East Carolina focused on St. John's

Five weeks ago, Chaz Frank walked off on East Carolina with a single in the bottom of the tenth inning.

Now the Pirates, who open the Chapel Hill Regional with St. John’s 11 a.m. Friday, are back in town. But the North Carolina baseball team is the last thing on their minds.

In fact, it was almost as if the Pirates were going out of the way not to mention the Tar Heels Thursday after practice.

“We know what to come here and expect, we’re excited to play,” right fielder John Wooten said. “We’re just going to look forward to St. John’s tomorrow and be ready to rock and roll.”

But about the Tar Heels?

“Gotta win tomorrow first,” Wooten said, “we’ll worry about that after tomorrow.”

Left-handed pitcher Kevin Brandt had the same approach.

“Game one’s tomorrow. That’s all we’re worried about – St. John’s,” he said. “Getting a chance would be great, but St. John’s is number one that’s who we’re going after right now.”

For head coach Billy Godwin, who said his team had a strong workout at Boshamer Stadium Thursday afternoon, that’s exactly how he wants his team to respond.

“The way I condition these guys, we can’t plan too far ahead we can only plan one day at a time and control what we do in that day,” Godwin said.

“The good lord gives us the same amount of time in every day – it’s what we choose to do with it. We can’t focus on things that are about to happen we just have to focus on the task at hand and right now that’s St. John’s.”

Whether or not they get another shot at North Carolina, ECU is excited to be back in Chapel Hill. Given their proximity, the Pirates arrived Thursday instead of trekking in on Wednesday like St. John’s and Cornell. Wooten and Brandt hope that their fans take advantage of the short drive too.

“Our fans are unbelievable,” Wooten said. “I know they’re going to be here in full force and I’m excited to see it and looking forward to it.”

Though the Pirates (35-22-1) saw the Tar Heels just a little more than a month ago, they are familiar with the Red Storm too, as they met last season in the Charlottesville Regional and St. John’s has made the trip down to Greenville in the past.

“They’ve got a great coaching staff and they’re always very athletic,” Godwin said. “They always have great arms and they’re one of the best teams in the Big East. When you put all that together it’s going to be a great challenge for our guys.”