Pirates Selected for Chapel Hill Regional
May 25, 2026 | Baseball
GREENVILLE, N.C. – The back-to-back American Conference champion East Carolina baseball team is headed to its 36th NCAA Regional appearance after earning a spot in the Chapel Hill Regional at Boshamer Stadium, hosted by No. 5 national seed North Carolina Tar Heels baseball.
East Carolina is one of just seven programs nationwide to reach the NCAA Regional round in at least eight consecutive tournaments, joining Oregon State Beavers baseball, Arkansas Razorbacks baseball, North Carolina Tar Heels baseball, Southern Miss Golden Eagles baseball, Florida Gators baseball and Oklahoma State Cowboys baseball.
The Pirates will open regional play against No. 2 seed Tennessee Volunteers baseball (38-20) at noon on Friday, May 29, while host North Carolina Tar Heels baseball (45-11-1) will face No. 4 seed VCU Rams baseball (37-23) at 5 p.m. ECU's matchup with the Volunteers will air live on ESPNU.
While the Tar Heels own a 31-18-1 advantage in the all-time series dating back to 1966, including a 16-5-1 mark in Chapel Hill, the rivalry has consistently delivered tightly contested games and electric postseason atmospheres. Boshamer Stadium has frequently served as the stage for those memorable matchups, including regional meetings in 2007 and 2012, as well as the hard-fought 2009 NCAA Super Regional.
This weekend also marks a rare postseason meeting between East Carolina and Tennessee Volunteers baseball, as the two programs will face each other in NCAA Regional play for the first time. The most notable chapter in the series came in June 2001, when the Pirates and Volunteers battled in a memorable NCAA Super Regional at Grainger Stadium in Kinston with a berth in the College World Series at stake.
East Carolina also renews its familiar postseason history with VCU Rams baseball this weekend. The Pirates hold a narrow 11-9 edge in the all-time series, highlighted by a dramatic elimination-game victory during the 2024 NCAA Greenville Regional. In that matchup, ECU held off a late Rams rally to secure a 10-7 win at Clark-LeClair Stadium and keep its postseason run alive.
The Pirates have now qualified for NCAA Regional play in 22 of the last 27 seasons, excluding the canceled 2020 campaign, and have reached the tournament 10 times during head coach Cliff Godwin's 12-year tenure. ECU has traveled to regionals in Coral Gables (2015), Charlottesville (2016 and 2023), Conway (2025) and Chapel Hill (2026), while hosting regionals in Greenville in 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2024.
East Carolina enters postseason play with a 36-22-1 overall record after capturing its fifth American Conference Tournament championship Sunday with a 1-0 victory over UTSA at BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater, Florida.
Each of the 16 NCAA Regionals features a four-team, double-elimination format and will be contested from Friday, May 29 through Monday, June 1, if necessary. The eight super regional hosts will be announced Tuesday, June 2, at 10 a.m. ET on NCAA.com, while the Men's College World Series is set to begin Friday, June 12, at Charles Schwab Field Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska.
