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Battle for league booty
nears climactic finish From staff reports
As the song goes, "Only the Strong Survive."
After today, the weak will be culled and the strong will be
staring each other square in the face.
Houston and East Carolina, each needing only
one more win to advance to Sunday's Conference USA Tournament
climax, lay their unbeaten tourney records on the line against the survivors
of yesterday's losers bracket eliminations.
The Cougars face Tulane smack dab in the
middle of the Saturday morning TV cartoon jubilee. If the Wave rolls in the
9:00 a.m. clash, the teams will wage another battle at 4:00 p.m. to
determine which advances to tomorrow's championship game.
Meanwhile, ECU will have a 12:30 p.m.
rematch against South Florida, a team it defeated Thursday night. If the
Bulls prevail, they will charge the Pirates again in a 7:30 p.m. bullfight
to settle the final spot in the title tilt once and for all.
The first pitch for Sunday's winner-take-all
showdown is set for 2:00 p.m., with a
diverse network of television outlets
cobbled together by the league office scheduled to carry the game live or on
a delayed basis.
East Carolina is the host team for the
tournament, which is being conducted in Kinston. Based on a subjective
judgment, the sizable and boisterous crowds at sessions involving the
Pirates seem to have influenced the ebb and flow of momentum to ECU's
advantage.
Southpaw Sam Narron,
coming off a sore arm, hurled 8⅓ innings of
three-hit ball as
ECU defeated Texas Christina 5-1 in Wednesday's opening
round before 2,241 noisy partisans.
The crowd was even larger, 2,516, and
louder, as freshman slugger Darryl Lawhorn had four hits, including a timely
home run, to spearhead an innings-long rally that dug the Pirates out of a
7-1 hole to a
gut-stirring 12-10 victory over USF in a second round Thursday
game.
A coveted trophy and an automatic bid to the
NCAA baseball championship playoffs await the lone team standing when the
dust settles at Grainger Stadium.
If ECU emerges as the conqueror, an
additional crown jewel of sorts will be a part of the booty it will be the
school's first title in any league-sanctioned sport since becoming a member
of Conference USA.
02/23/2007 11:21 AM -----
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