Pirates get No. 3 seed for season-ending CUSA tournament

By ECU Sports Information
Published in Sports on May 20, 2013 1:48 PM

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IRVING, Texas -- East Carolina is the No. 3 seed for the season-ending Conference USA baseball tournament, which begins Wednesday at Reckling Park in Houston.

The Pirates (30-24) face the host Cougars at noon Thursday. ECU will face seventh-seeded Tulane at noon Friday and regular-season co-champion Southern Miss at 8 p.m. Saturday.

In the other four-team pod, top-seeded Rice University faces defending league champion UAB at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The Owls, winners of seven straight CUSA crowns, oppose fifth-seeded UCF on Thursday and square off against Memphis at noon Saturday.

The top two finishers from each four-team pod advance to the championship game Sunday. The winner earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I tournament.

Just two games separated the top six teams in the wildest regular-season race in conference history. Rice and Southern Miss each posted a 15-9 league worksheet, while the Pirates and Memphis shared runner-up honors at 14-10.

UCF and Houston tied for third at 13-11.

East Carolina is 18-18 all-time in CUSA tournament play and has not won a league championship since 2002.