GREENVILLE, N.C. – The University of Evansville baseball team will open up 2024 NCAA Regional Tournament play on Friday afternoon at 12 p.m. central time, as the fourth-seeded Purple Aces will face top-seeded and #16 overall national seed East Carolina at Clark-LeClair Stadium in Greenville, North Carolina. Every UE baseball game in the NCAA Tournament can be heard live in the Tri-State area on 107.1 FM-WJPS and seen live on ESPN+.
Evansville will bring a 35-23 overall record into the NCAA Tournament. The Purple Aces earned the Missouri Valley Conference’s automatic bid into the tournament field after winning last week’s MVC Tournament at German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium in Evansville. UE won all four games, including posting three run-rule victories, on the way to the program’s first MVC Tournament title since 2006. Overall, this will be UE’s sixth NCAA Regional Tournament appearance, including the fourth at the Division I level (1988, 2000, 2006, 2024).
UE’s offense has been led all year by graduate outfielder Mark Shallenberger. Shallenberger will bring a team-best .388 batting average, 20 doubles, 15 home runs and 57 RBI into NCAA Tournament play. Senior infielder/outfielder Kip Fougerousse is not far behind with a .346 average, a team-best 17 home runs and 59 RBI. Fougerousse has been UE’s hottest hitter of late, as he will ride a nine-game hitting streak into the NCAA Tournament, and he has hit .487 (19-for-39) with six home runs and 18 RBI over the last nine contests.
East Carolina will bring a 43-15 overall record into the NCAA Tournament as the regular-season champion of the American Athletic Conference. Senior Carter Cunningham paces the Pirate attack with a .371 batting average, 14 home runs and 60 RBI. Overall, ECU hit .310 as a team, as seven of the Pirates everyday starters hit .300 or above. As good as their offense is, their pitching staff is even better, as ECU will bring a 3.94 team ERA into the NCAA Tournament.
Friday’s pitching match-up is expected to feature Evansville freshman LHP Kenton Deverman (8-1, 4.03 ERA) against East Carolina LHP Zach Root (6-0, 3.13 ERA).
