Tennessee Begins Postseason Against East Carolina in Chapel Hill Regional

Image Kate Luffman/Tennessee Athletics

By Aidan Sidoti

CHAPEL HILL – Tennessee enters its 16th NCAA Tournament as the No. 2 seed in the Chapel Hill Regional hosted by No. 5 overall seed North Carolina and will face No. 3 seed and American Conference champion East Carolina this afternoon at Boshamer Stadium.

The Pirates arrive in Chapel Hill with a 36-22-1 record and a 17-10 mark in the American Conference. ECU secured its NCAA Tournament berth with a 1-0 win over UTSA in the American Conference Tournament title game on Sunday.

Redshirt junior left hander Ryan Towers gets the start for East Carolina. The Loyola Marymount transfer has been steady since moving into the Friday role, entering the regional with a 7-3 record and a 3.04 ERA while striking out 42 batters across 53.1 innings.

Tennessee will counter with senior left-hander Evan Blanco rather than ace right-hander Tegan Kuhns. Blanco, a Virginia transfer, carries a 7-4 record and a 4.94 ERA into his first NCAA Tournament start as a Vol. The Woburn (Mass.) native has struck out 97 batters in 82 innings during his lone season on Rocky Top.

First pitch is scheduled for Noon Eastern on ESPNU. The winner will advance to face the victor of tonight’s matchup between North Carolina and VCU, which is set for 5 p.m. Eastern on ESPN+.