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Pirate Notebook No. 64
Monday, April 22, 2002

By Denny O'Brien
Staff Writer and Columnist

Greene: 'Back where I belong'

Ideally, Scott Greene would need no introduction. His numbers should speak for themselves.

But after bursting onto the scene as a freshman, Greene was forced to sit out last year due to a shoulder injury. Now, after missing more than a year of action, the South Hill, VA, native is back, and the prognosis, thus far, is good.

In his season debut, Greene kept Duke at bay with five solid innings of three-hit ball to pick up his first win of the season. He followed that with four shutout innings against North Carolina, but was lifted early to protect his arm.

"I threw a lot of pitches early, and I started to get tired," Greene said. "As the year goes on, I'm going to start to get some of my momentum back, and hopefully I will be able to go a little longer."

As a true freshman, Greene compiled an impressive 6-1 record, to go along with a 4.21 ERA en route to earning a Freshman All-America selection. Blessed with excellent control, he boasted a team-high 7-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio (35 Ks, 5 BB), and hurled the Pirates' only complete-game shutout during the 2000 season.

Though he isn't back to full speed just yet, pitching coach Tommy Eason likes what he's seen.

"He threw the ball well (against Carolina)," Eason said. "But I don't think he threw the ball as well against Carolina as he did against Duke.

"He threw a lot of pitches early, which is why we got him out of the game. He started elevating the baseball a little bit. But right now, what we're looking for is four or five, maybe six solid innings. He did that again, and hopefully he's coming back to the form that he was as a freshman. I think he's got a little ways to go, as far as his strength, but overall, he's looking good."

Against No. 21 Carolina, Greene was masterful at mixing his pitches. He kept the hard-hitting Heels off balance early, and was mindful not to groove fastballs down the center of the plate.

"That's what you hope for every night they walk out there," Eason said. "That's what we teach.

"Our guys are taught to pitch on the black part of the plate. Mistake pitches are pitches down the middle, on the white part of the plate. Overall, we've done a good job with that. But if you start elevating the baseball, that's where you get in trouble."

Location has been an area of great concentration for Greene, who continues to work out the kinks from the extended lay-off. After spending countless hours rehabbing in the Pirates' bullpen, he admits its nice to face live hitters once again.

'It's great to be back," Greene said. "It's been a while, but it feels good to be back where I belong."

His return to the hill could go a long way towards putting the Pirates where they feel they ultimately belong � Omaha.

Midweek wins expected at ECU     <<< Top of Page >>>

Moments following the Pirates' 2-1 win over the Tar Heels last Wednesday, Kevin McMullan sat peacefully in the dugout munching on a candy bar. Many would suggest the victory over a tough in-state rival was sweeter than the chocolate he was chomping, but the ECU third-year assistant suggested nothing of the sort.

"I think our fans get a little more excited than we do," McMullan said. "We keep this thing in perspective. Our program is to a point that when we play good competition in the middle of the week, we expect to win. I think that's what happened (against North Carolina)."

Though McMullan insisted after the game that the Pirates put more stock into conference games, he acknowledged that rivalry games have a tendency to present a postseason feel, and are generally a positive experience for all parties involved.

"That was a great atmosphere for college baseball," McMullan said. "When you have in-state rivalries like that, that's what it is all about. It was great for our fans, great for our kids, and great for our opposition.

"People asked me if this was going to be the typical mid-week game. I said, 'well, when you have two programs like this that have depth in their program, especially on the pitching mound, you're going to get a quality mid-week game.' I think we're going to continue playing games like this more than when our season started."

Centerfielder Warren Gaspar, who played a huge role in Wednesday night's victory, said tough midweek victories are a boost to the Pirates' RPI, and go a long way to helping the team achieve some of their goals.

"Every mid-week game we win is great," Gaspar said. "It helps us get to that 40-win mark and hopefully host a regional. It was a bonus that they were ranked."

Gaspar ECU's version of 'Say Hey Kid'     <<< Top of Page >>>

Gaspar's gold-glove performance in the Pirates' win over the Heels garnered a standing ovation from the record crowd Wednesday night. There was one individual, however, who didn't find the mystifying grabs all that spectacular � Gaspar, himself.

"It wasn't really much," he said. "I had a great jump on both balls.

"On the one where I dove in the left-center gap, the only reason I dove is because I knew Jamie was backing me up. I just happened to time it perfectly. On the one in right-center, he hit it, and I just ran � I picked a spot on the warning track to run to. I was fortunate enough to be there and have enough time to gather myself and catch the ball."

Gaspar added another over-the-shoulder grab earlier in the game to rob the Heels of an extra-base hit, which drew comparisons to one of the game's all-time greats � Willie Mays.

McCullough mowing down runners     <<< Top of Page >>>

Clayton McCullough has put together a solid season thus far. Following the weekend series with South Florida, the Greenville native was third among ECU's regulars in batting average (.315) and tied for second in both home runs (4) and RBIs (26).

But it's behind the plate that the senior catcher has been most impressive, especially when runners try to swipe a base. Against Carolina, he made two perfect throws, nailing both Adam Greenberg and Chad Prosser, who have combined for 31 stolen bases on the season.

"That was huge," McMullan said. "They (Carolina) are very aggressive on the base paths, and Clayton threw out two guys that are probably in the top 20 in stolen bases in the country.

"Clayton's been solid for us since the minute he came here from behind the plate. And obviously, he's progressing offensively. He did an outstanding job for us (against Carolina) to give us a chance to win the ballgame."

McCullough has thrown out 14 of 32 runners, and has allowed just one passed ball in 34 games.