060511 BRIAN BAILEY ::: Godwin's strategy pays off against Navy [ba]

CHARLOTTESVILLE — East Carolina coach Billy Godwin went with his ace on the mound and his young slugger in the cleanup spot against Navy on Saturday looking to stay alive in this Charlottesville regional.

Seth Maness got the call on the mound. Maness is a once a week guy, and Godwin gave Maness the baseball and told him to win the game and go the distance. Maness did just that. He ran his scoreless innings streak to 18 1/3 innings before giving up an unearned run in the ninth.

"I think what Seth did today (going the distance and winning) was much bigger than anything he could do by coming back," said Godwin.

Godwin's other gem on the day was in moving freshman Chase McDonald back to the cleanup spot in the lineup. McDonald rewarded the coach with a grand slam that blew open a close game in the seventh inning.

Chase said it's the first time in his career that he's hit a grand slam. I joked with him that I couldn't believe that he had never hit a grand slam playing all of those games at Guy Smith Stadium.

Now the Pirates will count on their great pitching depth to compete in this regional. They face a long day on Sunday, starting with a chance for a bit of revenge against St. John's at 1 p.m. After blanking ECU 2-0 in a Friday matchup, the Red Storm was thumped 10-2 by regional host and national No. 1 seed Virginia Saturday evening.

Godwin revealed in Saturday's postgame press conference that southpaw Kevin Brandt will get the start against St. John's. If the Pirates send the Red Storm packing, they'll have to turn around and play again at 6 p.m., this time against the Cavaliers.

ECU would have to beat the Wahoos on Sunday and then repeat the feat on Monday to advance to the super regionals. UVa is the only team without a loss in the region's double-elimination format.