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East
Carolina first baseman Bryce Harman awaits a pickoff
throw during the Pirates' NCAA Super Regional game
with Texas Tech on Saturday in Lubbock, TX. (Photo by Al Myatt) |
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BASEBALL |
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Mr. June bustin' out all over |
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LUBBOCK, TX — Travis Watkins has
become Mr. June for East Carolina in the way that Reggie Jackson was
once Mr. October for the New York Yankees — by hitting big home runs in
big games.
Watkins continued his torrid power
pace with two home runs and six RBIs
at Texas Tech Friday night in an 8-6
Pirates win in the first game of a
best-of-three Super Regional.
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Game story, pictures & postgame
audio... |
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Pictured: East
Carolina's Travis Watkins trots home
after his fifth-inning grand slam
put ECU ahead of Texas Tech in
Friday night's NCAA Lubbock Super
Regional. Watkins' two-run blast one
inning later proved decisive as the
Pirates edged within a win of
sealing a berth in the College World
Series. (Photo by Al Myatt) |
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ECU
coach Cliff Godwin and a number of
his players spoke with the press
after their final practice in
Greenville before heading to the
Lubbock Super Regional (recorded by
W.A. Myatt).
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Select clips... |
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BASEBALL |
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Mission to Omaha on course |
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 It
was the 'shot heard 'round the Pirate Nation.' More than that, it was a
shot heard 'round the entire nation! Travis Watkins' three-run, walk-off
home run in the bottom of the ninth Saturday night set the stage for an
NCAA regional championship and a super regional berth.
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More from
Brian Bailey...
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BASEBALL |
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Pirates welcomed home as champs |
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GREENVILLE — An enthusiastic
contingent of East Carolina fans
made the trek to Clark-LeClair
Stadium on Monday to extend
congratulations and a hearty welcome
to the Pirates upon their return to
Clark-LeClair Stadium after
capturing the NCAA regional title in
Charlottesville over the weekend.
Bonesville's W.A.
Myatt captured a few pictures of the
occasion and recorded interviews
with ECU head coach Cliff Godwin and
Regional MVP Travis Watkins.
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Play audio and view
photos... |
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BASEBALL |
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Pirates power up, go Super |
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA — Two-run homers
by Charlie Yorgen, Travis Watkins
and Eric Tyler keyed East Carolina's
8-4 win over William & Mary on
Sunday, clinching the NCAA regional
championship. The Tribe (31-31) had
edged 2015 College World Series
champion Virginia 5-4 in an
elimination game earlier in the day
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BASEBALL |
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Walkoff wallop whips Wahoos |
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA — A three-run
homer by Travis Watkins capped a
five-run ninth inning for East
Carolina and provided an 8-6 walkoff
win over Virginia in the winners'
bracket matchup Saturday at
Davenport Field.
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BASEBALL |
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Pirates pull away in eighth |
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA — East Carolina
broke open a pitching duel with
seven runs in the eighth inning to
defeat Bryant 9-1 in the Pirates'
NCAA Tournament opener on Friday.
Third-seeded ECU (35-21-1) advances
to play top-seeded Virginia (38-20)
at 6 p.m. today.
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By
Al Myatt
©2016 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
VIEW MOBILE VERSION OF THIS PAGE
Postgame audio: Godwin, Lanier, Yorgen...
View box score on ecupirates.com
LUBBOCK, TX — East
Carolina was playing for its first ever trip to the College World
Series on Saturday. Texas Tech was just trying to get to Sunday.
The Red Raiders (45-18)
accomplished their objective with a 3-1 win as Eric Gutierrez had a
two-run single in the top of the 13th inning at Rip Griffin Park.
The deciding game of the
best-of-three series is today at 3 p.m., Eastern time.
ECU (38-22-1) had a 12-7
lead in hits. Both clubs missed opportunities as Texas Tech left 15
on base and the Pirates stranded 14.
ECU put the Red Raiders
in a must-win situation with
an 8-6 victory Friday night
as Travis Watkins hit a grand slam and a two-run homer.
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Story
continues after the following picture... |
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With East
Carolina trailing 1-0, ECU's Charlie Yorgen takes one
for the team to get a free pass to first base in the
bottom of the 6th inning. (Photo by Al Myatt) |
A sacrifice fly by
Watkins accounted for the only run for the Pirates in the sixth
inning Saturday, tying the score at 1.
Texas Tech had taken a
1-0 lead in the fourth after a one-out double by Tyler Neslony. He
scored on a two-out single by Michael Davis.
Charlie Yorgen was hit
by a pitch to start the bottom of the sixth as ECU was designated
the home team. Freshman Dwanya Williams-Sutton was walked to give
the Pirates runners at first and second with none out.
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Story
continues after the following picture... |
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ECU head
coach Cliff Godwin signals with Charlie Yorgen on first
base. (Photo by Al Myatt) |
The Red Raiders pulled
starting left-hander Steven Gingery at that point for lefty Hayden
Howard, who picked off Williams-Sutton for the first out of the
frame.
Turner Brown's single
put Yorgen at third and Watkins collected his seventh RBI of the
series with a fly to left.
The four hour, 56-minute
marathon included stellar relief performances by ECU's Joe Ingle and
Robert Dugger (6-0) of Texas Tech.
Ingle allowed one hit
over five innings, entering the game in the eighth. He walked five
but struck out six.
Leftfielder
Williams-Sutton made a diving catch on a liner by Gutierrez, the Big
12 Player of the Year, to end the top of the 11th after Ingle had
walked a pair.
Yorgen made a leaping
catch and niftily reached down to tag out Neslony to end the top of
the 12th after the Texas Tech left fielder broke for second on a
pickoff attempt at first.
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Story
continues after the following picture... |
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Travis
Watkins, the hero of ECU's Friday night victory over the
Red Raiders with two homers and six RBIs, follows
through on a 6th inning sacrifice fly to drive in
Charlie Yorgen, tying Saturday's game at 1-1. (Photo by Al Myatt) |
Dugger allowed two hits,
walked two and fanned five over the final five innings.
"When you're trying to
make your first trip to Omaha, it's not going to be easy," said ECU
coach Cliff Godwin. "They played just a little bit better than us.
... You can't go through the back door to get to Omaha. You've got
to go through the front door and tell everybody you're coming."
Godwin went to the CWS
as an assistant at Ole Miss in 2014.
The Pirates saved the
potential go-ahead run at the plate in the top of the ninth. Tyler
Floyd led off with a walk and Gutierrez was intentionally walked
with two out. Tanner Gardner's smash to first was knocked down by
ECU's Bryce Harman, who retrieved the ball in time to get Floyd
going home.
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Story
continues after the following picture... |
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ECU's
Charlie Yorgen scores the game-tying run in the bottom
of the 6th inning on Travis Watkins' sacrifice fly. The
1-1 score remained that way until Texas Tech pushed
across two runs in the 13th inning to even the
best-of-three series at one game apiece. (Photo by Al Myatt) |
Five players had two
hits for the Pirates in game two — Parker Lamm, Williams-Sutton,
Brown, Eric Tyler and Luke Bolka. Watkins was 1-for-2 with three
walks. Gardner was 3-for-6 for Texas Tech.
ECU will probably start
left-hander Jacob Wolfe (6-3, 2.66 earned run average) today. The
Red Raiders had not named a starter Saturday night although Ryan
Mosely and Ty Damron were possibilities. Texas Tech will be the home
team today.
A crowd of 4,817 was on
hand Saturday, matching the stadium record set Friday night.
