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BASEBALL |
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Borders beats Pirates again |
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GREENVILLE
— For the second straight game a
home run by Luke Borders proved
decisive as South Florida topped
East Carolina 6-5 Sunday to take a
2-1 American Athletic Conference
series win.
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Story,
pictures & audio... |
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Pictured: ECU head coach Cliff
Godwin gets ejected after a
borderline strike three call in
the bottom of the ninth inning
of the Pirates' AAC
series-deciding loss to USF on
Sunday at Clark-LeClair Stadium. (W.A.
Myatt photo) |
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BASEBALL |
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USF evens series with HR in 9th |
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GREENVILLE — Luke Borders hit a
three-run homer in a four-run ninth
inning for South Florida on Saturday
for a 5-1 win over East Carolina
that evened a best-of-three American
Athletic Conference series at one
win each.
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Story, pictures & audio... |
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Pictured: ECU right-hander Jimmy
Boyd delivers against South
Florida on Saturday. The senior
from Raleigh limited the Bulls
to four hits over 8 and 1/3
innings and was charged with
three runs. (W.A. Myatt photo) |
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BASEBALL |
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Pirates erupt to overcome USF |
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GREENVILLE — East Carolina
scored nine runs in the sixth
inning in defeating South
Florida 14-7 on Friday night in
the opener of a three-game
American Athletic Conference
series. The Pirates improved to
31-17-1 overall and 12-6-1 in
the AAC going into a 4 p.m. game
today with the Bulls (21-28,
6-13).
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Story, pictures & audio... |
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Pictured: ECU centerfielder
Garrett Brooks stands in a
blanket of fog in the Pirates'
Friday night matchup with USF.
The senior captain was 2-for-4
with two RBIs in ECU's comeback
win. (W.A. Myatt photo) |
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BASEBALL |
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Transition to adidas approaching |
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 East
Carolina will become an adidas
program in July after a lengthy
association with Nike. The deal
with adidas is for 10 years and
$16.5 million. "For everybody at
East Carolina, it means that
we're going to get more stuff,"
ECU head baseball coach Cliff
Godwin said.
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More from Al Myatt...
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By
Brian Bailey
©2016 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
VIEW MOBILE
ALPHA VERSION OF THIS PAGE
Officially, East Carolina didn't lose the American
Athletic Conference regular season crown this past weekend, but it
certainly felt that way.
South Florida came to town with very little to play
for, residing at the bottom of the AAC standings. The Bulls took two out
of three from ECU, and now the Pirates have plenty of work to do to keep
their slim title hopes alive – and will need plenty of help from the
Houston Cougars.
In order to overtake Tulane for the crown, ECU needs
a sweep down at Central Florida and for Houston to take two out of three
from the Green Wave.
USF clinched the series over ECU with
a 6-5 win on Sunday.
"It's really disappointing," said Pirate coach Cliff
Godwin. "Not taking anything away from South Florida, but they came in
here loose, and we're battling for a league title. We didn't play loose.
We've got to handle it better and just play better."
ECU has just four games to play. The Pirates host
Campbell for "Senior Night" and then head to Florida to take on UCF.
The Pirates will also spend time in the "Sunshine
State" the next week, as Clearwater once again hosts the American
Athletic Conference Tournament.
While the Pirates still have a shot at the top seed
in the tournament, several teams are nipping at the Diamond Bucs' heels.
ECU is 12-8-1 in American play, while Tulane is 13-6.
Connecticut heads to the final weekend at 11-9. Cincinnati is 11-9-1 and
Houston is 10-10.
There are thousands of scenarios. East Carolina heads
to the last week of the regular season with a chance at first – and a
chance at finishing as low as fifth.
Memphis, UCF and USF are all 8-13 and tied for last
heading into the final weekend.
The league tournament could be a real classic. Try
picking a favorite from this group. We've seen first hand how even this
conference has been all year.
Morale boost comes in special way
As disappointing as the loss on Sunday was, the
Pirate players stayed late for their annual game with the Exceptional
Community Baseball League. Coach Godwin says his players get more out of
the day than the special needs players do.
This year there was an added sense of importance for
the game.
Earlier in the week 16-year old Sarah Vaughn, whose
name graces the special needs field at Elm Street Park, passed away
unexpectedly. It was a tough week for many with the league and I think
everyone enjoyed the game with the Pirates even more this time out.
Godwin says it always puts things in perspective.
Sports provides a great outlet for the game of life. But sometimes life
trumps sports, whether we like it or not.
Four games to go in the regular season, and then it's
off to the AAC Tournament. The Pirates, despite losing two out of three
to USF, still appear as a solid number two seed for a regional, perhaps
in Raleigh against North Carolina State.
First up is Campbell at 6:30 this evening, and then
the Pirates will look for a long winning streak down in Florida.
BB
The
Brian Bailey Show airs on Pirate
Radio 1250 on Mondays at 6:30
p.m. Brian's guest this week
was Pitt Community College
Bulldogs baseball
coach Tommy Eason (right):