GREENVILLE, N.C. – C.J. Mayhue gave up a run over 5 innings, Josh Moylan and Justin Wilcoxen each hit a home run and top-seeded ECU beat No. 2 seed Virginia 4-2. No. 8 national seed ECU (44-18) - which has won 20 in a row, the longest active win streak in the nation - plays the winner of a loser-out game between Virginia and Coastal Carolina for a trip to the super regionals.
Moylan hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the second to make it 2-0 and the Pirates led the rest of the way. Zach Agnos struck out Chris Newell and Max Cotier to end it. Brian Gursky allowed three runs - two earned - on six hits with a walk and two strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings for Virginia.
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“I thought it was just overall a great college baseball game,” said Virginia head coach Brian O’Connor. “Unfortunately, there’s going to be a loser and we came out on the wrong end of it and that’s to credit East Carolina. They did a terrific job. The starter (C.J. Mayhue) really did a very, very nice job, and it seemed like our guys just couldn’t get comfortable in the batter’s box against him. That’s credit to him.
“And then, wow, I just think (Zach) Agnos is just a great college baseball player. To play shortstop and make the plays he made and then to come in and finish that game out, speaks to the kind of player he is and the character that he has, and the competitive spirit he has and that showed tonight. I tip my cap to him; he did a terrific job to be in that environment and the bases loaded and get two strikeouts the end of the game was impressive.
We just couldn’t get a big hit. I think we probably left seven or eight runners on base. I thought (Brian) Gursky after that two-run inning, I thought he settled down and did what he needed to do. You have a starter that goes out there and goes five-plus and gives up three runs in the NCAA tournament gives you a chance to win the game. And I thought he settled down and ate the game up for us and gave us a chance. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t do enough and that’s credit to their pitching and their defense. It was very, very good. And so we’ll have another opportunity tomorrow. We’ve got to shake this one off and be ready to go tomorrow.”