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Pirates ready for NCAA Tournament
RYAN ROCKWELL, Staff Writer
GREENVILLE -- The roller coaster ride continues today for the East Carolina baseball team as they begin the first round of the NCAA Atlanta Regional, hosted by the No. 3 seed in the field of 64, Georgia Tech.
After an up and down season, it was unclear if ECU (33-25-1) would be invited to make their fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. Then Monday the eagerly awaiting Pirates got news of their invitation and subsequent trip to Atlanta. They face South Carolina today at 3 p.m. in the double elimination, four-team regional.
"We were awfully excited when our name popped up on the screen," said ECU coach Randy Mazey. "It's very rewarding to get to play some more."
Mazey, in his first year, is taking a Pirate team to the biggest show in college baseball after the previous coach, Keith LeClair, led the program the past four years. This year, a midseason slump and the dismissal of senior pitcher Davey Penny could have sunk the Pirate ship. But, as Mazey points out, his troops never stopped battling.
"The expectations were very high coming into the season and I wanted to live up to them as best I can," said Mazey. "This is a good start. Hopefully we can take another step and get farther in the near future."
Hitting woes and youth caused the young coach to play with the lineup in hopes of finding continuity late in the season. Mazey said the rotating lineup may have cost the team some early wins, but the team has gelled and is playing their best baseball at the right time.
"I think we played pretty well this season," said Mazey. "We played a lot of guys in the lineup, trying to figure out where they would play. We sacrificed some games. But the pitchers are pitching well and the hitters are hitting well. All the madness of the season pays off when you get to play in early June."
If things were not tough enough, Penny, who has the team's top earned run average, was dismissed from the squad by Mazey for disciplinary reasons heading into the last week of the season.
"Sometimes going through a lot of adversity helps you," said Mazey. "I think going through a lot of adversity helped the team. We went to New Orleans (to play Tulane in the final weekend of the season) and there was a lot of positive energy in the dugout."
This season the Pirates have looked to their ultimate goal of making the journey to Omaha to play in the College World Series as motivation through the turbulent times. The journey begins with South Carolina, the No. 2 seed in the Atlanta Regional.
The winner will go on to face the Georgia Tech-Stetson winner at 3 p.m. on Saturday, while the losers from each opening day contest will face off at 11 a.m. on Saturday. Action continues on Saturday at 7 p.m. as the winner of the early game will face the loser of the winner's bracket.
A champion of the regional will be crowned on Sunday. The first possible championship game begins at 1 p.m. If necessary, a second game will take place 45 minutes after the first.
Georgia Tech (44-16) garnered one of the 16 No. 1 seeds on the heels of an ACC championship. The Wrambing Wreck are the No. 3 team in the nation and sport a stable of live arms on their pitching staff and plenty of offense.
South Carolina (39-20) comes into the regional with an at-large bid after posting regional championships the past three seasons. Last year, the Gamecocks were the national runner-up in the College World Series.
Stetson (39-22), the No. 4 seed, also received an at-large bid and face the Yellow Jackets Friday at 7 p.m.
"South Carolina and Georgia Tech are two programs that I am very familiar with," said Mazey, who coached in both the SEC and ACC as an assistant. "They both do a great job. Georgia Tech is probably the most talented team in the country. They have high-profile players at every position. USC is probably the most over-achieving team in the nation. We've got to play great baseball to come out of there."
Despite the daunting task ahead of him, Mazey said he likes their chances. Playing in the competitive C-USA was a perfect tune-up for the tournament, indicated Mazey.
"We've faced Houston's pitching staff, we've faced Southern Miss's offensive firepower," said Mazey. "I feel lately we've hit and pitched well. So I feel good about it."
Mazey said the team has at least two things going for them as they enter today's tournament action.
"Attitude; we've taken care of each other," said Mazey. "There aren't any egos on this team either. Guys have accepted their roles. That's what's kept us going. These guys don't complain."
Mazey also feels that the team's ability to hit throughout the lineup, fostered in the early season by the skipper's tendency to move players in, out and around in the lineup, is something that opposing pitching staffs will be hard-pressed to overcome. The Pirates feature four regulars who bat over .300 and have had batters from the top to the bottom win games at the plate.
"The good thing about this team is that it comes from somebody else," said Mazey. "No one carries us. You have to pitch to the whole lineup. Our guys have been swinging the bat well the whole way through the lineup. So that makes us pretty tough on the opposing pitchers."
