East Carolina Pirates baseball

The East Carolina Pirates baseball team is an intercollegiate baseball team representing East Carolina University in NCAA Division I college baseball and has made regular appearances in the NCAA Tournament, but as of 2020 has yet to appear in the College World Series.[2]

East Carolina Pirates
2021 East Carolina Pirates baseball team
Founded1907
UniversityEast Carolina University
Head coachCliff Godwin (7th season)
ConferenceThe American
LocationGreenville, North Carolina
Home stadiumClark-LeClair Stadium
(Capacity: 5,000)
NicknamePirates
ColorsPurple and Gold[1]
         
NCAA regional champions
2001, 2004, 2009, 2016, 2019
NCAA Tournament appearances
1964, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1974, 1977, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019
Conference tournament champions
ECAC: 1982, 1984
CAA: 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1999, 2000
C-USA: 2002
American: 2015, 2018
Conference champions
SoCon: 1966, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1974, 1977
ECAC: 1984, 1985
CAA: 1986, 1990, 2001
C-USA: 2004, 2009
American: 2019

East Carolina participates as a full member of the American Athletic Conference. They have won two regular season championships and one tournament as a member of Conference USA, as well as several Colonial Athletic Association and Southern Conference championships previously.

The Pirates are coached by Cliff Godwin and play their home games at Clark-LeClair Stadium, named after donor and alumnus Bill Clark and former coach Keith LeClair. Every year, the Pirates host a baseball tournament in Greenville in honor of Coach LeClair called the Keith LeClair Classic.

As of 2020, they have the most NCAA tournament appearances without a College World Series appearance.

History

Conference

Head coaches

Tenure Coach Years Record Pct.
1932–1933R.C. Deal24-8-0.333
1934W.O. Jolly1
1935–1938Bo Farley4 (5)35-14-4.698
1939Gordon Gilbert16-5-0.545
1940Bo Farley1 (5)4-3-0.571
1941John Christenbury16-4-0.600
1950–1953Jack Boone445-30-3.596
1954–1962James Mallory9 (10)145-52-0.736
1963–1972Earl Smith10185-103-2.641
1973James Mallory1 (10)16-8-0.667
1974–1976George Williams356-32-0.636
1977–1979Monte Little382-49-0.626
1980–1984Hal Baird5145-66-1.686
1985–1997Gary Overton13427-237-1.643
1998–2002Keith LeClair5212-96-1.688
2003–2005Randy Mazey3120-66-1.644
2006–2014Billy Godwin9317-214-1.597
2015–presentCliff Godwin6214–113–1.654
Totals 16 coaches 80 seasons 2006-1096-15 .647

* 1942, 1946–1949 No Records Available [2]
* 1943–1945 No Games Played

Stadium

Clark-LeClair Stadium is the home of Pirate baseball at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. The stadium was named after Pirate alumnus and key contributor Bill Clark and former Pirate skipper Keith LeClair.[3]

The stadium has 3,000 Stadium bleacher seats, plus space for several thousand more spectators in "The Jungle". There are concession and restroom facilities at the stadium plus a family picnic area. Amenities include the Pirate Club fundraising and hospitality suite and a private suite for the LeClair family.

The stadium is home to the ECU Invitational[4] and the Keith LeClair Classic.[5]

Year-by-year results

* Division I only

Year Head Coach Overall Winning % Conference Winning % Conf. Rank Nat. Rank Notes
1964Earl Smith18–70.720NCAA District 3
1965Earl Smith16–70.696
1966Earl Smith17–100.63012–30.8001st#28NCAA District 3
1967Earl Smith23–60.79313–30.813T-1st#23
1968Earl Smith21–11–10.65610–10.9091st#19NCAA District 3
1969Earl Smith15–140.5177–70.500T-5th
1970Earl Smith20–130.60613–60.6841st#25NCAA District 3
1971Earl Smith12–180.4007–50.5834th
Total[2]

NAIA Tournament

In 1961, the ECU Pirates won the NAIA Baseball World Series championship to claim East Carolina's first national championship in baseball. The East Carolina Pirates won 13-7 over the Sacramento State Hornets. Since then, the Pirates have yet to make it to a national championship.

