Life in the Valley

Purple Aces Still Alive, Play Pirates Monday for Regional Championship

By winning its first 2 games at the Greenville Regional, the 4th-seeded Evansville Purple Aces earned the right to have a bad game and not be knocked out. In losing to Evansville to open its regional as host, East Carolina knew it would have to win 4 games in 3 days if it was going to advance to SuperRegionals.

Sunday, ECU earned the 3rd of those wins, downing the Purple Aces, 19-6. The teams will play again at 11 a.m. Central on Monday in Greenville in a winner-take-all 7th game of the regional. The winner will advance to the Knoxville SuperRegional and play the #1 overall seed in the tournament, the Tennessee Volunteers. The loser will see its season end.

Playing with their backs against the wall for a 3rd straight game and 2nd time on the day, East Carolina’s offense came out strong and kept on going. The Pirates (46-16) scored runs in every inning but the 5th, including a 7-spot in the top of the 9th to break open a 12-6 game.

UE tried to respond to the deluge. East Carolina scored 7 runs over the first 4 innings, and UE scored in response every time – including homers from Mark Shallenberger, Kip Fougerousse and Harrison Taubert. But all 3 were solo shots. By the time Evansville (37-24) scored again in the 7th, ECU had built a 10-4 lead and never looked back.

East Carolina pounded out 19 hits to just 7 for Evansville. Brent Widder led the Purple Aces with 2 hits. He also walked twice. Cal McGinnis drove in 2 runs. Starter Kevin Reed gave up 7 runs on 9 hits in 3 innings. Shane Harris gave UE 4 innings from there to help cut down on the number of arms UE had to use, though Drew Fieger, Parker MacCauley, and Kellen Roberts all ended up making appearances.

ECU used 5 pitchers, including starter Ethan Norby, who fanned 9 over 5 1/3 innings to improve to 4-0 on the season. The only other Pirate to pitch more than 2/3s of an inning was Jaden Winter, who worked the final 2 frames. ECU has used ace Trey Yesavage, Zach Root, Aaron Groller, and Norby as starters so far. Jake Hunter started 6 games this season and is 3-2 with a 4.05 ERA, and could be the one who gets the ball Monday.

UE may well be looking at a Johnny Wholestaff situation now with Harris’ 4 innings tonight probably taking out of consideration for a Monday start. Kenton Deverman went 8 innings and 98 pitches Friday and wouldn’t figure to come back on 2 days rest. Donovan Schultz is also likely unavailable. Nick Smith started 8 games this season and could get the call, though he’s pitched to a 13.37 ERA this season. Smith, a senior from Boonville, was the 2022 MVC Pitcher of the Year.

Evansville has never made SuperRegionals. East Carolina is seeking its 8th trip to Supers, but the Pirates have never advanced to the College World Series.