The East Carolina Pirates will be hosting the Greenville regional this weekend after winning the AAC baseball Tournament.
Joining them in this regional will be South Carolina, Ohio State and UNC Wilmington.
We’ll give a brief breakdown of each team and then pick the regional winner.
- East Carolina 43-16 (14-10)
The Pirates lost just six games out of conference this year and had big wins over North Carolina, Washington and Duke. They even had a 5-4 mid-week win over UNCW, who they will play first in the regional. They hit .287 as a team this year and scored 6.2 runs per game. The pitching staff was superb with a 3.28 ERA in 524 innings pitched with 459 strikeouts. Bryant Packard led the team in hitting with a .403 average, 14 home runs and 50 RBI. Spencer Brickhouse hit .304 with 46 runs scored, 10 home runs and 48 RBI. Chris Holba is their top starter with a 2.45 ERA. Davis Kirkpatrick and Ryan Ross are solid out of the bullpen. Kirkpatrick has a 0.76 ERA in 35.2 innings pitched with 30 strikeouts.
- South Carolina 32-24 (16-13)
The Gamecocks got off to a rough start in conference play losing four of their first five series. But they finished strong winning their last five series. South Carolina has a very solid lineup with four players hitting over .300, led by Madison Stokes at .342 to go along with 10 home runs and 40 RBI. LT Tolbert is hitting .320 with 6 home runs and 49 RBI. As an offense they hit .274 and scored 6.2 runs per game. Adam Hill is their top starter with a 4.08 ERA in 75 innings pitched with 92 strikeouts. Cody Morris has a 3.80 ERA in 71 innings pitched with 76 strikeouts. Sawyer Bridges and TJ Shook have been reliable out of the bullpen. They have a staff ERA of 4.31 with 493 strikeouts in 501.1 innings pitched.
- Ohio State 36-22 (14-10)
I had the chance to watch Ohio State play Southern Miss early in the year and witnessed them make a nice comeback over the Golden Eagles. At that point I knew this team was special, and here they are in the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team. Noah McGowan is their leader on offense with a .359 average, 9 home runs and 55 RBI. Dominic Canzone and Kobie Foppe are also good hitters atop a solid lineup that hit .287 as a team and scored 6.5 runs per game. Connor Curlis is their top starter with a 3.81 ERA in 82.2 innings pitched with 73 strikeouts. Seth Kinker is a weapon out of the bullpen with a 1.49 ERA in 60.1 innings pitched with 59 strikeouts and 15 saves. They had a 4.58 ERA as a staff with 443 strikeouts in 515 innings pitched.
- UNC Wilmington 37-21 (14-9)
The Seahawks won a very competitive CAA conference tournament over Northeastern, who got in as an at-large team. They also beat North Carolina twice this year, and beat Coastal Carolina once, so this is a very good team. They did, however, lose twice to Ohio State. Mason Berne is their top hitter with a .335 average to go along with 12 home runs and 52 RBI. Ryan Jeffers is hitting .320 with 52 runs scored, 20 doubles, 16 home runs and 54 RBI. They hit .260 as a team and scored 5.3 runs per game. They pitched extremely well with a staff ERA of 3.25 in 520.2 innings pitched with 513 strikeouts. Alex Royalty led the team by far in innings pitched with 88 to go along with a 3.99 ERA and 85 strikeouts. Clark Cota was solid out of the bullpen with a 1.95 ERA in 32.1 innings pitched with 44 strikeouts and 13 saves.
Prediction:
This is a very competitive regional and I could honestly seeing any team advancing out of Greenville. East Carolina has balance as they can pitch and hit. The Gamecocks have a powerful lineup and you know the arms are there to get them enough outs to win, and you can say the same for Ohio State. I think UNCW is one of the best 4-seeds in this tournament and could make some noise.
I was not very high on the Gamecocks to start this season, but they’ve proven to me they can play with the best teams in the country. Their offense is very good, and I believe they have the depth of arms needed to win this regional.
Winner: South Carolina
