark-LeClair Stadium, Diamond Bucs
coach Billy Godwin has been focused on diverting his players� attention from
Tuesday�s 10-0 loss to North Carolina as they correct mistakes and look
toward this weekend�s three-game series against Southern Mississippi.
For inspiration, the ECU Pirates can look to the Seton Hall Pirates, who
snapped a three-game losing streak Tuesday with an 8-6 victory over New York
Tech. The more northern Pirates pulled out the win even though they were
out-hit by the Bears 10-8 and left seven men on base.
� � � � �
With a crucial series
against Houston starting tomorrow, the Lady Pirates softball team doesn�t
have much time to revel in high points like freshman Toni Paisley winning
Conference USA Pitcher of the Week honors. ECU (34-16) swept Texas-El Paso
last weekend, moving them a step closer the C-USA Tournament and the
Cougars.
� � � � �
Speaking of player
honors, the Hampton University Lady Pirates swept the Mid-Eastern Athletic
Conference Player of the Week honors this week, with outfielder Tesara
Liggins winning Player of the Week, while Amanda Black was named Pitcher of
the Week and Jada Jeffries won the Rookie of the Week award.
� � � � �
In men and women�s
tennis, the ECU Pirates were knocked out of contention last weekend, the
men�s team by top-ranked Tulsa and the women�s squad by Central Florida.
It�s a different story at
Armstrong Atlantic State, where the Pirates have a Division II tennis
dynasty going. The women�s team won its fourth straight Peach Belt Atlantic
Conference title and the men�s team won its third straight championship.
Their double triumph guarantees all of the Armstrong Atlantic tennis Pirates
a ticket to the NCAA Division II Tennis Championship.
� � � � �
The Pirate track and
field team had a successful and busy weekend, competing at both the Aggie
Relays and the LSU Alumni Gold and collecting 26 top ten finishes in all for
those efforts.
And at Southwestern University, one running Pirate has made an indelible
impression on his school. Junior Preston Hollis ran personal-best times in
both the 100m and 200m race at a meet in San Angelo earlier this month.
� � � � �
Finally, Pirate greats
like Aundrae Allison won�t be the only ones waiting by the phone this
weekend when the NFL Draft begins. There�s also an unlikely pro candidate
out of the Division III Whitworth College Pirates program. He�s a tight end
named Michael Allan, and he was invited to both the NFL Combine and the 2007
Dell East-West Shrine Game so that scouts could get a closer look.
Allan was the only
Division III player to get invited to the Shrine Bowl and he was also the
only Division III representative at the NFL Combine in February.
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04/27/2007 02:06:48 AM |
