Pirates Win Twice To Force NCAA Greenville Regional Game Seven - East Carolina University Athletics (2024)

GREENVILLE, N.C.– The NCAA Greenville Regional will go the distance as top seed East Carolina avoided elimination twice with a 10-7 victory over No. 3 seed VCU and a 19-6 triumph over No. 4 seed Evansville Sunday inside Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium.

The Pirates (46-16) and Purple Aces (37-24) will face off Monday at Noon to determine who advances to the Super Regional round in Knoxville next weekend opposite No. 1 national seed Tennessee.

Game One: East Carolina 10, VCU 7
ECU jumped out to a 6-0 advantage and rebuffed a late charge by the visitors to eliminate them from the regional.

Ryan McCrystal posted a 3-for-5 performance at the plate with a run scored and one run driven in while Ryley Johnson added a pair of hits, three runs scored and an RBI. Justin Wilcoxen also notched three RBI of his own. Jake Thilges notched three hits, three runs scored and an RBI for the Rams (38-23).

Danny Beal (9-2) covered the final five innings to earn the victory, finishing with three strikeouts. Jack Hoeymans (4-3) was saddled with the loss after surrendering two runs on one hit in 1.1 frames of work.

McCrystal got the scoring started with an RBI double in the top of the first before Carter Cunningham added a two-out RBI single in the second to leave the Pirates ahead 2-0 after two complete. East Carolina worked more two-out magic in the top of the third to extend the lead as Dixon Williams shot a double down the right field line and Jacob Starling followed with an RBI base knock up the middle. Wilcoxen kept the line moving by drawing a walk while Luke Nowak plated Starling with a single through the right side to make it 4-0.

Cunningham propelled the Pirates ahead by five with a leadoff home run in the fourth and a subsequent wild pitch allowed Johnson to scoot home from third to push the upper hand to 6-0.

After VCU notched two runs in the bottom of the fourth to slice its deficit to four, ECU outscored the Rams 4-2 over the next three innings to settle in with a 10-4 lead. VCU made one last charge over the final two frames, scoring a pair in the eighth and threatened for more, but Beal slammed the door shut with a pair of strikeouts to strand runners at first and second to preserve a 10-6 Pirate cushion. He then worked around some traffic on the base paths in the ninth to limit the Rams to just one final run.

Bring this energy tomorrow Pirate Nation😤 #WeBelieve pic.twitter.com/jDqSVwHMXF

— ECU Baseball (@ECUBaseball) June 3, 2024

Game Two: East Carolina 19, Evansville 6
ECU scored in all but one inning against the Purple Aces, putting up a season high in runs to send the regional to Monday's decider.

Ethan Norby (4-0) produced an extremely mature outing to give the Purple and Gold a boost, tossing a career-best 5.1 innings with nine strikeouts. Kevin Reed (5-2) was touched up for seven runs (all earned) on nine hits in three innings as the losing pitcher.

McCrystal continued his noteworthy weekend by turning in another three hits and driving in five more runs. Nowak also shone with a two-hit performance to go along with two runs scored and four RBI. Cunningham added three runs scored, three RBI and three walks drawn. Brent Widder paced Evansville with a pair of hits while Cal McGinnis chipped in with a hit and two RBI.

The long ball was the story of the early portion of the contest as the teams combined for five home runs in the first three innings. When the dust settled, East Carolina held a 6-3 advantage as McCrystal, Cunningham and Nowak all registered two-run blasts to combat a couple of solo shots by the Purple Aces.

Both sides plated a lone run in the fourth before McCrystal afforded the Pirates a 9-4 edge with a two-run single in the sixth. Cunningham made it 10-4 in the seventh by drawing a bases-loaded walk, but Evansville drew within four with a two spot in the home half of the frame.

As it turns out, the Purple Aces would not score again, while ECU exploded for nine runs over the final two innings to put the game away for good.

• East Carolina improved to 1-1 in the all-time series with Evansville as both meetings have occurred during this weekend's regional.
• The Pirates have fought their way through the loser's bracket to reach the regional game seven for the first time since 2019 when they rattled off four-straight wins over NC State, Quinnipiac and Campbell (twice) in Greenville to secure a spot in the Super Regional round in Louisville.
• ECU has advanced to the regional finals for the fifth-straight season.
• The Pirates improved to 29-5 at home in 2024 and can win 30 games inside Clark-LeClair Stadium for the first time since 2009.
• The 19 runs scored against Evansville mark the most East Carolina has ever scored in an NCAA Regional contest.