UPDATE: ECU Club Baseball headed to first ever World Series

The ECU Club Baseball team celebrates after a big win. (Contributed photo)

ECU Club Baseball headed to first ever World Series
East Carolina University’s Club Baseball team is preparing for its first ever appearance in the National Club Baseball Association World Series.  The ECU Club Baseball team advanced by claiming the Mid-Atlantic Regional title with an 11-1 victory over the University of Maryland club baseball team on May 17.
“We’re going,” ECU club baseball head coach Joe Caracci said to his team after the win.  “Our goal has always been to be able to have the opportunity to compete for a national championship and now we have that chance.”
The National Club Baseball Association World Series (NCBA) will be played May 27 to June 2 in Columbus, Ga.  ECU will battle UC-Santa Barbara, Massachusetts, Texas Tech, Iowa, Western Washington and Michigan for the World Series title.
“The road has been tough and a lot of hard work and dedication has gone into the program in the last five years in order to finally realize this goal,” said Caracci.
The Pirates went 3-0 in the regional with two wins over Maryland and one against James Madison.   ECU was led by the stellar pitching of Daniel Martin, Joe O’Malley and John McFarling.   Martin, a 2010 All-American, was named the Mid-Atlantic Regional MVP after throwing a complete game in a 2-1 win over the JMU Dukes.
Offensively, Brian Burgess led the way for the Pirates.  Burgess, who led the nation in home runs, added one more in the tourney to go along with a triple, double, three RBI and three runs scored.
The Pirates improved their overall record to 25-7 and jumped ten spots to 3rd in the latest national rankings heading into the World Series.
“All we can think about right now is getting down there (Columbus) and showing the country what we are all about,” said Caracci.
ECU is seeded fourth in the World Series and will face fifth seeded Florida State in the tourney opener on Saturday, May 28 at 3 p.m.
For more information about the ECU Club Baseball program, visit www.ecu.edu/crw or call (252) 328-6387.
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Contact: Gray Hodges, ECU Club Sports (hodgesg@ecu.edu) (252) 328-1576.

ECU's Club Baseball team will advance to the World Series. (Contributed photo)