By MALCOLM GRAY

ECU Athletic Media Relations

 

GREENVILLE — The East Carolina baseball team will make its 27th NCAA Regional appearance after earning a No. 2 seed at the Coral Gables Regional in this year’s NCAA Baseball Championships, which will be held at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field.

The Pirates (40-20), who will be returning to NCAA postseason play for the first since 2012, claimed the 2015 American Athletic Conference Championship and the leagues automatic bid with a 9-1 win over No. 18 Houston, capping a perfect 4-0 week down in Clearwater, Fla., on Sunday.

ECU will square off against No. 3 Columbia (31-15) in the first round of the regional on Friday at 1 p.m., while No. 5 national seed Miami (44-14) will face No. 4 Florida International (29-29) at 7 p.m.

Pirate fans interested in purchasing tickets for the regional down in Coral Gables can go online now to buy through Miami’s ticket office. General Admission All-Session passes are $60 for adults and $45 for youth/senior. The Miami Ticket Office phone number is (305) 284-2263 and will be open on Tuesday at 8:30 a.m.

In recent years, the Pirates have faced two of the three clubs in the Coral Gables Regional, most recently FIU last season when both teams competed in Conference USA. The Panthers came into Greenville and swept the Pirates (7-1, 6-4, and 2-1) back on May 2-4.

ECU’s opening round matchup with Columbia will be just the second all-time meeting between the two schools. The Pirates topped the Lions at the Conway, South Carolina Regional in 2008 coming away with a 9-0 victory in an elimination game.

Miami, who will serve as a Regional host for the 26th time, will be making its NCAA-record 43rd consecutive postseason appearance. The Pirates and Hurricanes have met just five times the diamond with Miami holding a slight 3-2 edge in the series. Both clubs participated in the 1984 Tallahassee Regional with Miami winning the lone matchup 6-4. In 1999, ECU won at Miami 6-5, and in 2001 the Hurricanes claimed two wins in a three-game series.

Of the 64 teams that were announced Monday, the Pirates own an 11-12 overall record in 2015 against eight institutions: Houston (2-2), NC State (1-1), St. John’s (3-0), Tulane (3-1), UNC Wilmington (0-1), USF (1-2), VCU (1-2) and Virginia (0-3).

Each of the 16 regionals features four teams, playing a double-elimination format. The regionals will be played from Friday to Monday (if necessary). Selection of the eight super regional hosts will be announced on www.NCAA.com/cws, Monday at approximately 11 p.m.

The Coral Gables Regional was paired with the Dallas Regional hosted by Dallas Baptist University, which includes the host No. 1 Patriots, No. 2 seed Texas, No. 3 seed Oregon State and No. 4 seed VCU.

The 69th Men’s College World Series begins play Saturday, June 13, at the TD Ameritrade Park Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska.