Top-ranked Tennessee has reached the Rocky Top.
The Volunteers earned their first baseball national championship, defeating the Texas A&M Aggies 6-5 in Game 3 of their best-of-three finals series on Monday at the Men’s College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.
Dylan Dreiling hit his third home run of the finals — one in all three games, a first — in the seventh. Dreiling is the fourth player to hit three home runs in the MCWS finals (Florida’s Ty Evans in 2023, Texas’ Russell Moldenhauer in 2009, Fresno State’s Steve Detwiler in 2008). Dreiling’s seven RBIs is third best in an MCWS finals.
Tennessee’s Christian Moore led off the game with a home run, becoming just the second player to hit a leadoff homer in the championship game.
It was Tennessee’s first national championship in any sport since winning the women’s indoor track and field title in 2008-09.
GREENVILLE, N.C. – The NCAA Division I Baseball Committee announced 16 regional sites for the 77th annual NCAA Division I Baseball Championship Sunday evening. For the sixth time in facility history, East Carolina University’s Clark-LeClair Stadium will serve as a host site for the opening round of The Road To Omaha.
The other three teams in the bracket are Wake Forest, Virginia Commonwealth and Evansville. Game time for ECU vs. Evansville are 1 p.m. on Friday. Wake Forest vs. Virginia Commonwealth is at 6 p.m. Friday.
Tickets for the Greenville Regional are currently on sale via ECUPirates.com through the ECU Athletics Ticket Office for Pirate Club members and season ticket holders only.
Beginning at 9 a.m. Wednesday, sales will be open for the general public (if available). All-session ticket tickets are available for $90, $72 and $60 depending on seat locations, while tickets for single sessions (games) – priced at $15, $12 and $10 – will go on sale Friday at 11 a.m. if available. Tickets can be purchased online at ECUPirates.com or over the phone by calling (800) DIAL-ECU or (252) 737-4500 during normal business hours from Tuesday through Thursday. The ECU Athletics Ticket Office is closed on Monday, May 27 in observance of Memorial Day.
East Carolina’s initial on-campus hosting experience in 2009 resulted in a regional title as the No. 1-seeded Pirates rolled to a 4-1 record, which included a dramatic 10th inning 10-9 walk-off victory against South Carolina in the championship game. In 2018, top-seed ECU posted a 1-2 mark after defeating UNC Wilmington in the opener before falling to South Carolina and suffering an elimination game loss to the Seahawks in a rematch.
The Pirates won the 2019 Greenville Regional as the No. 1-seed winning four-straight elimination games after dropping the opener to Quinnipiac. ECU claimed victories over NC State (9-2) and Quinnipiac (13-3) before defeating Campbell twice on Monday, June 3 (10-3, 12-3) to advance to the Super Regional round. In 2021, the Pirates swept through the regional as the top seed defeating Norfolk State (8-5), Charlotte (7-5) and Maryland (9-6) before advancing to the Nashville, Tenn. Super Regional.
Two years ago (2022), the Pirates garnered the No. 8 National Seed welcoming in Virginia, Coastal Carolina and Coppin State. After claiming the Greenville Regional crown, the seventh regional title in program history, ECU hosted No. 9 Texas in the first-ever on campus Super Regional winning game one 13-7 before dropping the next two contests 9-8 and 11-1.
While Clark-LeClair Stadium will welcome its sixth NCAA postseason event, East Carolina has also hosted opening round regional tournaments on two occasions at different venues. The Pirates produced a 3-0 mark at Fleming Stadium during the Wilson Regional in 2001 before turning in a similar result at the Kinston Regional inside Grainger Stadium in 2004. Additionally, ECU used the Kinston facility when it hosted Tennessee for a Super Regional appearance in 2001.
For ECU (43-15), the selection marks the Pirates’ 34th overall appearance in NCAA postseason play. ECU has qualified for regional competition in 20 of the last 25 seasons and eight times during head coach Cliff Godwin‘s 10-year tenure after traveling to the Coral Gables (Fla.) Regional in 2015 and the Charlottesville (Va.) Regional in 2016 before hosting the Greenville Regional in 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022. Last year, ECU earned the No. 2 seed in the Charlotteville Regional advancing to the regional finals. There was no NCAA postseason in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Each regional field features four teams, playing a double-elimination format. All 16 regionals are scheduled to be conducted from Friday, May 31 to Monday, June 3. Start times for each game will be determined once television broadcast selections have been finalized.
Thirty (30) Division I conferences receive an automatic berth in the field of 64, along with 34 at-large selections. The College World Series (CWS) begins play Friday, June 14 at Charles Schwab Field Omaha in Omaha, Neb.
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