NCAA Greenville Regional No. 2 seed South Carolina used a strong outing from starting pitcher Cody Morris to knock off No. 1 seed and host ECU 4-2 in a winners’ bracket game late Saturday night at Lewis Field inside Clark-LeClair Stadium.

The Gamecocks (35-24) advance to the regional final Sunday at 6 p.m. while the Pirates (44-17) will face off against No. 4 seed UNCW at 2 p.m. in an elimination game. The Seahawks beat No. 3 seed Ohio State 4-3 in 13 innings earlier Saturday to stay alive in the tournament.

Morris (8-3) went 7.1 innings on the mound, allowing just two runs on five hits with four walks and seven strikeouts. Freshman LHP Alec Burleson (5-2) was saddled with the loss for ECU as he surrendered three runs on five hits with a walk and two strikeouts in 3.1 innings pitched.

Danny Blair paced the South Carolina offense with a three-hit performance while also scoring a run. Additionally, LT Tolbert recorded two hits and Jonah Bride drove in a pair of runs. Sophomore outfielder Bryant Packard led the Pirates with three hits and two runs scored.

Blair led off the bottom of the first with an infield single before advancing to second on a balk. After Madison Stokes drew a walk, Bride laced a two-run double down the left field line to put South Carolina in front 2-0. Tolbert added a run on a RBI single with two outs to leave the Gamecocks with a 3-0 advantage after one complete.

ECU answered with a run in the top of the fourth when Packard led off with a single to right field and advanced to third on a base knock by junior outfielder Dwanya Williams-Sutton before scoring on a Spencer Brickhouse sacrifice fly. While the Pirate bullpen kept the South Carolina bats at bay for much of the middle part of the contest, ECU drew within a run in the top of the sixth thanks to Packard taking home on a throw down to second base with one out to make the score 3-2.

The Gamecocks added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth via a Jacob Olsen RBI double that put South Carolina ahead 4-2. The Pirates got the tying run to the plate in the top of the ninth following a Brickhouse leadoff walk, but could not complete the comeback.

ECU Notes:

  • Packard collected his team-leading 28th multi-hit game (3-for-4) and scored a pair runs …
  • Brickhouse extended his on-base streak to 31 games with a walk in the sixth inning … Drove in at least one run in 8 of last nine games with his sac fly in the fourth frame …
  • Seth Caddell reached base twice (single, walk) to extend his on-base streak to eight games …
  • With the loss, the Pirates fall to:
    • 44-17 on the season (second-best record through 61 games since 2004/50-11) …
    • 36-58 in NCAA postseason games …
    • 10-7 vs. Top 25 teams on the season …
    • 15-12 when its opponents score first in a contest …
    • 4-4 in two-run games …