Tulane sent first team C-USA pitcher Sean Morgan to the mound with an 8-4 record and 3.23 ERA, while East Carolina countered with second team C-USA southpaw Brody Taylor (7-2, 3.28). Both pitchers labored in the first inning, as Morgan gave up hits to the first two Pirates and Taylor allowed the first three Wave batters to reach. Since then, both pitchers have settled in nicely, and East Carolina just took a 4-1 lead in the top of the 5th.

Tulane has come the closest to breaking it open -- conference player of the year Mark Hamilton hit a first inning shot to the warning track in the first that would have spotted the Wave an early 4-0 lead. With two on in the bottom of the fourth, third baseman Seth Henry hit a long foul ball before grounding into an inning-ending double play.

The joy of the internet - while I wrote this entry, Jake Smith hit his 13th homer of the season to left-center field to give the Pirates a 4-1 lead to send the Pirate contingent into a frenzy. As expected for an early start, the crowd is pretty sparse but quite fiesty at this point -- a couple dozen ECU fans behind the third base dugout, 50-100 Tulane fans mostly in the shade behind home plate, and a few Rice fans here early.