On Wednesday, Cliff Godwin, the tenured head coach of the East Carolina Pirates, achieved his 400th career win. The Pirates defeated the Old Dominion Monarchs 9-2 at home in Clark-LeClair Stadium.
That’s our coach.@cgodwin23 officially has 400 career wins????????☠️
#PIRATES pic.twitter.com/AOgCMVMzHL
— ECU Baseball (@ECUBaseball) February 26, 2025
Godwin began his head coaching career in Greenville, N.C. back in 2015. Before that, he spent three years as an assistant coach for the Ole Miss Rebels.
The move was also a “welcome home” moment. The coach, who came from Oxford, Miss., played in purple and gold from 1998 to 2001 under legendary head coach Keith LeClair.
The hire was an instant success for East Carolina as Godwin led them to 40 wins and the NCAA Tournament in his first season.
In his second season, 2016, his wins slightly decreased. However, the Pirates made it to a super regional, and this would not be the last time Godwin led his East Carolina team to this round of the tournament.
Under his leadership, ECU reached a super regional in three straight seasons from 2019 to 2022 (the 2020 season was canceled due to COVID-19 and does not count).
The Pirates have continued their NCAA Tournament streak under Godwin as they returned to the big dance in 2023 and 2024. The team also made it in 2018, which was not previously mentioned.
As you can see, it is no shocker that Godwin got to the 400-win mark. He has made it to the NCAA Tournament seven times in his eight full seasons of coaching in Greenville. All seven of those were also 40+ win seasons for East Carolina.
From 2022-2024, he won 139 games alone. The Pirates are only 3-5 so far this year. But, if history says anything, East Carolina will be winning lots of games again and competing in the tournament for the school’s first national championship.
Up Next
East Carolina’s next game will be Friday, Feb. 28, as they play Kent State at home. The first pitch is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. EST.
WBN NCAA: https://worldbaseball.com/league/ncaa/
