Road to Omaha begins in Conway, SC for ECU

It wasn't the Cary or Raleigh Regional many expected, but ECU is headed to the NCAA Tournament just the same.

The Pirates (40-19) were placed in the Conway, SC Regional hosted by Coastal Carolina (47-12). ECU earned a No. 2 seed and will face No. 3 Alabama (34-26) in its first game. The No. 1 seed Chanticleers will do battle with No. 4 Columbia (22-28) in the opening game of the bracket.

ECU head coach Billy Godwin expects Pirate supporters to show up in full force for the regional.

"It's a short trip and that's good for our fans," said Godwin. "I'm excited because the 'Pirate Nation' is going to want to get out and support the Pirates. I think geographically for us, from Myrtle Beach to eastern North Carolina, we have a ton of fans in the area that are going to want to get down there and support our program."

Coastal Carolina may not have national name-recognition, but are well known to those who follow college baseball closely.

The Chanticleers are 10-time Big South Champions and have six NCAA regional appearances in the last seven years.

Last season, Coastal hosted a regional but were forced to play in nearby Myrtle Beach due to stadium restrictions. The Chanticleers were eliminated by Clemson.

This season, Coastal was anything but a lock to host a regional. The Chanticleers are currently ranked as high as No. 13 in the NCBWA poll but as low as No. 21 in the Collegiate Baseball poll.

Unlike last year, Coastal will be hosting the regional at its own stadium in Conway, SC. This should give the Chanticleers the advantage they have been searching for in recent years.

ECU has never faced Alabama or Columbia. The Crimson Tide are one of nine SEC teams to make the NCAA field and also finished second in the SEC's Western Division. Columbia received an automatic bid after claiming the Ivy League championship.

ECU is looking to bounce back from a mediocre performance in the C-USA tournament in New Orleans.

The No. 5 seed Pirates were sent into the loser's bracket on the first day with a heartbreaking loss to No. 4 Houston.

Brandon Henderson smacked a double off the left field wall in the tenth inning, scoring Corey Kemp from first base and giving ECU a 4-3 lead.

Houston's Zak Presley answered with a bases loaded single to give the Cougars a 5-4 extra innings win.

"We have to relax and leave the game to us and focus on what we do," Godwin said. "The effort was there [against Houston], we were just trying to make too much happen."

ECU didn't stay down long--the Pirates responded with a surprising 4-3 victory over top-seeded, No. 5 nationally ranked Rice.

Senior T.J. Hose threw 4.1 innings of hitless baseball in a winning relief appearance. Kemp and Roller each blasted solo home runs and Harrison Eldridge notched the game-winning single.

ECU was eliminated after another close loss to Houston. The Pirates took an early 1-0 lead but gave up two runs in the sixth, giving the Cougars all they would need to preserve a victory.

"I still don't think we've played a series yet where we've played complete," Godwin said. "That's kind of scary because I think that's certainly possible for this club to do and I believe they believe it's going to happen."

C-USA Freshman of the Year Seth Maness will take the mound for the Pirates in the opener against Alabama.

Maness finished the regular season with a 9-1 record and a 2.79 ERA, being the third lowest in the league. The young right-hander finished with a team-best 75 strikeouts and walked only 17 batters in 84 innings pitched.

Maness is confident he can make the transition to playing on a bigger stage.

"Just go out there and try to do everything that I've been doing all year," said Maness. "Throw strikes, let the defense play behind me, and let the offense do what they do."

Kemp makes no bones about the team's expectations heading into NCAA play.

He believes that ECU could be in the College World Series as early as this year.

"Each year the goal is not to make it to the regional or the super regional, it's to make it to Omaha," Kemp said. "We put forth a tremendous effort this year. If we play well and get hot at the right time, the sky is the limit--and that's Omaha."

This writer can be contacted at sports@theeastcarolinian.com

Coastal Carolina (47-12)

• Location: Conway, SC

• Nickname: Chanticleers

• Enrollment: 8,300

• Conference: Big South

• NCAA tournament appearances: 7

• VS ECU: 6-5

• Key Players: C Dock Doyle (.365,16 HR, 65 RBI), OF David Sappelt (.344,16 HR, 61 RBI), RHP Joey Haug (7-0, 2.09 ERA)

Alabama (34-26)

• Location: Tuscaloosa, AL

• Nickname: Crimson Tide

• Enrollment: 25,580

• Conference: SEC

• NCAA tournament appearances: 18 (6 regional championships, 5 CWS appearances)

• VS ECU: Never faced

• Key Players: C Alex Avila (.339, 16 HR, 61 RBI), IF Brandon May (.377, 9 HR. 49 RBI), RHP Austin Hyatt (4-4, 4.64 ERA)

Columbia (22-28)

• Location: New York, NY

• Nickname: Lions

• Enrollment: 24,820

• Conference: Ivy League

• NCAA tournament appearances: 1

• VS ECU: Never faced

• Key Players: 2B/RHP Henry Perkins (.371, 3 HR, 34 RBI), IF Mike Roberts (.271, 6 HR, 37 RBI), RHP Geoff Whitaker (6-3, 7.26 ERA)