By Brad McGruffin —
Both Louisville (47-16) and East Carolina (47-16) took the hard way out of their own regionals.
The ECU Pirates and Louisville had to beat their opponents twice, Campbell and Illinois State respectively. East Carolina also had to battle the weather and did that by winning four games in two days.
East Carolina has a conference record of 20-4. The Pirates are a deep team that has talent all over the field. Seven players on the ECU roster have a batting average over .300. with a slugging of .457. East Carolina has a team total of 70 home runs with catcher Jake Washer leading the team at 17.
As good as the Pirates are at the plate they are equally as good on the mound. Four pitchers have an ERA below 3.00. Pitcher Jake Agnos is 11-2 with an ERA of 2.02.
There is no question that Louisville struggled at the plate last weekend in the regional. The defense and pitching carried Louisville through the losers bracket. However, the Cardinals have the clear home field advantage, only having lost eight games.
ECU also has a higher loss rate while away at 18 compared to the Cards’ 15.
The Cardinals need first baseman Logan Wyatt to come up big at the plate if Louisville wants to advance to the College World Series.
The first two games are set for Friday at noon and Saturday at 3 p.m.
If there were to be a third game it would be noon Sunday. All three games will be at Jim Patterson Stadium.
File Photo / The Louisville Cardinal