NCAA tournament

Year Record Pct Notes
19641-2.333Lost to North Carolina in the District 3 Regional.
19660-2.000Lost to North Carolina in the District 3 Regional.
19681-2.333Lost to Florida State in the District 3 Regional.
19700-2.000Lost to Mississippi State in the District 3 Regional.
19740-2.000Lost to South Carolina in the District 3 Regional.
19770-2.000Lost to South Carolina in the Atlantic Regional.
19800-2.000Lost to Maine in the Northeast Regional.
19821-2.333Lost to West Virginia in the East Regional.
19842-2.500Lost to South Alabama in the South Regional.
19870-2.000Lost to Central Michigan in the Atlantic Regional.
19890-2.000Lost to Villanova in the East Regional.
19901-2.333Lost to N.C. State in the East Regional.
19911-2.333Lost to Ohio State in the Midwest Regional.
19931-2.333Lost to Ohio State in the Atlantic Regional.
19992-2.500Lost to LSU in the Baton Rouge Regional.
20002-2.500Lost to Louisiana-Lafayette in the Lafayette Regional.
20013-2.600Won Wilson Regional; Lost to Tennessee in the Kinston Super Regional.
20022-2.500Lost to Clemson in the Clemson Regional.
20031-2.333Lost to Stetson in the Atlanta Regional.
20043-2.600Won Kinston Regional; Lost to South Carolina in the Columbia Super Regional.
20050-2.000Lost to UNLV in the Tempe Regional.
20071-2.333Lost to Western Carolina in the Chapel Hill Regional.
20082-2.500Lost to Coastal Carolina in the Conway Regional.
20094-3.571Won Greenville Regional; Lost to North Carolina in the Chapel Hill Super Regional.
20112-2.500Lost to UVA in the Charlottesville Regional Final.
20121-2.333Lost to North Carolina in the Chapel Hill Regional.
20150-2.000Lost to FIU in the Coral Gables Regional.
20164-2.667Won Charlottesville Regional; Lost to Texas Tech in the Lubbock Super Regional.
20181-2.333Lost to UNCW in the Greenville Regional.
20194-3.571Won Greenville Regional; Lost to Louisville in the Louisville Super Regional.
Total[2] 40-62 .392

Pirates in the Major Leagues

  • Over the 5-year tenure of current head coach Cliff Godwin, 14 Pirates have been drafted.
  • Since the MLB draft began in 1965, 2 Pirates have been selected in the first round: Pat Watkins was selected 32nd in 1993 and Jeff Hoffman was selected 9th in 2014.
  • A total of 20 Pirates have gone on to play in the MLB, 3 of which are active players.
Athlete Years in MLB MLB Teams
Bill Holland 1937 Washington Senators
Bunky Stewart 1952–1956 Washington Senators
Tim Talton 1966–1967 Kansas City Athletics
Floyd Wicker 1968–1971 St. Louis Cardinals, Montreal Expos, Milwaukee Brewers, San Francisco Giants
Vince Colbert 1970–1972 Cleveland Indians
Tommy Toms 1975–1977 San Francisco Giants
Butch Davis 1983–1984, 1987–1989, 1991, 1993–1994 Kansas City Royals, Pittsburgh Pirates, Baltimore Orioles, Los Angeles Dodgers, Texas Rangers
Bob Patterson 1985–1987, 1989–1998 San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates, Texas Rangers, California Angels, Chicago Cubs
Bob Davidson 1989 New York Yankees
Mike Christopher 1991–1993, 1995–1996 Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers
Pat Watkins 1997–1999 Cincinnati Reds, Colorado Rockies
Chad Tracy 2004–2010, 2012–2013 Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago Cubs, Florida Marlins, Washington Nationals
Sam Narron 2004 Texas Rangers
Seth Maness 2013–2017 St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Royals
Chris Heston 2014–2017 San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, Minnesota Twins
Mike Wright 2015–present Baltimore Orioles, Seattle Mariners
Shawn Armstrong 2015–present Cleveland Indians, Seattle Mariners, Baltimore Orioles
Jeff Hoffman 2016–present Colorado Rockies
Jharel Cotton 2016–2017 Oakland Athletics
Jack Reinheimer 2017–2018 Arizona Diamondbacks, New York Mets

See also

References

  1. ECU Athletics Style Guidelines (PDF). July 14, 2017. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
  2. "2018 ECU Baseball Fact Book" (PDF). 2018 ECU Baseball Fact Book. East Carolina University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
  3. "LEWIS FIELD AT CLARK-LeCLAIR STADIUM". ECU Athletics. Retrieved 2009-04-24.
  4. "2007 ECU Invitational". ECU Athletics. Archived from the original on 2009-01-05. Retrieved 2009-04-24.
  5. "6th Annual Keith LeClair Classic". ECU Athletics. Archived from the original on 2012-07-11. Retrieved 2009-04-24.
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