ECU baseball contending for conference crown

As the American Athletic Conference standings are shaping up to be a photo finish, the East Carolina baseball team will look for its first NCAA tournament bid in the Cliff Godwin era and first since 2012.

Things won’t be so easy, though. ECU is tied with three other teams atop the conference standings, with seven of the eight AAC teams in the race for postseason play according to the Rating Percentage Index (RPI).

RPI ranks the nation’s best teams based on wins, losses and its strength of schedule. It does not into account margin of victory or games played.

The AAC has proven to be one of the best conferences in baseball as all seven contending teams rank in the RPI’s top 55, within 21 spots of each other.

Despite being tied for first in the conference, ECU is currently fourth in conference RPI, ranking 44th.

The next two weeks can potentially make or break the Pirates’ regional hopes, as they are set to face Liberty, UConn and Houston.

The Pirates will face formerly ranked Liberty tomorrow in an attempt to climb up the RPI rankings.

“Every win is improving our RPI,” Godwin said. “That’s why we schedule that game on Wednesday at Liberty is because their RPI is very good and we can go on the road and get more RPI points.”

ECU will then play consecutive weekend series against higher RPI teams, playing UConn inside Clark-LeClair Stadium and Houston on the road.

“Last home series of the year against UConn,” Godwin said. “UConn is one of the best teams in the conference, got really good pitching Friday and Saturday.”

A couple of weeks into the season, Baseball America had Houston ranked third in the country. Houston has since fallen out of the top 25, struggling in the tight conference race.

The Pirates are coming off of a series sweep against No. 24 ranked Central Florida and are arguably playing their best baseball of the season, as they have won six straight and nine of their last ten.

Another possibility to make regionals is to win the American Conference tournament, as all conference tournament champions receive an automatic bid. The selection committee then fills the remaining spots, calling on RPI rankings.

If ECU can beat Liberty and win both weekend series, it would seem unlikely that they wouldn’t get a tournament bid.

It is unlikely that the Pirates will finish the season leading the conference in RPI ranking, as South Florida is ranked 20 points higher and took a series from the Pirates earlier this month.

Unless ECU can claim the AAC tournament championship, it seems their fate will rest in hands of the selection committee.