No. 16 Seed ECU Set For Greenville Regional Opener

2024 NCAA Greenville Regional (Hosted by No. 16 National Seed East Carolina)
Coverage	May 31: vs. Evansville \\\ 1:00 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Watch Stream: ESPN+ (Anish Shroff and Lance Cormier) Radio: 94.3 The Game (Scott Rogers and Mike Mullis)
Location:	Greenville, N.C. \| Clark-LeClair Stadium (5,000)
Official Websites:	East Carolina \| Wake Forest \| VCU \| Evansville
Game Notes:	East Carolina \| Wake Forest \| VCU \| Evansville
Statistics:	East Carolina \| Wake Forest \| VCU \| Evansville
Tournament Central:	Regional Brackets \| Interactive Bracket
Baseball Central:	Media Center \| Roster \| Schedule/Results \| NCAA Baseball \| College Scoreboard \| Weekly Rankings \| National Stat Leaders
Social Media:	ECUBaseball (Twitter) \| ecu_baseball (Instagram) \| East Carolina Baseball (Facebook)

GREENVILLE, N.C. – No. 16 national seed and host East Carolina begins its run in the 2024 NCAA Greenville Regional Friday afternoon when it faces off with regional No. 4 seed and Missouri Valley Conference Tournament champion Evansville at 1 p.m. inside Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium.

As always, Scott Rogers, joined this weekend by Mike Mullis, will have the radio call on 94.3 The Game. The contest will also be streamed live via ESPN+ with Anish Shroff and Lance Cormier handling broadcast duties.

Following the East Carolina-Evansville bout, No. 2 seed Wake Forest (38-20) takes on No. 3 seed and Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament champion VCU (37-21) at 6 p.m.

Armed with 10 All-American Athletic Conference Team selections, the Pirates feature the AAC Player and Pitcher of the Year in Carter Cunningham and Trey Yesavage. Cunningham leads the club with a .371 batting average and ranks 28th nationally in runs scored (70) as well as 46th in hits (85) and 49th in runs scored per game (1.21). Meanwhile, Yesavage has proven one of the best arms in the country, slotting among the NCAA Division I leaders in strikeouts (4th/139), victories (4th/11), earned run average (5th/2.09), strikeouts per nine innings (6th/14.55), fewest hits allowed per nine innings (6th/5.02) and WHIP (7th/0.88). Yesavage is just seven strikeouts away from capturing the program single season record currently held by Jake Agnos (145 in 2019).

Collectively, East Carolina is fifth in the nation in ERA (3.94), seventh in fewest hits allowed per nine innings (7.69), 12th in WHIP (1.29), 13th in pitching strikeouts per nine innings (10.5), 14th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.70), 14th in winning percentage (.741), 16th in hits (617) and 25th in batting average (.310).

ECU has qualified for regional competition in 20 of the last 25 seasons (no tournament in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic) and eight times during head coach Cliff Godwin's 10-year tenure after traveling to the Coral Gables (Fla.) Regional in 2015, Charlottesville (Va.) Regional in 2016 and 2023 and hosting in 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2024.

The Pirates' selection as a national seed marks the fifth time in the last six years the Pirates have earned a Top 16 overall seed (No. 12 in 2018, No. 10 in 2019, No. 13 in 2021, No. 8 in 2022 and No. 16 in 2024).

Of the 64 teams that comprise this year's NCAA Tournament field, the Pirates own a 6-5 overall record in 2024 against five institutions: Duke (0-1), NC State (2-0), North Carolina (2-1), Tulane (0-3) and UNCW (2-0).

Each of the 16 regionals features four teams, playing a double-elimination format from Friday, May 31 to Monday, June 3 (if necessary). Selection of the eight super regional hosts will be announced on www.NCAA.com/mcws, Tuesday, June 4 at 10 a.m. ET.

The Men's College World Series begins play Friday, June 14, at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska.

The Greenville Regional is paired with the Knoxville Regional hosted by No. 1 overall seed Tennessee, which also includes (2) Southern Miss, (3) Indiana and (4) Northern Kentucky in its bracket.

