GREENVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) — The hottest team in college baseball not only returned home from Clearwater, Fla., after winning the AAC Tournament on Sunday, they also found out they will be playing their next games at home for at least another weekend.
East Carolina gets hot early, wins AAC tournament title
The Pirates, winners of 18 straight, will be one of 16 hosts in the first round of the NCAA baseball postseason. ECU (42-18), which also won the AAC regular-season title — the first team in AAC history to capture both titles — found out Monday the three teams that will join them in the Greenville Regional.
ECU was announced during Monday’s NCAA tournament selection show as the No. 8 overall seed. The Pirates will host Coppin State, Coastal Carolina and Virginia. Play is set for Friday.
The other regional hosts are Auburn, Austin (Texas), Blacksburg (Virginia Tech), Chapel Hill (North Carolina), College Park (Maryland), College Station (Texas A&M), Coral Gables (Miami), Corvallis (Oregon State), Gainsville (Florida), Hattiesburg (Southern Miss), Knoxville (Tennessee), Louisville, Stanford, Statesboro (Georgia Southern) and Stillwater (Oklahoma State).
Before Monday’s regional host party, ECU Athletics Director Jon Gilbert gave Godwin a signed baseball as a way to recognize Godwin’s 300th career win. He got that win after Sunday’s AAC Tournament title.
If ECU wins the upcoming regional, it could be one of eight hosts for the next round of the tournament, the Super Regionals. The Pirates hosted a regional last year and won to advance to the Super Regional at Vanderbilt, where they eventually saw their season end.
The winners of the Super Regionals advance to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.
