One of the most unique series on the college baseball calendar gets underway today.
Carolina and ECU open their three-game, three-ballpark series tonight in Greenville. Game 2 will be played at Durham Bulls Athletic Park tomorrow, and Game 3 will be played here in Chapel Hill at the Bosh Sunday.
This arrangement, with two games played on campus and one at a neutral site, is now entering its third season. UNC head coach Scott Forbes and ECU skipper Cliff Godwin are both North Carolina natives, so both know the importance of these three games to their fanbases and to neutral baseball fans around the state. One can argue no school in the state cares about baseball as fiercely as the Pirates do, with the imposing Clark-LeClair Stadium seating more than 6,000 fans at its fullest. And then there’s ECU’s famous outfield section, known as “The Jungle,” where rowdy students can let opposing outfielders know just how they feel about them.
UNC and ECU fans would probably tell you they don’t have much in common with the other, but the Diamond Heels and Pirates both know a thing or two about near-misses in the postseason. Carolina’s 12 College World Series trips without a title are tied for the second-most in the country, while the Pirates hold the ignominious distinction of being perhaps the most noteworthy program to never make it to Omaha at all.
But make no mistake about it: there’s no love lost between these two schools. ECU in particular sees some of its loudest crowds when in-state foes come to town. Clark-LeClair set an attendance record in 2024 when 6,054 fans came to see the Pirates face NC State. The only other crowds to exceed 6,000 came for visits from the Diamond Heels.
ECU came ever so close to its maiden voyage to Omaha in 2022 when it hosted Texas in the NCAA Super Regionals, eventually falling in three games. The Pirates have reached the regional round in the three seasons since then, but still haven’t gotten back to the Supers. This year, they started with a stumble, dropping a home series to Xavier and then losing on the road at Campbell. They sit at 2-3 compared to Carolina’s 5-0, but there will be a different level of energy in the Jungle tonight.
For Carolina, the hopes are that ace pitcher Jason DeCaro will step up once again in a big game, and that catcher Macon Winslow will continue his torrid start to the season at the plate. UNC is coming off a sweep of the Pirates in this series last season which helped jumpstart the Diamond Heels to another strong campaign. It’s a very, very early test to see whether Forbes’ team can win away from home, something they’ll have to do if they want to capture that elusive national title.
Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Isabel Swindall
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