East Carolina Wins Twice to Force Regional Game Seven
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.
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.
UC Irvine 17, Tulane 7
CORVALLIS, OR – UC Irvine put up a 9-spot in the seventh inning and limited Tulane to just three hits through eight innings to eliminate the Green Wave from the 2024 Corvallis Regional with a 17-7 victory on Sunday afternoon.
The game was played at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field with off-and-on drizzling rain throughout the contest.
The second-seeded Anteaters (45-13) advanced to the regional championship game against top-seeded Oregon State (44-14), which is set for 8 p.m. CT/6 PT on Sunday.
Tulane, picked ninth in the American Athletic Conference preseason poll, saw its season end at 36-26 after capturing back-to-back conference tournament championships. The Green Wave also tied Florida State for the biggest regular season turnaround (+16 victories) nationally.
Irvine reliever Ricky Ojeda (6-1) picked up Sunday’s victory, allowing just one run on no hits with three strikeouts and three walks. David Vizcaino picked up his first save by navigating the final three innings of the game effectively.
Tulane starter Billy Price (3-3) surrendered four runs on six hits with no strikeouts and one walk in the losing effort.
In all, the Green Wave walked 11 batters and hit six more. The Anteaters walked five, hit one and registered 12 strikeouts.
The lone homer of the game came off the bat of Irvine third baseman Jo Oyama with a two-run shot in the ninth inning.
The Green Wave got four doubles, including two by first baseman Brady Marget. He and center fielder Teo Banks drove in two runs apiece. Banks also scored three times.
Irvine scored in each of the first five innings, building a 6-2 lead through five frames. Tulane pulled one back in the sixth on an RBI groundout by designated hitter Michael Lombardi before the Anteaters exploded for nine tallies on five hits in the top of the seventh to put the game out of reach.
Tulane, though, didn’t quit as it answered in the bottom of the ninth with back-to-back run-scoring doubles by Banks and Marget, followed by another RBI by James Agabedis III.
The Anteaters stranded 14 baserunners.
