East Carolina fell in its 2024 NCAA Regional final against Evansville on Monday afternoon, June 3.
Evansville 6, No. 16 East Carolina 5
GREENVILLE, N.C. – Evansville advanced to its first Super Regional in program history Monday afternoon, scoring four unanswered runs in the fifth and sixth innings to pick up a 6-5 win over top seed East Carolina inside Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium.
The Pirates end their campaign at 46-17 while the Purple Aces will take a 38-24 record into Knoxville next weekend to face off with No. 1 national seed Tennessee.
Max Hansmann (2-1) secured the win in relief, limiting ECU to one hit over four innings with three walks and a strikeout. Zach Root (6-2) took the loss after allowing four runs on six hits in three frames. Mark Shallenberger went 2-for-4 with a run scored and three RBI to pace the Evansville offense while Ryley Johnson notched a pair of hits and two runs scored.
Kip Fougerousse provided the first tally of the contest when he clubbed a two-out solo home run over the wall in center. The Purple Aces doubled the lead in the second when Chase Hug scored from second on a throwing error. The Pirates knotted the score at two in the top of the third as Carter Cunningham doubled with one out and Johnson singled through the left side to put two runners in scoring position. Jacob Jenkins-Cowart then took a 3-1 pitch right back up the middle for a two-run single and a new ball game.
East Carolina jumped ahead in the top of the fifth with a three spot. Cunningham drew a walk on a full count to lead things off and Johnson followed with a single to left center that pushed Cunningham to third. Jenkins-Cowart then reached on a fielder's choice that allowed Cunningham to score on a late throw to the plate to make it 3-2. A wild pitch and another fielder's choice left the Pirates with a 5-2 advantage headed to the sixth frame.
The Purple Aces ended up scoring the last four runs of the afternoon with Shallenberger clubbing a three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth to account for the final score.