By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — No. 4 North Carolina and East Carolina will meet for the fifth time this season, and the Pirates hope for a sixth matchup.
The Pirates, the No. 3 seed in the Chapel Hill Regional, earned the latest battle of in-state rivals by rolling to a 10-0 victory over No. 4 seed VCU in an elimination game Sunday afternoon at Boshamer Stadium.
No. 1 regional seed UNC, which will be designated as the home team, can advance to the Super Regionals with a win in the 5:06 game (ACC Network), while East Carolina can force a deciding game on Monday with a victory.
ECU coach Cliff Godwin wouldn’t say who will be his starting pitcher for the game. UNC will start junior left-hander Folger Boaz (3-3, 7.30 ERA), with rested freshman left-hander Jackson Rose (3-0, 2.82) waiting in the bullpen.
Carolina will attempt to go 3-0 in a regional for the eighth time under the current format adopted in 1999. In five of those seasons, the Tar Heels made the College World Series (2007, 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2018). The Tar Heels also went 3-0 in 2003 (Starkville Regional, lost to South Carolina in Supers) and 2019 (Chapel Hill Regional, lost to Auburn in Supers).
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The Tar Heels are 2-1-1 against the Pirates this season and are 4-0 in NCAA tournament play against them after winning the Saturday winners bracket game 7-5. Earlier, UNC won 10-1 and 9-3 in the 2009 Super Regionals and 5-3 in the 2012 Chapel Hill Regional. UNC leads the all-time series 65-37-1, including 39-11-1 in Chapel Hill.
Earlier this season, UNC run-ruled the Pirates 10-0 in eight innings on Feb. 20, ECU won 10-3 on Feb. 21 at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, and the teams tied 3-3 in a rain-shortened game on Feb. 22 in Chapel Hill.
The Pirates (38-23-1) needed length from their starting pitcher, and got it from freshman right-hander Ethan Rose (4-2), who pitched five four-hit shutout innings with three strikeouts in the longest outing of his career.
Godwin said Rose “was awesome” in the biggest workload of his ECU career, adding, “I really thought he set the tone, pitched out of some jams early.”
Rose said his goal was simple when he got the ball.
“I just wanted to give us some length, that way we can save our bullpen for the rest of the games here, and just give us a chance to win,” Rose said. “Just knowing that we have tremendous defense behind me, we’re going to make plays, and our offense will put runs up.”
Rose did just that after a nervous start, stranding early traffic before settling in. He said he found a better rhythm as the outing developed.
“I feel like I really just settled in and figured out what was working for me, pitch sequencing-wise,” Rose said, “and just knowing that if I put the ball over the plate, we’re going to make the plays behind us.”
ECU jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first inning on Michael Kalinich’s RBI single and Austin Irby’s two-run single. The Pirates added seven runs in the middle innings, with Godwin praising the way his hitters stayed with their approach. Of Irby and Kalinich, he said, “They just used the entire field,” and he added that Kalinich “has just been seeing the ball really, really well.”
The victory kept alive the season game for a team that has spent weeks with little margin for error.
“Their backs have been against the wall all year,” Godwin said. “This is just status quo for these guys, who’ve been playing playoff baseball for the last three weeks.”
Now the Pirates have only a few hours to recover before facing the Tar Heels.
Godwin’s postgame message to his team was straightforward: “Get off your feet, eat, hydrate.”
ECU 10, VCU 0
Chapel Hill Regional
At Boshamer Stadium
Friday’s results
No. 3 seed East Carolina 7, No. 3 seed (No. 23-ranked) Tennessee 3, 14 innings
No. 1 seed (and No. 4-ranked) North Carolina 8, No. 4 seed VCU 0
Saturday’s games
VCU 5, Tennessee 4; Tennessee eliminated
North Carolina 7, East Carolina 5
Sunday’s games
East Carolina 10, VCU 0; VCU eliminated
North Carolina (47–11–1) vs. East Carolina (38–23–1), 5:06 p.m., ACC Network; UNC advances with a win
Monday’s game (if needed)
UNC and ECU meet again in a deciding game if ECU wins Sunday night.
