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BAILEY'S TAKE
ON PIRATE SPORTS
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From the Anchor Desk
Tuesday, March 31, 2008
By Brian Bailey |
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Schedule takes a
turn to the tough side
By
Brian Bailey
©2009 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
The brutal, early
spring weather followed
the East Carolina
Pirates to Huntington,
West Virginia, this past
weekend.
East Carolina finally
got in all three games
of the series with
Marshall, taking two of
the three contests.
It was another tough
weather weekend, with
the three-game series
split between Friday and
Sunday. Marshall
salvaged the third game
of the series to snap
East Carolina’s ten game
winning streak. That
streak at the time was
the longest in the
nation.
Now things get tougher
for East Carolina. It
all starts tonight with
Elon visiting
Greenville. The Phoenix
is 14-8 on the season.
Elon has split a pair of
games with North
Carolina State and also
beat Wake Forest.
Elon took two out of
three from Auburn, lost
two at Clemson and split
with the same Georgia
Southern team that
beat East Carolina
14-4.
After the Elon game, the
Pirates go on the road
for six games before
welcoming Conference USA
heavyweight Rice to
Clark-LeClair Stadium on
April 10.
That road swing includes
trips to Raleigh, Chapel
Hill and Wilmington
along with a conference
battle in Birmingham
with UAB.
The Pirates' first
matchup with North
Carolina State is
tomorrow night at Doak
Field. State is 15-12 on
the season and 5-7 in
the ACC. The Wolfpack
swept a doubleheader
over Virginia Tech on
Sunday, winning a pair
of one run games, 19-18
and 7-6.
UAB is 14-10 overall and
just 1-2 in league play.
In the Blazers only
conference series of the
young season, Houston
took two out of three
from UAB.
Next week, the midweek
games feature trips to
North Carolina and UNC-Wilmington.
The Tar Heels are 20-6
on the season and 7-4 in
the ACC. North Carolina
took two out of three
from Virginia this past
weekend. The Heels
opened the season as the
top-ranked team in most
of the preseason college
baseball polls.
With no rest for the
weary, East Carolina
comes back to town to
host Rice. The Owls are
17-7 and 4-2 in
Conference USA play.
Rice was the preseason
pick to win the league
title, but trail the
Pirates by one full game
going into play this
weekend.
After a 4-1 week, the
Pirates rose
in the national polls.
East Carolina was 16th
in the Baseball America
poll and in the National
Collegiate Baseball
Writers Association
rankings, 17th in the
PING poll, 18th in the
ESPN/USA Today Coaches
Poll and 29th in the
rankings by Collegiate
Baseball.
Two more strong weeks
and the Pirates might
find themselves in the
Top 10 in those same
polls.
Spring football update
East Carolina completed
the squad’s seventh
practice of the spring
season on Monday
afternoon.
Coach Skip Holtz took
the pads off for
yesterday’s workout, as
the team battles a bunch
of bumps and bruises.
“We came out in shorts
today, just because
there are a number of
players with bumps and
bruises that have
mounted up," Holtz said.
"We put in a lot of team
and two-minute work
today, trying to get
ready for the first
scrimmage on Saturday. I
am chomping at the bit
to try and make
decisions about the
depth chart and the
scrimmage will determine
a lot about those
choices. I wish we could
scrimmage every day but
we know that is not
possible.
"There are still a lot
of question marks out on
the table but a lot of
guys, especially our
younger ones, have put
in some good work this
spring.”
Bracket busting
Last week I walked
around with my chest out
after correctly picking
15 of the “Sweet 16.”
Just like golf, though,
I should have never
cracked a smile.
How many of you had
UConn, North Carolina,
Michigan State and
Villanova in your Final
Four? At least many of
you had one or two
right.
I came up with a big fat
zero for the Final Four.
North Carolina was an
obvious pick, but when
you pick a bracket,
you’re always looking
for an edge. Everyone I
knew took the Heels to
Detroit, so I went the
other way.
I’ll never go 15-16
again for the “Sweet
16.” I also hope I don’t
go 0-4 for the Final
Four many more years
either!
BB
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03/31/2009 05:08:45 AM |
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