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BASEBALL: KEITH LECLAIR CLASSIC |
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ECU tops Terps for
Classic title |
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GREENVILLE —
East Carolina
claimed its fourth
straight Keith
LeClair Classic
championship with a
4-3 win over
Maryland on Sunday.
The Pirates and
Terps each finished
2-1 in the 13th
annual event with
ECU claiming the
title by virtue of
Sunday's
head-to-head result.
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More... |
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Next: George Mason
at ECU | Tuesday, 4
pm |
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BASEBALL: KEITH LECLAIR CLASSIC |
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Vols take advantage
of ECU miscues |
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GREENVILLE —
Two East Carolina
errors in the top of
the first inning
helped Tennessee to
a 3-0 lead and the
Volunteers went on
to take a 5-2 win in
the Keith LeClair
Classic on Saturday.
Three of Tennessee's
runs were unearned
as the Pirates
committed four
errors.
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More... |
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BASEBALL:
KEITH LECLAIR CLASSIC |
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Pirates prevail after 9th-inning drama |
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GREENVILLE —
Turner Brown's
two-run single with
one out in the
bottom of the ninth
lifted East Carolina
to a 2-1 win over
Southeastern
Louisiana on the
first day of the
13th annual Keith
LeClair Classic on
Friday.
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More... |
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BASEBALL:
KEITH LECLAIR CLASSIC |
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Pirates pay homage to legend |
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 Even before former
East Carolina
baseball coach Keith
LeClair succumbed to
Lou Gehrig's disease
in 2006, a means of
honoring the memory
of the man who
envisioned the
Pirates playing in
the College World
Series was sought.
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More from Al
Myatt...
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BASKETBALL |
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Memphis ruins Pirates' Senior Day |
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 GREENVILLE
— This has been a subpar season
for Memphis by the program's
traditional standards, but the
decline was not evident in an
83-53 win on Senior Day at East
Carolina on Sunday.
The
Tigers improved to 17-14 and
8-10 in the American Athletic
Conference by hitting 34 of 63
shots from the field for 54
percent.
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Story & pictures... |
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Pictured: Former
manager Drew Bost
got a start for the
Pirates on Senior
Day. (Photo by Al
Myatt.) |
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Next: AAC Tournament
| Orlando, FL |
March 10-13
— No. 8 ECU vs. No.
9 USF | Thursday,
3:30 pm — |
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BASEBALL: KEITH LECLAIR CLASSIC |
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Pirates pay homage to legend |
|
Even
before former East
Carolina baseball
coach Keith LeClair
succumbed to Lou
Gehrig's disease in
2006, a means of
honoring the memory
of the man who
envisioned the
Pirates playing in
the College World
Series was sought.
...
More from Al
Myatt...
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BASKETBALL |
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ECU pulls away at South Florida |
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TAMPA, FL — East Carolina made a series of
successful adjustments for a 52-39 American
Athletic Conference win at South Florida on
Wednesday night. Pirates coach Jeff Lebo
used a deeper rotation than in the previous
game with Cincinnati
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By
Brian Bailey
©2016 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
VIEW MOBILE
ALPHA VERSION OF THIS PAGE
East Carolina’s
4-3 win over Maryland on Sunday clinched the title for
the Pirates in the 13th annual Keith LeClair Classic.
The Pirates and Maryland both finished 2-1 in the
event, but the Pirates claimed the crown by virtue of their head-to-head
defeat of the Terrapins.
Southeastern Louisiana and Tennessee were both 1-2.
The Volunteers' lone win over the weekend came against East Carolina on
Saturday.
It was the Pirates' fourth straight LeClair Classic
title.
ECU coach Cliff Godwin joked about winning the event
after the victory over Maryland.
“Hey, you give us the trophy, Brian,” Godwin said.
“I’ll take the trophy but, I’m proud of our guys. Just because the way
they persevered… I mean you guys saw the game. I mean how it was just
tough early and nothing was going our way. Then all of a sudden, boom,
we get a big hit and then you know, the guys started feeling better
about themselves.”
Godwin knew going into the weekend that all three
teams coming in had great talent. His team came into Friday after losing
midweek to Elon, a team that the Pirates had beaten 12 straight times.
The Pirates
won in walk-off fashion in Friday’s opener against
Southeastern Louisiana. Turner Brown, who is quickly becoming Mr. Clutch
in his first year with ECU, drove in a pair of runs in the bottom of the
9th inning to lift the Pirates to the 2-1 win.
Despite temperatures that were dropping quickly,
Godwin took off his jacket to coach third in the 9th with his team
trailing 1-0. I told several near me that Godwin did so to show the
number 23 he was wearing, hoping for a little divine intervention.
I think he got it, as the Pirates rallied to win.
Godwin thought so, too.
“I took my jacket off so everybody could see '23' in
the 9th to kind of switch up the mojo,” said Godwin with a smile. “So I
think Coach LeClair had a hand in it too. You know we showed them a
highlight video about Coach LeClair and what he meant to this program
and they know how much it means to me and I think they try too hard.
"I know that sounds crazy but I really thought we
played like that.”
The Pirates opened the game with an error on Saturday
against Tennessee. It was the first of what turned out to be a
four-error day as the Pirates
fell to the Vols 5-2.
With Southeastern Louisiana’s win over Tennessee in
Sunday’s opener, the ECU-Maryland game was for the Classic championship.
The Pirates continued to have trouble scoring runs
until Eric Tyler’s two-run homer in the 6th tied the game with Maryland.
The game was tied 3-3 in the eighth, when freshman
Donya Williams-Sutton plated Tyler with a shot to the opposite field
that proved to be the game-winner.
The story of the 4-3 win over the Terps was Joe
Ingle.
The Pirate closer went 3 2/3 innings, giving up just
one run on two hits. He struck out a career high 9 batters in picking up
the win.
“Coach told me this earlier today, to get ready for
the fifth inning or sixth inning,” said Ingle. “I mean he was right.
Jimmy Boyd did a great job giving up just two runs. It was a true team
win today.”
For Godwin, memories of his former coach flowed all
weekend, especially when Lynn LeClair and Keith’s two children, J.D. and
Audrey, threw out the first pitch on Saturday.
“It’s real special to have Lynn come back and J. D.
and Audrey, you know seeing them growing up,” said Godwin. “I mean when
I was a player here, they were running around and they were lower than
my knees and now they’re grown-ups. Our guys know about Coach LeClair.
They’ve all read 'Coaching Third' and know how special it is to me and
to this program. It’s really special.”
It will always be special for many around the Pirate
baseball program. Number 23 lives forever at East Carolina.
BB
The
Brian Bailey Show airs on Pirate
Radio 1250 on Mondays at 6:30
p.m. Brian's guest this week was
ECU basketball color commentator
Si Seymour (right):
1250
on Mondays at 6:30 p.m. Brian's
guests this week were ECU
baseball coach Cliff Godwin
(right), Farmville Central
basketball
coach Larry Williford and WNCN
sportscaster Todd Gibson: