East Carolina will host a Super Regional in the NCAA Tournament at Clark-LeClair Stadium for the first time after a thorough 13-4 victory over Coastal Carolina for the championship of the Greenville regional on Monday.
The Pirates (45-19) never trailed after an RBI triple by Bryson Worrell, the Most Outstanding Player of the regional, in the bottom of the first. Jacob Jenkins-Cowart added a sacrifice fly in the opening frame for a 2-0 lead.
ECU scored eight runs in the seventh inning with a 3-run homer from Worrell extending the lead to 13-2.
Worrell went 4-for-4 Monday with four runs and four RBIs. His ninth-inning homer accounted for the lone run for the Pirates in a 9-1 loss to the Chanticleers (39-20-1) on Sunday night.
“Really proud of the guys, the way we bounced back from yesterday,” Worrell said. “We didn’t have our best day yesterday, but the way we showed up today with our focus, it was awesome to see.”
The loss Sunday ended a 20-game winning streak. ECU had won nine straight regional contests at its home field.
Carter Spivey (8-0) led off a strong pitching effort, allowing three hits in five innings. He struck out five without a walk. Nick Lucky had a 2-run homer for Coastal in the fourth.
Ben Terwilliger went three scoreless innings with one hit, no walks and four strikeouts. Ryder Giles gave up a 2-run homer to Tyler Johnson in the ninth before Pirates coach Cliff Godwin called on Zach Agnos, who recorded a pair of strikeouts in closing ECU’s third straight regional championship.
The Pirates had a 17-6 lead in hits. Jenkins-Cowart was 3-for-4 with three RBIs. Jacob Starling was 3-for-5 with two RBIs. Lane Hoover had two hits and drove in a pair of runs. Agnos and Joey Berini each had two hits.
The all-regional team included Agnos, Jenkins-Cowart, Spivey and Worrell from top-seeded ECU.
“I’m just proud of our guys,” Godwin said. ” … I thought we were a little lackadaisical yesterday, just in our preparation. It came back and bit us, but we were in a winners’ bracket game, so we had today.”
A crowd of 5,326 saw the triumph.
“So proud of our home fans, because we needed the fans today,” Godwin said. “Our guys kept the fans engaged, unlike yesterday, so a great day to be a Pirate.”
ECU, No. 8 in the national seedings, will host No. 9 Texas (45-19) in the Super Regional.
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