ECU Softball Announces 2003 Schedule
October 18, 2002 | Softball
"Our kids and our fans should be excited about this year's schedule," commented ECU Head Coach Tracey Kee. "Never before have we had this many home games."
The Pirates will open up the season on February 12, when they host North Carolina in a doubleheader. After the series with the Tar Heels, the Pirates will again participate in the Triangle Classic in Raleigh, N.C. The tournament will take place February 14-16 and be played at Walnut Creek. This will mark the seventh straight year that East Carolina has taken part in the event. Last year, ECU went 2-3 in the tournament. After the Triangle Classic, the Pirates will return home to host the eight-team Pirate Classic on February 21-23. The final series of the month will be on February 26 when the Pirates travel to UNC Wilmington to take on the Seahawks in a doubleheader.
East Carolina will open up the month of March on the road in Tampa, Fla., for a C-USA series against South Florida and then take on Coastal Carolina in a two-game series on March 4. March 7-9, the Pirates will compete in the College of Charleston Tournament in Charleston, S.C. East Carolina will also face conference rivals Charlotte and Louisville in March, both series of which are at home. ECU will face three other non-conference opponents during the month (Elon, UNC Greensboro, and Brown), and play in the UNC Classic at the end of the month.
In April, the Pirates will spend the majority of the month on the road, travelling to UAB, DePaul, and Southern Miss for league match-ups and Virginia for a non-conference two-game series. East Carolina will host UNC Wilmington, Houston and Liberty for a total of seven home games in April.
Saint Louis will visit the ECU softball field for a three-game series May 3-4, after which the Pirates will travel to Houston, Texas for the Conference USA Tournament, which is being hosted by the University of Houston.
"The schedule will indeed test our youth right away," said Kee. "However, it will be a good barometer for our Conference USA schedule. Our tournaments will give us a chance to compete against some regionally and even nationally ranked opponents. C-USA was ranked sixth in national RPI rankings for last season, thus pitting us against tough competition on a weekly basis."
The Pirates went 4-1 in fall play, with wins over Charlotte, UNC Wilmington, and Methodist. Kee is 291-131 in six years as head coach of the Pirates.
February
12 North Carolina (DH)
14-16 at Triangle Classic
21-23 Pirate Classic
26 at UNC Wilmington (DH)
March
1 at South Florida*(DH)
2 at South Florida*
4 Coastal Carolina (DH)
7-9 College of Charleston Tournament
13 Elon (DH)
15 Charlotte* (DH)
16 Charlotte*
19 at UNC Greensboro (DH)
22 Louisville* (DH)
23 Louisville*
25 Brown (DH)
28-30 at UNC Classic
April
2 Virginia (DH)
5 at UAB* (DH)
6 at UAB*
9 UNC Wilmington (DH)
12 at DePaul* (DH)
13 at DePaul*
18 Houston* (DH)
19 Houston*
23 Liberty (DH)
26 st Southern Miss* (DH)
27 at Southern Miss*
May
3 Saint Louis* (DH)
4 Saint Louis*
8-10 at C-USA Tournament