GREENVILLE -- The roller coaster ride continues today for the East Carolina baseball team as they begin the first round of the NCAA Atlanta Regional, hosted by the No. 3 seed in the field of 64, Georgia Tech.
After an up and down season, it was unclear if ECU (33-25-1) would be invited to make their fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. Then Monday the eagerly awaiting Pirates got news of their invitation and subsequent trip to Atlanta. They face South Carolina today at 3 p.m. in the double elimination, four-team regional.
"We were awfully excited when our name popped up on the screen," said ECU coach Randy Mazey. "It's very rewarding to get to play some more."
Mazey, in his first year, is taking a Pirate team to the biggest show in college baseball after the previous coach, Keith LeClair, led the program the past four years. This year, a midseason slump and the dismissal of senior pitcher Davey Penny could have sunk the Pirate ship. But, as Mazey points out, his troops never stopped battling.
"The expectations were very high coming into the season and I wanted to live up to them as best I can," said Mazey. "This is a good start. Hopefully we can take another step and get farther in the near future."
Hitting woes and youth caused the young coach to play with the lineup in hopes of finding continuity late in the season. Mazey said the rotating lineup may have cost the team some early wins, but the team has gelled and is playing their best baseball at the right time.
"I think we played pretty well this season," said Mazey. "We played a lot of guys in the lineup, trying to figure out where they would play. We sacrificed some games. But the pitchers are pitching well and the hitters are hitting well. All the madness of the season pays off when you get to play in early June."
If things were not tough enough, Penny, who has the team's top earned run average, was dismissed from the squad by Mazey for disciplinary reasons heading into the last week of the season.
"Sometimes going through a lot of adversity helps you," said Mazey. "I think going through a lot of adversity helped the team. We went to New Orleans (to play Tulane in the final weekend of the season) and there was a lot of positive energy in the dugout."
This season the Pirates have looked to their ultimate goal of making the journey to Omaha to play in the College World Series as motivation through the turbulent times. The journey begins with South Carolina, the No. 2 seed in the Atlanta Regional.
The winner will go on to face the Georgia Tech-Stetson winner at 3 p.m. on Saturday, while the losers from each opening day contest will face off at 11 a.m. on Saturday. Action continues on Saturday at 7 p.m. as the winner of the early game will face the loser of the winner's bracket.
A champion of the regional will be crowned on Sunday. The first possible championship game begins at 1 p.m. If necessary, a second game will take place 45 minutes after the first.
Georgia Tech (44-16) garnered one of the 16 No. 1 seeds on the heels of an ACC championship. The Wrambing Wreck are the No. 3 team in the nation and sport a stable of live arms on their pitching staff and plenty of offense.
South Carolina (39-20) comes into the regional with an at-large bid after posting regional championships the past three seasons. Last year, the Gamecocks were the national runner-up in the College World Series.
Stetson (39-22), the No. 4 seed, also received an at-large bid and face the Yellow Jackets Friday at 7 p.m.
"South Carolina and Georgia Tech are two programs that I am very familiar with," said Mazey, who coached in both the SEC and ACC as an assistant. "They both do a great job. Georgia Tech is probably the most talented team in the country. They have high-profile players at every position. USC is probably the most over-achieving team in the nation. We've got to play great baseball to come out of there."
Despite the daunting task ahead of him, Mazey said he likes their chances. Playing in the competitive C-USA was a perfect tune-up for the tournament, indicated Mazey.
"We've faced Houston's pitching staff, we've faced Southern Miss's offensive firepower," said Mazey. "I feel lately we've hit and pitched well. So I feel good about it."
Mazey said the team has at least two things going for them as they enter today's tournament action.
"Attitude; we've taken care of each other," said Mazey. "There aren't any egos on this team either. Guys have accepted their roles. That's what's kept us going. These guys don't complain."
Mazey also feels that the team's ability to hit throughout the lineup, fostered in the early season by the skipper's tendency to move players in, out and around in the lineup, is something that opposing pitching staffs will be hard-pressed to overcome. The Pirates feature four regulars who bat over .300 and have had batters from the top to the bottom win games at the plate.
"The good thing about this team is that it comes from somebody else," said Mazey. "No one carries us. You have to pitch to the whole lineup. Our guys have been swinging the bat well the whole way through the lineup. So that makes us pretty tough on the opposing pitchers."
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