3 storylines from East Carolina Regional

Posted on 05.29.09

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NCAA East Carolina Regional

WHO: No. 2 USC (38-21) vs. No. 3 George Mason (42-12)

WHEN: 3 p.m. today

WHERE: Clark-LeClair Stadium

TV: None

RADIO: WNKT-FM 107.5, WISW-AM 1320

ALSO: No. 1 East Carolina (42-17) vs. No. 4 Binghamton (29-20)

• Get live updates and chat with each other in real-time here today from USC-George Mason

Home at last. East Carolina is hosting an NCAA regional for the third time, but this is the first time the Pirates will play on their campus field. The other times they hosted — in Wilson, N.C. (2001) and Kinston, N.C. (2004) — they moved to nearby ballparks with more seating capacity. Both times they advanced to a Super Regional. This time, after an $11 million renovation that became Clark-LeClair Stadium and pushed capacity to 5,000, they truly will get to stay home.

Road warriors. South Carolina is no stranger to winning on the road in the playoffs. The Gamecocks won their 2006 regional in Charlottesville, Va., and their 2003 regional in Atlanta. That’s every three years, and, yes, this is 2009. USC showed toughness on the road this season with SEC series victories at Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee, as well as by winning one game at Clemson.

Don’t forget the Bearcats. Sure, nobody has heard of Binghamton, and nobody is considering the No. 4 seed as a contender. But guess what? Last season’s national champion, Fresno State, entered regional play as a four seed. So here is a little love for Binghamton, the champion of the America East Conference and the alma mater of journalist Tony Kornheiser of Washington Post and ESPN “PTI” fame.

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SOUTH CAROLINA

Record: 38-21 (SEC)

Coach: Ray Tanner

Key players: OF DeAngelo Mack (.366, 14 HR, 59 RBI), RHP Sam Dyson (8-4, 5.31)

Key number: 99 — homers, the most coming into this regional in a hitter’s park

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EAST CAROLINA

Record: 42-17 (Conference USA)

Coach: Billy Godwin

Key players: 2B Ryan Wood (.387, 13 HR, 55 RBI), RHP Seth Maness (9-1, 4.15 ERA)

Key number: 3,000 — the number of seats at Clark-LeClair Stadium, certain to be filled with people wearing purple and gold

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GEORGE MASON

Record: 42-12 (Colonial Athletic Association)

Coach: Bill Brown

Key players: OF Scott Krieger (.378, 20 HR, 80 RBI), LHP Mike Modica (11-1, 4.17 ERA)

Key number: 1 — wins in NCAA tournament history, a figure that could double with a victory over USC

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BINGHAMTON

Record: 29-20 (America East)

Coach: Tim Sinicki

Key players: OF Corey Taylor (.335, 15 HR, 51 RBI), RHP Murphy Smith (7-2, 2.41 ERA)

Key number: 537 — the distance from Binghamton, N.Y., to Greenville, N.C., the furthest away of the visiting teams

— Neil White

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