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BASEBALL |
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Rice rallies to take series |
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HOUSTON — Rice erased a 1-0 deficit
with four runs in the eighth inning to top
East Carolina 4-1 on Sunday in the deciding
contest of a three-game series. The Pirates
had taken a 1-0 lead in the fourth
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More... |
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Next: North
Carolina at ECU | Tuesday, 6:30 pm |
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BASEBALL |
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Rice evens series with East Carolina |
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HOUSTON — Rice scored four runs in the
bottom of the sixth inning after East
Carolina had come back from a 2-0 deficit to
tie the score and the host Owls took a 7-2
win in the second game of a nonconference
series Saturday afternoon. Rice bounced back
from a 10-1 loss to the No. 16 Pirates in
the series opener on Friday night.
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BASEBALL |
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Big inning seals ECU win at Rice |
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HOUSTON — Eric Tyler led off the
eighth inning with a solo homer to left and
East Carolina added five more runs in the
frame to win 10-1 at Rice on Friday night.
ECU's Evan Krucyznski (2-0) scattered seven
hits in seven innings. Game two of a
three-game set is scheduled for 3 p.m. (ET)
today.
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BASKETBALL: AAC TOURNAMENT |
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Pirates fall to South Florida |
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 ORLANDO
— South Florida ended East Carolina's season
with a 71-66 setback in the first round of
the American Athletic Conference tournament
at the Amway Center on Thursday afternoon.
The Pirates were without junior forward
Caleb White due to illness. White was the
second leading scorer on the team, averaging
12.5 points.
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More...
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BASKETBALL |
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Pirates seek consistency in Orlando |
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 Every
team has a dream as
the American
Athletic Conference
starts its
basketball
tournament at the
Amway Center in
Orlando this
afternoon. East
Carolina (12-19,
4-14) opens play as
the No. 8 seed and
will face No. 9
South Florida (7-24,
4-14) at 3:30 p.m.
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More from Al
Myatt... |
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BASEBALL |
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Pirates sweep Patriots |
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GREENVILLE — Three East Carolina
pitchers combined for a shutout and the
bottom of the Pirates lineup had a
productive day as ECU completed a two-game
sweep of George Mason with a 6-0 win on
Wednesday.
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FOOTBALL RECRUITING |
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East Carteret star
picks Pirates |
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 East
Carolina's push to begin assembling
its recruiting class of 2017 got off
to a promising start this week when
three-star wide receiver Dashaun
Johnson committed to pursue his
college football career with the
Pirates. ...
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sketches... |
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By
Brian Bailey
©2016 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
VIEW MOBILE
ALPHA VERSION OF THIS PAGE
For East Carolina it was a case of one and done in
the American Athletic Conference Tournament.
In the city that houses the Magic Kingdom and in the
arena that is the home of the Orlando Magic there would be nothing
magical about the Pirates.
Sure, there was some magic in the tournament, but
most of that magic went to Connecticut.
It was the Huskies' Jalen Adams that forced a fourth
overtime in the quarterfinal against Cincinnati with an 80-foot shot at
the buzzer. That basket tied the game at 88. The Huskies went on to win
the game 104-97 in four overtimes.
Connecticut would go on to win the American Athletic
Conference tournament, beating Memphis in the final.
That was magical. Pirate basketball is anything but
magical these days.
East Carolina wrapped up a 12-20 season with
a second loss in three games to a South Florida team
that didn't break the 10-win mark this season. The Bulls were just 8-25
with two of their wins against the Pirates.
Apathy has set in for Pirate basketball. Fans simply
aren't coming to games.
This same program that showed true signs of life
after
the CIT title in 2013 has followed that up with
seasons of 17-16, 14-19, and 12-20.
With March Madness tipping off this week it's worth
noting that East Carolina has made the NCAA tournament only twice in
history. ECU went dancing in 1972 and 1993, losing in the first round
both times.
Pirate head coach Jeff Lebo currently has five years
remaining on his contract, that runs through the 2020-21 season.
I asked Coach Lebo if he was concerned about his job
despite his lengthy pact with ECU.
"I don't worry about those things," said Lebo. "I
just go about doing my business every single day. I love coaching here.
I love my kids. I love my team. We haven't won as much, you never do as
much as you want. I just stay focused, keep my nose to the grindstone
and keep working."
Lebo acknowledged that his own frustration is
mounting.
"Frustrating because we haven't had the group we
thought we were going to have," he continued. "We have had so many guys
out hurt... to not have the continuity has been hard. We were a play or
two away from winning six or seven league games. We knew it was going to
be difficult because I think the league is better."
The American was better this year, getting four teams
into this year's NCAA Tournament.
The American is getting better, but the Pirates are
not. Just like the transition from the Colonial Athletic Association to
Conference USA was difficult, so too has been the move to the American
Athletic Conference.
Lebo is right. The Pirates were close in several
games. ECU
upset regular season champion Temple. There just
weren't enough bright spots.
Time will tell what changes, if any, come about this
offseason.
Interesting matchup in First Four
Check out the "First Four" matchup Tuesday night.
Former East Carolina head coach Joe Dooley has his
Florida Gulf Coast team taking on former ECU assistant Greg Herenda and
his Fairleigh Dickinson Knights. The winner gets top seed North Carolina
on Thursday in Raleigh.
Dooley was 57-52 in his four years at East Carolina
from 1995-1999. Herenda was Bill Herrion's top assistant from 1999-2005.
So one of the two head coaches with ECU ties will be
making a trip back the Tar Heel state as a big underdog.
A 16 seed has never beaten a number 1 seed in the
tournament. It won't happen this year either, but if it did wouldn't it
be nice to have an ECU tie?
.
BB
The
Brian Bailey Show airs on Pirate
Radio 1250 on Mondays at 6:30
p.m. Brian's guest this week was
state champion Farmville Central
basketball coach Larry Williford (right):
