The Godwin Report: ECU Falls Short Against Campbell

Another one-run loss for East Carolina against Campbell left head coach Cliff Godwin frustrated with his team’s offensive performance. Despite strong pitching, ECU’s inability to generate consistent offense proved costly in a tightly contested game.

Godwin on the offensive struggles: “Yeah. I mean, look, just a very, very poor offensive job by us. I'll take all the blame for that, but you have 12 quality at-bats and you punch out 13 times, you're not going to win on the road. Too many free 90s by our pitching staff, even though they gave us a chance to win. We’ve just got to be better offensively.”

ECU’s offense struggled to put together productive at-bats, often finding themselves caught in between pitches. That led to an inefficient approach at the plate, something that Godwin emphasized needs to change.

Godwin on the team’s approach at the plate:“Just really poor job of seeing the ball up and being on time for a pitch. I mean, we're in between a lot of pitches. And hitters, if you're in between, then the pitcher's got you right where he wants you. We got to do a better job of being on time for something, and we haven't been on time for anything.”

While the offense faltered, ECU’s bullpen continued to show promise. Godwin acknowledged the depth of his relief arms, pointing out that, for the most part, the pitching staff has executed well.

Godwin on mixing and matching arms out of the bullpen:“The guys have come out and, for the most part, filled up the strike zone with really good stuff. And we knew that pitching was going to be a strength on this team. To this point, they've done a really good job.”

Godwin on Pruett’s outing:“Yeah, well, I mean, that inning starts with a 0-0 HBP to, I think, the 9-hole hitter. So, um, when you do that, the game's going to, you know, make you pay for it. And it definitely made us pay for it.”

Ultimately, what frustrated Godwin the most was the lack of quality at-bats throughout the lineup. While hard contact was present at times, the inability to string together meaningful plate appearances hurt ECU’s chances of coming out on top.

Godwin on what disappointed him the most:“Just not enough quality at-bats. You know, that's the thing. I mean, everybody wants to talk about hits, but it's the quality at-bats. I mean, we have a lot of hard contact.”

ECU will look to turn things around in their next contest, hoping to clean up their approach at the plate while continuing to lean on their deep pitching staff.

Stay tuned for more from The Godwin Report as ECU navigates its season.