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The East Carolina baseball team experienced an up and down season in 2025. After a bit of a slow start, the Pirates went on a run to make the NCAA Tournament.
They were able to take down SEC foe Florida twice in postseason play but were unable to get past No. 1 seed Coastal Carolina in the regional finals. The year came to an end at 35-27.
The Pirates began the season by dropping six of their first eight contests. They then rebounded to get to 20-10 before losing six straight matchups to put postseason hopes in danger.
The regular season ended with a 29-25 overall record. That likely meant being on the outside looking in come NCAA Tournament time. A four-game run in the AAC Championship, however, provided new life.
The Pirates won the conference tournament championship. It allowed ECU to slide into the Conway Regional as a three-seed. The squad flexed its muscles against Florida but eventually fell 1-0 in an elimination game to Coastal Carolina.
Now, the task for head coach Cliff Godwin is keeping the core of his roster together. He’s already finding that difficult.
P4 programs are trying to poach East Carolina baseball players.
Our system is so BROKEN! We have coaches at P4 schools texting our players directly who are not in portal! And we have proof!
— Cliff Godwin (@cgodwin23) June 5, 2025
It took just days after season’s end for larger schools to begin reaching out to ECU players directly, according to Godwin. He’s keeping the receipts.
East Carolina, like most mid-majors, is in a difficult position. The Pirates have been one of the most successful programs in all of college baseball over the last quarter-century. Since 1999, they’ve posted 16 40-win seasons, including a 51-13 campaign in 2004.
In the past, the team was able to build on success year after year. Now, they find themselves in somewhat of an annual rebuild.
The transfer portal has been a major hit to G5 schools across all sports. NIL has only magnified the disadvantage. Larger programs can easily poach the best players with lucrative cash offers.
East Carolina’s baseball team was impacted last year after star infielder Alek Makarewicz bolted for NC State. Godwin then dealt with tampering issues during his team’s postseason appearance.
“We threw two pitchers on Monday that both knew they were leaving,” he said after a season-ending loss to Evansville. “I didn’t know they were leaving. I would’ve thrown position players. The guy that started and the guy that gave up the three-run homer went to the portal (two days after the season ended). They knew they were leaving.”
The Pirates lost some talent in the portal last year. Cliff Godwin hinted at more attrition earlier this year while questioning his players’ NIL motivations.
Those feelings seem to have changed following the Pirates’ late run. The head coach has made it his goal to keep the roster together.
“We’ll make some changes in some areas, for sure, and we’ll get better. We are going to keep this core group together, and man, they got a lot of experience together…
“I’m going to have to have some stay conversations. I’m sure there are people DMing them right now trying to buy them away… We’re going to do everything we can to keep them.”
-Cliff Godwin
Godwin confirmed those suspicions on Thursday. If the tampering continues, he might just expose his rivals!