Lost weekend curbs NCAA at-large talk

By Brian Bailey
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Florida International came to town this past weekend and pretty much shut up any talk of East Carolina getting into the NCAA tournament with an at-large bid.

The Pirates had moved their RPI up into the fifties, and many thought a strong finish might just do the trick. FIU arrived in Clark-LeClair Stadium and may have ended the conversation.

ECU can still win the Conference USA tournament, but that appears to be the team’s only shot at a regional bid.

David Lucroy pitched well enough for the Pirates to salvage the third game of the series. He went eight innings and gave up just the two runs off three hits. He would be the hard luck loser.

“It’s very frustrating,” said Lucroy after the loss. “I don’t even know how else to word it. A lot of emotion went into that game and it all just us frustrating.”

Pirate head coach Billy Godwin agreed.

“It’s tough for the Pirates not to get the win,” Godwin said. “And I know David feels the same way, but he did all he could do. We’ve got to do a little bit more offensively but I’ve got no problem with the way David Lucroy pitched today. He was outstanding.”

The Pirates had plenty of chances to avoid the sweep, especially on Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday was especially frustrating; with assistant coach Ben Sanderson and Bryce Harman getting ejected after a series of close plays that went against the Pirates. One was a reversal on a call and the other was a close play at second base. Both of the plays came in the sixth inning.

“We had our opportunities so let’s not kid ourselves,” said Godwin. “Let’s point the thumb and not the finger at anywhere but ourselves. We had opportunities today and yesterday. They were limited opportunities to score runs and we just couldn’t come up with them.”

The Pirates are down to their final seven games. East Carolina heads to Southern Miss this weekend to face a Golden Eagle team battling UAB for second place in the league. The team’s emotional state could be in question.

“I wouldn’t say the team is down or anything,” said Lucroy after the loss. “I don’t think it’s a level of frustration but a level of determination. Yeah, it’s frustrating but I think it has made us mad and wanted to work even harder.”

Lucroy is one of a couple of Pirate pitchers that make East Carolina a tough out for the upcoming Conference USA tournament.

“I’ve definitely been happier with my performance,” said Lucroy. “Obviously today I’m bitter about how things went in the end but we fought and I thought that was big for us.”

The Pirates have this week off as far as mid-week games go. ECU returns from Hattiesburg to take on High Point next week before hosting Texas-San Antonio in the final series of the season.

Then it’s back to Hattiesburg for the Conference USA tournament.

History hasn’t been all that kind to East Carolina in most sports contests at Southern Miss.

It’s just another obstacle to what has been a most trying Pirate baseball season.

BB

E-mail Brian Bailey.