East Carolina Pirates Stun No. 2 Tennessee at Rocky Top in 14-Inning NCAA Regional Opener
Key keywords: NCAA Baseball Regional, East Carolina Pirates, No. 2 Tennessee Volunteers, 14-inning college baseball upset, Rocky Top home game, 2024 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship, Pirates vs Tennessee thriller
The 2024 NCAA Division I Baseball Regional kicked off in historic fashion on Friday at Rocky Top, Tennessee’s home field, as 3-seed East Carolina Pirates pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the college baseball season, defeating the No. 2 overall national seed Tennessee Volunteers 9-8 in a 14-inning thriller that lasted 4 hours and 52 minutes.
Tennessee entered the contest with a 49-7 overall record, including a nearly unbeatable 31-1 mark at home throughout the regular season and SEC tournament, and was widely favored to sweep the Knoxville regional en route to the College World Series in Omaha. The Volunteers jumped out to an early lead, holding a 7-3 advantage heading into the top of the 8th inning, behind two home runs from star shortstop Christian Moore and 6 strong innings from starting pitcher Drew Beam.
The Pirates, who finished the regular season 38-21 in the American Athletic Conference, refused to fold. They scored 3 runs in the 8th inning to cut the deficit to 1, then tied the game at 8 in the top of the 9th on a sacrifice fly from outfielder Ryley Johnson, silencing the sellout crowd of 8,872 Tennessee fans in attendance. The next five innings saw both teams’ bullpens clamp down, with multiple scoring opportunities wasted on both sides: Tennessee left 14 runners on base over the course of the game, while ECU left 12.
The deadlock finally broke in the top of the 14th inning, when ECU first baseman Jakob Nester roped a 1-0 fastball into the left-center gap for an RBI double, scoring second baseman Justin Wilcox from second base to put the Pirates ahead 9-8. ECU closer Danny Beal took the mound in the bottom of the 14th and struck out all three Tennessee batters he faced to seal the upset.
The win puts ECU in the driver’s seat of the Knoxville regional, as they only need to win one more game to advance to the Super Regional round. Tennessee, meanwhile, drops to the loser’s bracket and will need to win three consecutive elimination games to keep their College World Series hopes alive.
Featured Comments
I’ve been a Tennessee baseball season ticket holder for 12 years and I’ve never felt as gutted as I did after that 14th inning. We had the game locked up multiple times, but our bullpen just couldn’t close it out. Credit to ECU though, they fought every single at bat and never folded when they were down big. We’ve got no room for error now, we have to win out to advance.
This is exactly why college baseball has the most chaotic, entertaining postseason in all of sports. The No. 2 overall seed with a 31-1 home record losing to a 3-seed in 14 innings? You couldn’t script that if you tried. ECU’s grit was unreal, that 8th inning rally was the turning point that kept them in it long enough to pull off the upset.
I drove 6 hours from Greenville to Knoxville for this game and it was worth every single penny and every minute of lost sleep. That 14th inning RBI double from Nester? I screamed so loud I lost my voice. This team never quits, we’re definitely running this regional and making a run to Omaha this year, mark my words.
As a college baseball analyst, I think Tennessee’s coaching staff made a critical mistake leaving their starting pitcher in too long in the 8th inning when he clearly lost his stuff. ECU capitalized perfectly on that misstep, and their bullpen’s 7 innings of 2-run ball after the 7th was elite level pitching. That’s exactly how you pull off road upsets against top-tier teams.