East Carolina beat Tennessee 7-3 in 14 innings on Friday afternoon in the Chapel Hill Regional opener, turning a tight postseason game into one of the longest NCAA Regional contests in years. The Pirates waited until the 14th to break it open, then put up four runs to finish the job.
The game lasted 4 hours and 30 minutes and was tied at 1 heading into the ninth inning, the kind of slow squeeze that makes every pitch feel bigger. East Carolina and Tennessee each scored once in the 13th before the Pirates finally pulled away in extras.
That made the result more than just an opener. It was the longest NCAA Regional game since 2023, a reminder that the first weekend of the tournament can turn into a grind that tests arms, patience and depth all at once. The win sent East Carolina forward in the winner's bracket and left Tennessee on the wrong side of a game that stayed in doubt far longer than the final score suggests.
North Carolina had a much cleaner start to the day at the same regional, beating VCU behind Ryan Lynch, who pitched seven innings, allowed two hits and gave up no runs. The No. 5 overall seed scored three runs in the bottom of the first, with Eric Paulsen delivering a two-run double and Cooper Nicholson adding three hits, including a solo home run.
That left East Carolina set for another major test later Friday, with a matchup against North Carolina scheduled for 5 p.m. after one team had already spent nearly half a day surviving the kind of regional opener that can change the entire feel of a bracket.
