Three Conference USA relief
pitchers have been named to the 40-man midseason watch list for the
NCBWA stopper of the year award, given to the nation's top collegiate
baseball reliever.
East Carolina junior Shane
Mathews, Southern Miss senior Patrick Ezell and Tulane senior Daniel
Latham are C-USA's three representatives.
Mathews is in his first season
in the Pirates bullpen after starting 25 games in his first two full
seasons. He leads Conference USA and ranks fifth nationally with 10
saves. Mathews has posted a 2-3 record in 23 appearances, striking out
33 and walking 17 in 28.1 innings pitched. He has thrown three innings
or longer on five occasions, while earning three saves in one-run games.
ECU women's tennis finishes with 19-10 record
In Thursday's opening round
match of the 2007 Conference USA women's tennis championship at Tulsa,
No. 8 seed Central Florida downed No. 9 seed East Carolina, 4-0.
Central Florida advances to face
No. 1 Tulsa at 10 a.m. on Friday in the first quarterfinal match-up and
improves to 11-7 on the spring. East Carolina concluded its season at
19-10.
Report: Ohio State's Oden will make jump to NBA
Greg Oden is leaving Ohio State
for the NBA. Freshman teammates Mike Conley, Jr., and Daequan Cook could
join him, according to a Columbus Dispatch report.
A source close to the three
players said that they will issue a statement through Ohio State
declaring their intent to enter the NBA draft. Two sources said there
will be no turning back for Oden, who will sign a representation
agreement with an agent and is expected to be the No. 1 choice on June
28.
April
18, 2007
Pirates place
182 on Conference USA honor roll
A total of 1,773
student-athletes have earned recognition to the Conference USA
commissioner's honor roll during the 2006-07 academic year. Requirements
include a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better.
East Carolina had a total of 182
student-athletes to achieve honor roll status. Central Florida placed
the highest number of student-athletes on the honor roll, producing 190
members. Southern Methodist followed closely behind with 188, while Rice
ranked third with 183 student-athletes on the list.
ECU
softball overpowers Seahawks for sweep
The East Carolina softball team
pounded out 24 runs, 29 hits and eight home runs on Tuesday, breaking
out of a recent offensive slump and sweeping a doubleheader from host
UNC Wilimington at Boseman Field.
The Pirates improved to 32-15
overall while the Seahawks dropped to 18-27. ECU prevailed 9-1 in the
first contest and 15-2 in the five-inning second game.
Duke women's hoops lures Michigan State coach
Joanne P. McCallie has been
named women's basketball coach at Duke and will be introduced at a press
conference on Friday at 1:30 p.m. at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Fans are
welcome to attend.
McCallie comes from Michigan
State were she spent the past seven seasons leading the Spartans to a
149-75 mark. She guided the program to five straight NCAA Tournament
appearances, four consecutive 20-win seasons and an appearance in the
NCAA Championship game in 2005. Her record was 81-23 the last three
years.
Council
proposes end to text message recruiting
The Divisions I, II and III
management councils of the NCAA met earlier this week in Indianapolis
with the Division I Council voting to eliminate text messaging in
recruiting, a proposal that now goes before the board of directors next
week.
April
18, 2007
Virginia Tech
adjusts spring sports schedule
In light of the tragedy on April
16, the Virginia Tech athletic department has made the following
decisions regarding its athletics teams:
The remainder of Tech's spring
football session, including Saturday's spring game, has been canceled.
Tech was scheduled to practice Wednesday and Friday before holding the
spring game on Saturday.
In addition to Tuesday's
softball game between Virginia Tech and East Tennessee State,
Wednesday's non-conference baseball game at English Field between Tech
and William & Mary has also been canceled.
The athletic department has also
decided that the three home ACC events baseball, softball and lacrosse
will go on as scheduled. The baseball team will host Miami on Friday,
Saturday and Sunday. The lacrosse team hosts Maryland on Saturday at
noon, and the softball squad hosts Maryland on Saturday and Sunday.
The five athletic teams
scheduled to compete at various conference championships golf, men's
and women's outdoor track and field, and men's and women's tennis will
still compete as scheduled.
All Monogram Club events
scheduled around the spring game, as well as the baseball alumni
tailgate, have been canceled.
Golden
Eagles complete spring workouts
Southern Miss completed its
spring football drills on Monday with a two-hour workout at M.M. Roberts
Stadium. The practice was the final one of 15 allowed by the NCAA during
the offseason period.
East Carolina plays its
Conference USA opener against Southern Miss at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept.
15, in Greenville.
The Golden Eagles had planned on
finishing their spring campaign, Saturday, April 14, but heavy rains and
winds during the morning hours forced cancellation of the annual spring
game.
Golden Eagle coach Jeff Bower
thought that his program accomplished most of its goals over the last
month in preparation for the 2007 season and was pleased with the effort
of the team during this time.
"I thought we did well," Bower
said. "We found out a lot about our personnel and where we have to get
better. We found out a lot about our young kids and made some steps with
them."
Bower also announced the most
improved players of the spring campaign. Ralph Turner of Cottonwood, AL,
won the offensive award, while Michael McGee from Magee, MS, won the
defensive award.
Former offensive lineman Travis
Cooley from Waynesboro, MS, won the Heart of the Eagle Award, presented
to a Southern Miss player from the previous year that has excelled not
only on the playing field, but also in the classroom and in the
community.
East Carolina softball at UTEP on pay-per-view
East Carolina's softball game at
UTEP on Saturday at 3 p.m. will be shown as a pay-per-view event on CSTV.
The registration site is cstvppv.com. Cost is $9.95.
April
17, 2007
ECU's Salisbury
wins hammer throw at UNC-CH
The East Carolina track and
field teams competed in the Carolina Fast Times this past weekend at UNC-Chapel
Hill.
On the women's side, the Pirates
took home 17 top ten finishes, including Chelsea Salisbury's victory in
the hammer throw (58.62 meters).
On the men's side, the Pirates
brought home three top ten finishes. John Loehr came in 3rd in the 3000
meter steeplechase (9:45.03); Richard Armstrong (1:54.03) came in 10th
in the 800 meter run; and Akintunde Abisogun (6.72)was 10th in the long
jump event.
ECU softball
splits with Tigers, heads for UNCW
Due to inclement weather in
Greenville, Sunday's Conference USA softball series finale between East
Carolina and Memphis was cancelled.
The two teams split a
doubleheader on Saturday. The Tigers took game one 8-3 while the Pirates
bounced back to capture the nightcap, 5-0. In game two, Toni Paisley
threw a complete game shutout while also matching her career-high in
strikeouts with 11.
ECU returns to action today with
a rescheduled doubleheader at UNC-Wilmington.
UCF, Rice standouts take weekly C-USA honors
Central Florida sophomore
righthander Kyle Sweat has been named the Conference USA pitcher of the
week, while Rice sophomore second baseman/designated hitter Jess Buenger
earned hitter of the week honors for the period ending April 15.
Against No. 17 Florida, Sweat
had the best performance by a Golden Knight pitcher this season. The
sophomore shut down the Gators, giving up just two hits and walking only
two, keeping them scoreless over eight innings of work.
Buenger had one of the best
weeks of any Owl all year, leading Rice with a composite .556 batting
average as the team went 3-1. He went 10-for-18 with a home run, four
doubles, seven runs scored and four RBI's.
