College & Professional Athletics

College & Professional Athletics

College Athletics

East Carolina University maintains an extensive intercollegiate athletic program. Sanctioned by the NCAA, the university fields athletic teams in football, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s golf, women’s soccer, volleyball, softball, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, and men’s and women’s track and cross country. ECU’s athletic complex includes Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium (football, 43,000 seats), Minges Coliseum (basketball, 7500 seats) and Natatorium, Clark-LeClair Stadium (baseball, 3000 seats) and facilities for track, softball, tennis, and soccer. The Ward Sports Medicine Building houses locker rooms, a weight room, sports medicine facilities, and offices for athletic coaches and administration. The athletic complex also boasts the two-story, 53,000 sf Murphy Center located between Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium and Minges Coliseum. The building houses a 22,000 sf strength and conditioning center for Pirate athletes as well as meeting rooms that double as tutoring facilities during the week and gathering areas to entertain prospective student athletes on game days. A second floor banquet area is also utilized for university and athletic events.

East Carolina competes as a full member of division I-A Conference USA . With headquarters in Irving, Texas, the Conference includes East Carolina, Houston, Memphis, Southern Miss, Tulane, Marshall, Rice, Southern Methodist (SMU), Tulsa, Central Florida (UCF), Texas-El Paso (UTEP), and Alabama-Birmingham (UAB). Conference USA sponsors 19 sports and has automatic NCAA bids in volleyball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s tennis, and baseball. Since joining C-USA as a full member in 2001, ECU has won conference regular season or tournament titles in women’s golf, women’s basketball, football, women’s soccer, softball, and baseball.

Football is the mainstay of ECU’s athletic program, and Conference USA is a member of the Bowl Championship Series. Affiliated with seven bowls, the Conference sends its champion to the AutoZone Liberty Bowl in Memphis and teams to the GMAC Bowl in Mobile, the R+L Carriers Bowl in New Orleans, the St. Petersburg Bowl, the Texas Bowl in Houston, the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth, and the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl in Honolulu.

CUSA’s football-playing members are split into two divisions with ECU in the East along with Marshall, Memphis, Southern Miss, UAB, and UCF. A football championship game takes place each year between the champions from each division. The team with the highest conference winning percentage serves as the host site for the title game. ECU defeated Houston in the 2009 game to claim its second consecutive CUSA football championship.

The 2011 football schedule features home games against Virginia Tech, UAB, UNC, Tulane, Southern Miss, and UCF.  Away games will be played at Houston, Memphis, Navy, UTEP, and Marshall.  ECU will also play South Carolina at the Carolina Panthers’ stadium in Charlotte for both teams’ season opener on Labor Day weekend.

More information on upcoming schedules can be obtained by calling (252) 328-4522 or visiting www.ecupirates.com.

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Professional Baseball

Less than thirty minutes away, in nearby Kinston, is the Class A baseball team Kinston Indians. Since 1977, the franchise has played in the Carolina League and has won numerous championships. The team is currently affiliated with the Cleveland Indians.

The Indians play in historic 4,100 seat Grainger Stadium, the Carolina League’s second oldest stadium. The stadium, opened in 1949, has been renovated many times over the years, most recently before the start of the 2003 season. Even though Kinston plays in the smallest market in professional baseball, the Indians continually draw over 100,000 fans each year.

Ticket prices for 2010 are field level seating – $7.00; reserved seats – $6.00; general admission – $5.00; senior, student, and military reserved – $5.00; and children 4 and under – Free. Season tickets and group rates are also available.

For schedules and more information, call the Kinston Indians at 1-800-334-5467 (NC) or (252) 527-0111 or visit www.kinstonindians.com.

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Professional Hockey

The Carolina Hurricanes are members of the Southeast Division of the National Hockey League’s Eastern Conference. Formerly the Hartford Whalers, the team moved to North Carolina in 1997 and now plays in the RBC Center in Raleigh, a 90-minute drive from Pitt County. In 2002, the team won the first conference championship in franchise history and earned its first trip to the Stanley Cup finals. In 2006, the team once again won the Eastern Division Championship and went on to win its first Stanley Cup in an exciting seven game series against the Edmonton Oilers.

For schedules and ticket information, call the Carolina Hurricanes Hockey Club at (919) 861-2323 or visit www.carolinahurricanes.com.

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