The Jeff Compher buyout ends one of the most tumultuous times in East Carolina’s athletics history. The buyout had been rumored for weeks. I even had a chance to ask the soon-to-be former Pirate AD about the situation a couple of weeks ago. Compher said there wasn’t anything to it. It’s been my experience that if there is enough smoke, there is a fire somewhere. So I took … [Read more...]

Many of the things that East Carolina did right in taking the series from then 6th-ranked North Carolina disappeared in the first two games of the annual Keith LeClair Classic. The Pirates dropped the first two games, falling 12-2 to Pepperdine and then losing to No. 28 Missouri State, 7-4. Pepperdine took the opener by scoring eight runs in the 9th to blow open a close … [Read more...]

I think East Carolina and North Carolina should do this every year. The Tar Heel faithful may not agree, but I think the unique weekend series between the two heavyweight baseball programs was great for both fan bases. What a compelling concept. Consisting of a home game for each team, split by a trip to a fantastic minor league ballpark, it caught the attention of all of … [Read more...]

East Carolina opened the baseball season with a convincing sweep over Western Carolina at Clark-LeClair Stadium. Pirate head coach Cliff Godwin had joked before the series that you really never know about a team until it actually plays in a game. “We’ve practiced well,” Godwin had said with a smile. “Now we have to make sure we play that way when the lights come … [Read more...]

It was once again my privilege to serve as the emcee for the annual East Carolina baseball banquet on Saturday night. Almost 500 people jammed Williams Arena for the festivities. The dinner included speeches from former Pirates P.J. Connelly and Corey Scott. Connelly is now the mayor of Greenville and talked about how baseball got him to where he is today. Scott told the … [Read more...]