Tennessee falls to ECU in extra innings of Chapel Hill Regional opener
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Tennessee suffered a heartbreaking loss in Friday’s Chapel Hill Regional opener, falling to 3-seed ECU 7-3 in 14 innings. The 2-seed Volunteers will look to avoid elimination on Saturday.
It was a 2-2 ballgame at the end of 9 innings. Both teams scored a run in the 13th inning. In the top of the 14th inning, ECU broke through for 4 runs, and the Vols did not have an answer in the bottom half.
PIRATES SAIL TO VICTORY 😎@ECUBaseball outlasts Tennessee through 14 innings and wins 7-3!#RoadToOmaha x ESPNU pic.twitter.com/SXYoiyJZsl
— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) May 29, 2026
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The Volunteers had their chances to walk it off multiple times in extras. They finished a dreadful 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position. ECU was 4-of-13.
It’s always difficult to win an NCAA Regional out of the loser’s bracket, as it requires beating the 2-0 team out of the winner’s bracket twice while facing elimination. It becomes even more challenging with limited pitching depth.
Tennessee used 5 pitchers in Friday’s Regional opener. Starter Evan Blanco posted an impressive line of 7 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 4 K over 97 pitches.
Brandon Arvidson went 1.1 IP, logging 27 pitches. Bo Rhudy threw 4 IP on 52 pitches. Will Haas logged 19 pitches in 1.0 IP and Cam Appenzeller threw 14 pitches over 0.2 IP.
Tennessee will face the loser of North Carolina vs. VCU in an elimination game.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