Opening Round Projected Pitching Matchup
East Carolina: LHP Zach Root (6-0, 3.13 ERA, 60.1 IP) vs. Evansville: LHP Kenton Deverman (8-1, 4.03 ERA, 98.1 IP)

About Evansville
The Purple Aces (35-23) finished in a second-place tie with Murray State in the Missouri Valley Conference regular season standings before sweeping through the league tournament, knocking off Indiana State 8-6 in the championship game to earn their first regional bid since 2006. Evansville features a potent offense that is hitting .302 with 150 doubles, seven triples and 82 home runs. Mark Shallenberger paces the unit with a .388 batting average, 67 runs scored, 15 home runs and 57 RBI. Kip Fougerousse is also a key cog as he is hitting .346 with 60 runs scored, 17 home runs and 59 RBI. MVC Freshman of the Year Kenton Deverman is slated to start Friday's regional opener and has struck out 77 batters against 20 walks in a team-high 98.1 innings. The pitching staff sports a 5.85 ERA with 444 strikeouts and 223 walks in 490.2 frames.

The Evansville Series
East Carolina and Evansville have never met on the baseball diamond. The Pirates last faced off against a Missouri Valley Conference opponent in 2023 when they swept Missouri State in a non-conference series in Greenville.

2023 NCAA Tournament Recap
After capturing its fourth consecutive American Athletic Conference regular season title and making a run to the championship game of the AAC Tournament, East Carolina was awarded the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Charlottesville Regional. The field included host and No. 7 national seed Virginia, No. 3 seed and 2022 national finalist Oklahoma and No. 4 seed Army. The Pirates handily defeated the Sooners in the regional's opening round, rolling to a 14-5 victory at Davenport Field. ECU then battled the Cavaliers in the winner's bracket game when Virginia scored a run in the bottom of the seventh inning to break a 1-1 deadlock and book a spot in the regional finals via a 2-1 win. East Carolina handed Oklahoma another loss, this time by an 8-5 margin, to forge a rematch with Virginia. The Cavaliers came out on top 8-3 in the regional championship game to advance to the Super Regional round where they won two of three over Duke to cement a spot in the College World Series.

Individual Notables
Head Coach Cliff Godwin: Owns 394 career victories and is second on the East Carolina career coaching wins list ... Has been part of 15 NCAA Regional and two College World Series teams at the Division I level as an assistant coach and head coach … Guided ECU to eight NCAA Regional berths (2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2024 Greenville Regional host), four Super Regional appearances, five-straight American Athletic Conference regular season titles and three AAC Tournament crowns while posting a 394-185-1 (.680) overall record … Under Godwin's direction, 13 players have earned All-America status, 18 have been NCAA All-Regional selections, 45 have been named all-conference (28 first teamers) and 22 have been drafted by Major League Baseball teams … A five-time AAC Coach-of-the-Year selection (2015, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2024), Godwin was inducted into the George Whitfield Hall of Fame in January of 2016 … In 2018, he completed a summer stint on the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team staff that posted a 12-3 record that included series wins over Chinese Taipei, Japan and Cuba … As a player, he helped former ECU skipper Keith LeClair's teams post a 169-76 four-year ledger, including 46-plus wins in each of his final three seasons (46-16 in '99, 46-18 in '00 and 47-13 in '01) … ECU won a pair of CAA Tournament titles and advanced to the NCAA Regionals every season from 1999 to 2001 … The Pirates were the top seed in their regional all three years, including a No. 7 national seed in 2001 where they advanced to the Super Regional round before being eliminated by Tennessee.