| Date(s) | Day/ month | Times/ scores | Opponent (current rank) | Record/ TV * |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February | ||||
| 13–14 | Fri., Sat. | W, 9–4; W, 12–2 (7); W, 4–3 (11) | vs. Indiana | 3–0 |
| 17 | Tuesday | W, 10–0 (7) | vs. Richmond | 4–0 |
| 18 | Wednesday | W, 5–3 | vs. Longwood | 5–0 |
| 20–22 | Fri.-Sun | W, 10–0 (8); L, 10–3; T, 3–3 | vs. East Carolina | 6–1–1 |
| 24 | Tuesday | W, 9–1 | vs. N.C. A&T | 7–1–1 |
| 25 | Wednesday | W, 13–3 (7) | vs. VCU | 8–1–1 |
| 27–28 | Fri., Sat. | W, 16–3 (7); W, 12–2 (7) | vs. Le Moyne | 10–1–1 |
| March | ||||
| 1 | Sunday | W, 21–1 (7) | vs. Le Moyne | 11–1–1 |
| 3 | Tuesday | W, 5–1 | vs. Elon | 12–1–1 |
| 6–7 | Fri., Sat | L, 13–3 (7); L, 9–2; W, 8–7 (12) | vs. Virginia | 13–3–1, 1–2 ACC |
| 10 | Tuesday | W, 13–3 (7) | vs. Bucknell | 14–3–1 |
| 13–15 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 8–1; W, 6–2; W, 10–2 | at California | 17–3–1, 4–2 |
| 18 | Wednesday | W, 8–2 | vs. UNCG | 18–3–1 |
| 20–22 | Fri.–Sun. | W, 11–1 (8); L, 2–0; W, 7–6 | vs. Louisville | 20–4–1, 6–3 |
| 24 | Tuesday | W, 9–1 | vs. South Carolina in Charlotte | 21–4–1 |
| 28, 29 | Sat., Sun | W, 6–5; W, 13–7; W, 15–10 | at Notre Dame | 24–4–1, 9–3 |
| 31 | Tuesday | W, 5–4 (14) | vs. Campbell | 25–4–1 |
| April | ||||
| 2–4 | Thur.-Sat. | L, 6–1; W, 5–2; W, 8–7 | vs. Boston College | 27–5–1, 11–4 |
| 7 | Tuesday | W, 8–4 | vs. Charlotte | 28–5–1 |
| 10–12 | Fri.–Sun. | L, 9–5; W, 6–4 (14); W, 12–5 | at Clemson | 30–6–1, 13–5 |
| 14 | Tuesday | W, 14–5 | vs. UNCW | 31–6–1 |
| 17–19 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 5–2; W, 14–4 (8); L, 5–2 | vs. No. 2 Georgia Tech | 33–7–1, 15–6 |
| 21 | Tuesday | W, 9–2 | vs. High Point | 34–7–1 |
| 23–25 | Thur.–Sat. | W, 3–1; L, 3–1; W, 22–5 (7) | at Duke | 36–8–1, 17–7 |
| 28 | Tuesday | L, 12–2 | vs. Coastal Carolina | 36–9–1 |
| May | ||||
| 3 | Sunday | W, 13–0 (7) (non-conference game) | vs. Duke | 37–9–1 |
| 8–10 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 4–1; W, 12–2 (8); W, 7–3 | vs. Pittsburgh | 40–9–1, 20–7 |
| 12 | Tuesday | W, 13–7 | at UNCW | 41–9–1 |
| 14–16 | Thur.-Sat. | W, 9–4; W, 17–7 (8); L, 7–2 | at N.C. State | 43–10–1, 22–8 |
| ACC tournament | Charlotte | |||
| 22 | Friday | W, 10–4 | Quarterfinal vs. Virginia Tech | 44–10–1 |
| 23 | Saturday | W, 13–5 | Semifinal vs. Pittsburgh | 45–10–1 |
| 24 | Sunday | L, 13–6 | Championship vs. No. 2 Ga. Tech | 45–11–1 |
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| Chapel Hill Regional | ||||
| 29 | Friday | W, 8–0 | VCU | 46–11–1 |
| 30 | Saturday | W, 7–5 | East Carolina | 47–11–1 |
| 31 | Sunday | 5:06 p.m. | East Carolina | ACCN |
| June | ||||
| 1 | Monday | TBD | East Carolina (if UNC loses Sunday) | TBD |
| 5–7 | Fri.-Sun. | Super Regionals | in Chapel Hill (if UNC advances) | TBA |
| 12–22 | Fri.-Mon | College World Series | Omaha, Neb. | TBA |
Photo by Smith Hardy
