ECU baseball falls to Texas, 9-8, in Super Regional, setting up Sunday series finale
ECU’s first trip to Omaha will have to wait at least one more day.
The Pirates, playing in a Super Regional for the third consecutive year, finally got the chance to host, and took advantage of that in Game 1 on Friday.
But Saturday, with a chance to sweep Texas, the Pirates faltered late, squandering a five-run lead in the final three innings as the Longhorns posted a 9-8 win to force a deciding Game 3 in the Greenville Super Regional.
ECU is looking to advance to the College World Series in Omaha for the first time in program history. Its 32 trips to the NCAA tournament without a trip to Omaha are the most in college baseball.
Things looked to be on track after Friday’s 13-7 win in Game 1, and the Pirates gave a partisan crown of 5,807 — a new stadium record — plenty to cheer about early Saturday, bolting out to a 7-2 lead through 6½ innings.
But the Longhorns rallied for two runs in the seventh and four more in the eighth to take a lead. Then, after an ECU home run to tie the game in the top of the ninth, Texas walked it off with two outs in the bottom half of the final inning to stun the Pirates and force a Game 3 on Sunday.
ECU (46-20) handed Texas its first postseason loss of 2022 in Game 1 on Friday, 13-7.
The Pirates’ run this year has included a fourth AAC tournament championship. ECU then went 4-1 in Greenville Regional play, setting up their first-ever games against Texas.
In the Super Regional opener, ECU collected 15 hits, including three home runs, after falling behind by two in the first inning.
Texas, which has appeared in the College World Series 37 times — and has won six championships — is now 46-20 on the season.
This story was originally published June 11, 2022 at 4:14 PM.