Danny Beal: Named to the 2024 All-AAC Second Team ... Leads the club in appearances (32) ... Tossed 3.2 scoreless innings and surrendered just one hit while racking up four strikeouts in the Liberty series, collecting his first win and second save of the campaign Saturday and Sunday respectively ... Earned the win in the series finale versus Columbia by tossing 2.1 scoreless relief innings ... Collected his third save of the season in the 14-10 victory at UTSA ... Credited with the win at NC State with 2.1 scoreless innings of relief ... Earned the win in the middle game of the Memphis series, limiting the Tigers to one run and striking out four over a season long 6.0-inning outing ... Threw 5.0 innings in relief in the middle game of the South Florida series to grab his fifth win of the year ... Appeared in all three games of the Tulane series, racking up six strikeouts and producing two scoreless outings ... Locked down the win with four scoreless innings in the regular season finale versus Rice that clinched the outright regular season title ... Logged his seventh win of the campaign in ECU's victory over Wichita State in the AAC Tournament semifinals.
Joey Berini: Has started all 58 games at shortstop ... Registered three RBI in the series opener against Columbia ... Clubbed his first home run of the season in the series finale at UTSA ... Legged out his second career triple and registered a pair of hits in the 7-4 win over UNCW ... Logged two hits in the series finale at Florida Atlantic ... Hit .545 (6-for-11) with five runs scored, seven RBI and two home runs in the Wichita State series ... Went 2-for-5 with two runs scored in the Tulane series finale.
Bristol Carter: Named to the 2024 AAC All-Freshman Team ... Has started 44 games in left field and one in center ... Provided the walkoff single in the bottom of the ninth in ECU's 10-9 win over then No. 15 North Carolina that clinched the series in front of a record Clark-LeClair Stadium crowd of 6,017 ... Went 3-for-4 with two runs scored, a double, a triple and an RBI in the series opener at Liberty ... Notched two hits, two runs scored and two RBI in the series opener against Columbia ... Went 3-for-4 with two runs scored in the 14-10 victory at UTSA ... Logged two hits and drove in two runs in the Florida Atlantic series finale ... Posted a career-high three RBI in the win over Elon ... Produced a pair of multi-hit performances in the Charlotte series ... Clubbed a two-run home run in the top of the 13th at William & Mary as part of a three-hit performance ... Notched a career-high four hits in the middle game of the Memphis series.
Carter Cunningham: 2024 AAC Player of the Year and First Team selection ... Named the AAC Player of the Week Feb. 26 and April 29 ... Leads the American Athletic Conference in batting average, on base percentage, runs scored and OPS ... Has started 52 games at first base, four in left field and two in center field ... Put together a 19-game hitting streak to start the season ... Ranks second on the club in both multi-hit (24) and multi-RBI (17) efforts ... Tallied a career-high four hits in the 7-4 win over then No. 15 North Carolina in Fayetteville ... Went 3-for-5 with three runs scored, four RBI and two home runs versus Southeastern Louisiana ... Collected a career-high five RBI in the series opener at Liberty ... Recorded two hits and scored three runs in the victory at UNCW ... Exploded for three hits, three runs scored and two RBI at NC State ... Turned in a three-hit performance in the Florida Atlantic series finale ... Matched career-high marks in at bats (7) and hits (4) in the contest at William & Mary ... Logged two hits and three runs scored in the home win over No. 21 NC State ... Hit .583 (7-for-12) in the Memphis series with six runs scored, nine RBI, two doubles and three home runs ... Posted three hits, score two runs and notched three RBI in the regular season finale win versus Rice that clinched the outright regular season title.
Jacob Jenkins-Cowart: Named to 2024 All-AAC First Team ... Earned AAC Player of the Week honors Feb. 19 and May 19 ... Has started all 58 games at right field ... Leads the club in both multi-hit (26) and multi-RBI (18) efforts ... Hit .500 (6-for-12) with six runs scored, five RBI, three doubles, two home runs and a pair of stolen bases in the Rider series ... Posted at least two hits in every game of the series with then No. 15 North Carolina, rapping out three hits and driving in two runs in Sunday's 10-9 walkoff victory ... Went 2-for-4 with two runs scored, three RBI and a home run at Old Dominion ... Logged three hits and drove in three runs against Southeastern Louisiana ... Notched two hits and drew two walks in the 12-4 win at NC State ... Registered two hits, three runs scored and three RBI in the win over Old Dominion ... Posted three hits and four RBI at William & Mary ... Went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and three RBI in the Memphis series opener ... Tallied three hits, two runs scored and four RBI in the Tulane series finale ... Hit .500 (7-for-14) with five runs scored, 11 RBI, a double, three home runs and a 1.714 OPS in the Rice series ... Registered five hits and four runs scored in the two AAC Tournament semifinal contests versus Wichita State.
