CONWAY, SC — A sacrifice fly by Sebastian Alexander in the bottom of the eighth inning brought in the only run as Coastal Carolina topped East Carolina, 1-0, for the regional championship on Sunday night.

There was a repetitive pattern in the regional for the Pirates (34-27) as wins over Florida were followed by losses to the Chanticleers in the double-elimination event.

ECU downed Florida, 11-4, earlier Sunday to set up a rematch with Coastal.

Bradley Zayac, a freshman right-hander from Chesapeake, VA, gave the Pirates a tremendous start as he pitched into the eighth inning Sunday night.

He controlled a lineup that produced an 18-7 win over the Pirates on Saturday night.

Wells Sykes opened Coastal’s half of the eighth with a single to center field. Sykes went to second on fly to center by Caden Bodine. Sean Jenkins came in for Zayac after a wild pitch allowed Sykes to move to third.

Zayac (1-4) yielded four hits over seven and one-third innings. He was charged with the lone run (earned) as he walked one and struck out four. He threw 89 pitches, including 64 for strikes.

Alexander collected the only RBI of the contest on a fly to center.

Each team managed five hits before a throng of 6.415 at Coastal’s Springs Brooks Stadium. Jack Herring (double), Dixon Williams, Colby Wallace, Austin Irby and Alex Peltier had hits for ECU.

Combining for the shutout for Coastal (51-11) were starter Riley Eikhoff, who went seven and one-third innings, and Dominick Carbone (6-0).

Rematch with Gators

ECU downed Florida, 11-4, in an elimination game Sunday as Braden Burress went 3-for-5 with a double and three RBIs.

The Pirates opened the regional with an 11-6 triumph over the Gators on Friday.

Burress had a run-scoring single in the bottom of the second to put the Pirates ahead to stay. Alex Peltier scored on a passed ball in the second for a 2-0 lead.

Peltier had an RBI double in a 5-run third. Delivering run-scoring singles in the decisive frame were Austin Irby and Burress. Herring had a 2-run single.

Irby had a solo homer for an 8-1 ECU lead in the fourth.

The Pirates tallied an unearned run in the sixth.

In the eighth, Walker Barron had an RBI single and Burress closed the scoring with an RBI double.

Irby had two hits, two RBIs and scored three runs. Ryley Johnson had two hits and scored twice. ECU had a 12-7 lead in hits.

Freshman right-hander Lance Williams (3-1) started and went five innings. He gave up three hits and three runs (all earned) with two walks and five strikeouts.

Senior Jake Hunter held Florida (39-22) scoreless over the last four frames.

House money

The catch phrase for the Pirates after making a run to the American Athletic Conference tournament championship for an NCAA berth as the No. 6 seed was that ECU was playing pressure free — with house money.

If the program survives NIL raids, there will be a young but experienced group returning for 2026.