Virginia couldn’t get the big hit late, and ultimately fell, 4-2, to East Carolina on Saturday night in the winners bracket final in the Greenville Regional.
The loss sends the ‘Hoos (39-18) to a Sunday elimination game with Coastal Carolina (37-19), which survived a wild ninth inning to defeat Coppin State, 10-8, earlier in the day.
The loss might doom UVA, which was able to fight its way back, with a deeper pitching staff, from an early loss in the 2021 regionals to advance all the way to the College World Series.
Brian O’Connor will likely send Jake Berry (5-3, 4.67 ERA) out for the Sunday matchup with the Chanticleers.
A win there, and it’s anybody’s guess who would start a Sunday evening rematch with ECU (44-18), which has now won 20 straight.
The Pirates haven’t lost since April 26.
They got ahead in this one with a two-run homer from Josh Moylan in the second off Virginia starter Brian Gursky (7-3, 3.91 ERA), who took the loss, giving up three runs, two earned, on six hits in five and two-thirds innings.
A Chris Newell solo shot in the fifth, his 13th of the season, made it 2-1, but the Pirates got the run right back in the bottom half, on a Justin Wilcoxen solo homer.
Virginia would narrow it again in the seventh, on an Ethan Anderson RBI groundout, but Newell struck out to strand Casey Saucke at third to end that threat.
ECU responded again, with a Zach Agnos sac fly that scored Alec Makarewicz to get the lead back to 4-2.
Jake Gelof flew out to deep left-center with two outs and a runner on to end the eighth, but Virginia would make things interesting in the ninth, loading the bases with one down.
Agnos, who started the game at shortstop, would strike out Newell and Max Cotier to end it.
Story by Chris Graham
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