Ryley Johnson: 2024 AAC Defensive Player of the Year ... Tabbed to the 2024 All-AAC First Team ... Named the AAC Player of the Week for the first time in his career April 15 ... Has started 55 games at center field ... Paces the club and is tied for the AAC lead with 21 stolen bases in 24 attempts ... Tallied a pair of multi-hit efforts in the series with then No. 15 North Carolina ... Clubbed a pair of home runs and stole three bases in the Columbia series ... Scored three runs in the Florida Atlantic series opener ... Went 3-for-4 with two runs scored in the 5-1 win over Charlotte ... Posted three hits and scored four runs at William & Mary ... Hit .600 (6-for-10) with three runs scored and four RBI in the Wichita State series ... Notched three hits and scored four runs in the home win over No. 21 NC State ... Leads the AAC in triples, on base percentage and runs scored ... Hit .417 (5-for-12) with six runs scored and four RBI in the Memphis series.
Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkman: Golden Spikes Award Semifinalist ... Named to the 2024 All-AAC First Team ... Tabbed to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Midseason Watch List ... Paces the squad with five saves ... Slots second on the team in strikeouts (78) ... Is third on the club in appearances (22) ... Has surrendered just four earned runs in his last 27.0 innings of work ... Notched a seven strikeouts in three innings at Campbell before tallying seven more in four scoreless innings versus Purdue ... Logged 3.1 scoreless frames in the Liberty series, racking up seven strikeouts against one walk and earning his first save of the campaign in the weekend finale ... Recorded five strikeouts in two innings at UNCW ... Picked up the win in relief at UTSA via 2.2 scoreless innings ... Threw three scoreless innings with four strikeouts to notch the victory in the 7-4 win over UNCW ... Tallied a win and a save in the UAB series ... Allowed just one earned run and registered seven strikeouts over five innings to record two saves in the Florida Atlantic series ... Collected a career-high eight strikeouts in a four-inning save versus Charlotte ... Struck out six over three innings at William & Mary while allowing just an unearned run.
Ryan McCrystal: 2024 All-AAC Second Team selection ... Has made 16 starts at catcher and 30 at designated hitter … Registered two hits (including a home run), a run scored and RBI in the series opener at Liberty … Posted multiple hits in four straight games from March 22-26 … Notched three hits in the series opener at UTSA ... Logged three hits and scored a pair of runs in the middle game of the Memphis series ... Went 3-for-6 with two RBI in the Tulane series finale ... Went 8-for-18 with three runs scored and four RBI at the AAC Tournament.
Ethan Norby: Named to the AAC All-Freshman Team ... Owns a 3-0 record and two saves in 18 appearances (nine starts) ... Struck out six and did not allow a hit in 4.0 scoreless and hitless innings in the UAB series finale ... Became the first Pirate pitcher to register double-digit strikeouts in a relief appearance since Jake Agnos tallied 11 in a 5-4 victory over Western Carolina March 3, 2017 ... Collected his first collegiate save in the Wichita State series opener by striking out four over the final 1.1 innings ... Allowed just one earned run in 4.1 innings of relief to earn the win over No. 21 NC State ... Logged his second save of the season with 2.2 scoreless frames in the Rice series opener.
Zach Root: Tabbed to the Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watchlist ... Named the AAC Pitcher of the Week for the first time in his career on Feb. 26 ... Collected his first win of the season on the mound in East Carolina's 7-0 victory over Rider, tossing 4.2 scoreless innings and notching seven strikeouts ... Was masterful in the middle contest of the series with then No. 15 North Carolina, throwing a career-best seven scoreless innings while matching his career high in strikeouts (seven) against no walks ... Turned in another quality start against Cal State Fullerton, surrendering just one run over seven innings while striking out a career-high 10 batters against one walk ... Tossed six scoreless innings with eight strikeouts in a win over Columbia ... Limited Charlotte to one run in five innings of work to claim his fifth win of the season against no losses ... Turned in three hitless frames while allowing just one earned run and striking out three versus Rice at the AAC Tournament.
