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BAILEY'S TAKE
ON PIRATE SPORTS
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From the Anchor Desk
Friday, May 26, 2006
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By Brian Bailey |
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Streak on the brink
©2006 Bonesville.net
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East Carolina’s
7-1 loss to Houston yesterday in the
Conference USA Baseball Tournament didn’t end the Pirates season.
It did, however, move ECU
closer to the end of an amazing streak.
Barring some type of
miraculous turnaround, the Pirates' string of consecutive NCAA appearances
will end at seven.
The Pirates ran into a buzz
saw in Cougar ace Brad Lincoln. Lincoln gave up just four hits in eight
innings of work, giving up only one run.
Houston, meanwhile, chased
Dustin Sasser in the fifth, a frame in which the Cougars batted around.
The Pirates were hoping to
beat Lincoln in a close game, but seven runs would just be too much to
overcome.
To assure itself of receiving
another NCAA bid, East Carolina would have to beat Tulane today in their 4
p.m.
rematch of their game one pairing, then
take a pair from Houston on Saturday, and follow that by winning the C-USA
title game on Sunday.
With this pitching staff,
that’s just too much to ask for a team that I’ve really enjoyed watching
this season.
A winning season for most
Pirate teams is a success.
Not in baseball.
Expectations are higher. This
is a program that wants to host Regionals and Super Regionals. The Pirates
now have a gem of a stadium to host such games.
Now it’s Billy Godwin’s
challenge to recruit the players to put this thing over the top.
Omaha will once again be the
goal for the 2007 season. Omaha will always be the goal, and that’s the
thing I like most about Pirate baseball.
Will East Carolina ever win a
national title in baseball? Odds are against it, but how many of us had
George Mason in the pool to make it to the Final Four? The Patriots got that
close, so anything is possible.
Here’s hoping that the Pirates
find a way, some way and some how, to pull out enough wins to get a long
look from the NCAA selection committee; or even better, pull off a winning
streak and take the tournament title.
Monumental odds face the
Pirates on what could be the last game of the season. But heck, I’m a Cub’s
fan and I know there is always next year!
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Brian Bailey.
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02/23/2007 01:33:45 AM |
