GREENVILLE — Texas came back after trailing, 7-2, to top East Carolina, 9-8, on Saturday as Dylan Campbell singled to right with the bases loaded and two out in the bottom of the ninth.
The Pirates and Longhorns, each 46-20, will play the third and deciding game of the Super Regional for a berth in the College World Series on Sunday at 4 p.m. (ESPN2).
A new stadium attendance record was set with 5,807 on hand to see Texas take a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first on an RBI single by Murphy Stehly and an ECU throwing error.
Bryson Worrell cut the lead in half in the top of the fourth with his 20th home run of the season.
The Pirates put up five runs in the fifth on a 2-run double by Worrell and a 3-run homer by Jacob Jenkins-Cowart.
ECU went up 7-2 in the seventh when Jenkins-Cowart scored on a wild pitch. The score came after video review reversed an out call on the field.
The Texas comeback began with a 2-out, 2-run homer by Douglas Hodo III in the seventh.
The Longhorns tied the score in the eighth on a 3-run homer by Skyler Messinger and went ahead, 8-7, on a solo homer by Campbell.
A 2-out solo shot to left by second baseman Jacob Starling of the Pirates tied the score at 8 in the top of the ninth.
Ivan Melendez singled to center field to start the bottom of the ninth. A sacrifice bunt by Mitchell Daly moved Melendez into scoring position. Austin Todd was walked intentionally after the count went to 3-0. A 2-out walk to Silas Ardoin loaded the bases.
Campbell hit a slicing drive to the right field corner on 1-2 pitch from freshman right-hander Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkman (1-1) to end the game.
“Texas is really good,” said ECU coach Cliff Godwin. “They’re the best team we’ve played this year.”
Andre Duplantier II (3-1) pitched the last two and two-thirds innings for the win.
Hodo, Eric Kennedy and Campbell each had three hits for Texas, which had a 15-11 lead in hits. Worrell was 3-for-5 for the Pirates with two runs and three RBIs. Jenkins-Cowart had two hits and three RBIs. Zach Agnos had a pair of hits.
Godwin did not name a starting pitcher for Sunday and neither did his Longhorns counterpart, David Pierce. ECU used eight pitchers Saturday and Texas used five. Another staff day appears likely for Sunday.
The Pirates coach was confident his club would be ready to bounce back
“If you had told us when we were 14-13 that we would be playing a game to go to the College World Series, at home, we would have taken it,” Godwin said.
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