By Staff
By KEVIN TRAVIS, Sports Editor
GREENVILLE — It wasn’t exactly balmy as he paraded around Clark-LeClair Stadium, but there’s no place Billy Godwin would rather have been on a chilly Wednesday afternoon.
Godwin led his East Carolina Pirates’ baseball team through several drills on the first official day of practice. Like Godwin, the players were happy to be back on the field.
The Pirates open the season at Clark-LeClair Stadium on Feb. 9 against Liberty. After the three-game series, the Pirates will travel to Los Angeles to take on UCLA for a three-game series.
This year’s schedule is loaded with high-caliber teams, including the likes of Cal St. Fullerton (home series March 9-11), Michigan (home series March 16-17), Rice (home series April 6-8) and instate teams such as North Carolina, N.C. State and Duke.
The Pirates spent three hours on Wednesday preparing for the likes of Rice, Fullerton and Carolina. Godwin was pleased with how his players responded on the first day of practice.
As Godwin looked at his players, he saw several familiar faces.
The ECU coach said his cupboard should be plenty full this season.
Godwin is hoping that depth will help get the Pirates to Omaha.
The Pirates ended a string of seven straight trips to the postseason last year. Godwin said that should add a little fuel to the fire.