Pirates must improve resume’ on seven-game road trip

East Carolina needs a strong finish to play itself into the NCAA Tournament

When the season began, very few college baseball followers would have thought that East Carolina—which was ranked as high as 11th early—would need a strong finish to just earn its way into the NCAA Tournament for the 11th time in the last 12 years.

However, the Pirates (27-18, 8-7) suffered some costly losses—the biggest being starting junior shortstop Dustin Harrington—and have been fighting to keep their postseason hopes afloat since.

There is reason to believe that the 2009 Super Regional participant can muster enough wins down the stretch to not find itself sad on selection Monday.

While ECU did lose 10-3 in its series finale’ to Marshall on Sunday, the Pirates still produced a much-needed 3-1 week after going 0-5 the previous week when it was swept at Rice. Seth Maness was sharp for a consecutive week. The junior right-hander followed up a rousing performance at Rice with the second complete game of his career versus Marshall. The Pirates also fielded the ball better against the Herd, as they committed three errors in three games.

However, the Bucs must get Kevin Brandt pitching the way he had prior to his past two starts. The sophomore southpaw has not made it past the fourth inning in either outing. He has allowed 11 earned runs on 13 hits in 5.1 combined innings. They must also develop more reliable options out of the bullpen so such a strain isn’t placed on its starting rotation.

Offensively, East Carolina has continued to perform well and its ability to score runs has allowed it to escape with victories in contests that were plagued by poor pitching and defense. The Pirates are hitting .327 with 62 home runs.

Sophomore third baseman turned emergency shortstop Corey Thompson has continued to have a stellar season at the plate. Thompson leads the Pirates with his .385 average and he is also tied for the team-lead with 46 runs batted in. Fellow sophomore Zach Wright, who leads the team with 13 home runs, also has 46 RBI.

Senior slugger Kyle Roller is second on the team in average (.352) and home runs (10). He leads the club in doubles with 16.

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If East Carolina is going to make its 11th postseason appearance in 12 seasons and fourth in five years under Godwin, then it will have to close its campaign by performing much better away from Clark-LeClair Stadium. The Pirates are just 4-9 on the road and their next seven are away from Greenville.

This weekend, ECU travels to surging Southern Miss. USM has won seven straight. The Pirates and Golden Eagles have identical 8-7 league marks so this weekend’s series at Pete Taylor Park is critical.

Check back with cusa-fans.com on Thursday when we’ll release our preview of this weekend’s series.