After winning its first regular season Conference USA championship by four games, East Carolina will be the No. 1 seed at the 2004 Conference USA Tournament, which begins Wednesday in Houston. The No.4-ranked Pirates finished with a 25-5 record in C-USA play, establishing a new conference record for wins in league play. At 47-9 overall, ECU owns the best record in division I baseball for the fourth week in a row. East Carolina is the fifth school to win the regular season title in the league’s first nine seasons, joining Houston (4), Tulane (2), Southern Miss and USF.

The Pirates will face Louisville (26-28) in the third game of the tournament on Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. EDT. The Cardinals (13-16 in C-USA) earned the final spot in the conference tournament by virtue of winning three straight games at USF, including a series finale in which U of L erased a 7-1 deficit by scoring eight runs in the top of the ninth inning. East Carolina’s balanced attack leads Conference USA in hitting (.322) and pitching (.368). Former closer Greg Bunn (8-0 with a 2.91 Era and 95 K’s) leads the Pirates pitching staff, while Ryan Jones (.409, 24 doubles, 18 home runs, 63 RBI) and Trevor Lawhorn (.314, league-leading 21 home runs and 63 RBI) are two of ECU’s top performers at the plate. Senior OF Mark Jurich (.361, 18 doubles, 19 homers and 61 RBI) is the veteran leader of a very young Cardinal club.

Houston (28-26, 19-10) and TCU (32-23, 18-11) will be seeded opposite of U of L and ECU in one bracket and the Cougars and Horned Frogs will face each other at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday night. TCU won two of three when the clubs met in the regular season, marking the Frogs first series win over the Cougars since 1994, when the two schools were members of the Southwest Conference. Matt Varner (7-4, 4.01 ERA) tops the UH pitching staff, while Cole Bruce (.352, 18 doubles) leads the squad at the plate. Senior Clayton Jerome (8-4) is the third-winningest pitcher in school history (27), while freshman Shelby Ford (.307, team-leading 15 home runs) and Chad Huffman (.389, 17 doubles, 37 RBI) are two of the team’s young stars with the bat.

The tournament will get underway at 9:00 a.m. CDT on Wednesday when No. 6 seed Memphis (28-26, 15-14) takes on No. 3 seed Southern Miss (40-15, 21-9). The Tigers feature Jarrett Grube (8-4, 2.73 ER, 100 strikeouts) and Derek Hankins (8-5, 4.59 ERA and 105 K’s), the first duo in school history to top the 100-strikeout mark in the same season. Southern Miss has continued its offensive prowess this season and has a trio of players in Jarrett Hoffpauir (391, 23 doubles, 73 RBI), Matt Shepherd (.397, 25 doubles, six triples) and Ryan Frith (.344, 19 home runs and 55 RBI) that rank among the conference leaders in several offensive categories.

Seventh-seeded UAB (28-27, 13-16) and second-seeded Tulane (38-17, 21-9) will battle each other in the 12:30 game on Wednesday. UAB is back in the Conference USA Tournament for the first time since reaching the semifinals of the 2000 tourney. The Blazers have hit the ball well over the past three weeks and are led by senior 1B Daniel Hill who has 13 homers, 47 RBI and a .341 average. The Green Wave are closing in on another 40-win season and their attack is aided on the mound and at the plate by sophomore Brian Bogusevic. The lefthander is 8-5 with 78 strikeouts as a pitcher and is hitting .336 with 13 doubles, nine homers and 60 RBI as a batter. Tulane has won four of the first eight C-USA Tournaments.

The championship game of the tournament on Sunday, May 30 will be televised by affiliates of the Conference USA Television Network and CSTV: College Sports Television. The tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.

Conference USA Baseball Tournament
(Houston, Texas)

Wed., May 26
Game One
(6) Memphis vs. (3) Southern Miss 9:00a
Game Two
(7) UAB vs. (2) Tulane 12:30p
Game Three
(8) Louisville vs. (1) East Carolina 4:00p
Game Four
(4/5) TCU vs. (4/5) Houston 7:30p

Thu., May 27
Loser Game One vs,. Loser Gamer Two 9:00a
Loser Game Three vs. Loser Game Four 12:30p
Winner Game One vs. Winner Game Two 4:00p
Winner Game Three vs. Winner Game Four 7:30p


All times Central.