Jacob Starling: Has started 46 games at second base ... Hit for the cycle in the 10-6 win over No. 21 NC State and finished the game with four RBI ... Posted three hits, five runs scored, three RBI and two home runs in the Rider series ... Drove in a run and drew two walks at Campbell ... Notched a career-high four hits in the 7-4 win over then No. 15 North Carolina in Fayetteville ... Logged three RBI in the series finale at Liberty ... Went 2-for-3 with two runs scored at UNCW ... Registered two hits, two RBI and two runs scored in the win at NC State ... Drove in five runs, logging a double and home run in the middle game of the Memphis series ... Went 3-for-5 with three RBI in the Tulane series opener ... Logged six hits, three runs scored and five RBI at the AAC Tournament.
Colby Wallace: Made his collegiate pitching debut in the first game of the doubleheader versus Rice, tossing two scoreless innings with three strikeouts ... Has made 15 starts at third base and has played in 27 games ... Posted three hits in games against Cal State Fullerton, Charlotte and Wichita State ... Picked up two wins on the mound at the AAC Tournament ... Has not allowed an earned run in five innings of work.
Justin Wilcoxen: Named to the 2024 All-AAC First Team ... Has started 39 games at catcher and 12 at designated hitter ... Notched a pair of hits and drove in a run at Campbell ... Tallied two hits and an RBI in the 7-4 win over then No. 15 North Carolina in Fayetteville ... Registered three hits, three runs scored, two RBI and two home runs versus Southeastern Louisiana - his first career multi-home run effort ... Tied his career high with four hits at UNCW ... Logged three hits and four RBI in the Columbia series finale ... Posted a pair of hits and scored two runs in the win at NC State ... Turned in his second career multi-home run effort in the 11-7 win over Wichita State ... Notched two hits, including a home run, in the home win over No. 21 NC State ... Went 3-for-4 with two runs scored, two RBI, a double and a home run in the Memphis series finale ... Tallied two hits, three runs scored and a pair of RBI in the series-opening win over South Florida ... Logged three RBI in the first two games of the Rice series.
Dixon Williams: Has started 44 games at third base and 11 at second base ... Hit .375 (3-for-8) during the Rider series while scoring three runs and compiling four RBI ... Has drawn a team-best nine walks ... Drove in a pair of runs in the season-opening 16-2 victory ... Notched two hits and scored two runs at Campbell ... Clubbed his first career home run against Purdue ... Tallied a career-high three RBI in the 8-0 win over Columbia ... Went 2-for-4 with two RBI in the win at NC State ... Went 2-for-2 with two runs scored and three RBI in the run-rule win over Charlotte ... Tallied two hits and a pair of RBI in the home win over No. 21 NC State ... Hit .615 (8-for-13) with five runs scored in the Memphis series ... Logged home runs in four straight games from April 27 to May 5 ... Stole home to cap a wild walkoff win over Wichita State in the AAC Tournament semifinals.
Trey Yesavage: 2024 AAC Pitcher of the Year ... Named to the All-AAC First Team ... Golden Spikes Award Semifinalist ... Selected the NCBWA Dick Howser Trophy National Pitcher of the Week for April ... Named the American Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week April 8th, 15th and 29th ... Leads the AAC in earned run average, opposing batting average, strikeouts and wins ... Has posted eight double-digit strikeout efforts this campaign ... Was dominant in the series opener at then No. 15 North Carolina, giving up just one earned run and striking out 11 batters against one walk in six innings pitched ... Went a career-long eight scoreless innings in the win over Purdue, fanning 11 hitters and scattering two hits ... Struck out nine over six innings while allowing just one run in the series opener at Liberty ... Struck out 10 batters and allowed just one earned run in six innings versus Columbia ... Tossed seven scoreless frames and struck out 11 in the series opener at Florida Atlantic ... Combined with Jackson DiLorenzo to throw a no hitter in the run-rule victory over Charlotte, striking out 12 batters over six innings ... Notched a career-high 15 strikeouts in the series-opening win over Wichita State ... Came within one out of throwing a no hitter at Memphis, racking up 12 strikeouts in the 14-0 run-rule victory ... Struck out 11 batters against no walks in a seven inning complete-game victory over South Florida.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Danny Beal

Joey Berini

Bristol Carter

Carter Cunningham

Jackson DiLorenzo

Jacob Jenkins-Cowart

Ryley Johnson

Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkman

Ryan McCrystal

Ethan Norby

Jacob Starling

Colby Wallace

Justin Wilcoxen

Dixon Williams

Trey Yesavage

Footer