Charlottesville Regional: Getting familiar with Army, ECU, Oklahoma

Postseason baseball is back at the University of Virginia for the first time in seven years, as the Cavaliers earned the No. 7 seed in the NCAA Championship.

With the Charlottesville Regional getting underway on Friday at Disharoon Park, UVA will host Army at noon (ESPN+), and then East Carolina takes on Oklahoma at 7 p.m. (ESPN2) to determine which teams will move on to the winners bracket and which will be playing in an elimination game on Saturday afternoon.

The Cavaliers, Black Knights, Pirates and Sooners will battle it out over the next few days to decide which team will be moving on to next week’s Super Regional round against the winner of the Conway (S.C.) Regional, hosted by No. 10 seed Coastal Carolina (Duke, UNC Wilmington, Rider).

Here’s a quick breakdown of each of the three visiting schools in town for the weekend:

EAST CAROLINA PIRATES

Charlottesville Regional Seed: No. 2
Head Coach: Cliff Godwin
Overall W-L Record: 45-17
Conference W-L Record: 18-6 (American)
Last 10 games W-L Record: 7-3
Neutral Field W-L Record: 4-3
RPI: 26
Team Batting Average: .292
Runs Scored Per Game: 7.4
Team Slugging Percentage: .465
Team Fielding Percentage: .978
Team ERA: 4.30

Top Batters: Jr. OF/1B Carter Cunningham (.324, 55 hits, 8 home runs, 35 RBI); Jr. C Justin Wilcoxen (.322, 66 hits, 8 home runs, 44 RBI); Jr. INF/OF Jacob Starling (.314, 70 hits, 10 home runs, 50 RBI); Jr. 1B Josh Moylan (.302, 68 hits, 15 home runs, 66 RBI).

Top Pitchers: Jr. RHP Danny Beal (6-1, 2.66 ERA, 62 strikeouts, 50.2 innings pitched); So. RHP Trey Yesavage (6-1, 2.80 ERA, 98 strikeouts, 70.2 innings pitched); Jr. RHP Josh Grosz (4-2, 3.65 ERA, 79 strikeouts, 74.0 innings pitched); Sr. RHP Carter Spivey (7-3, 4.40 ERA, 64 strikeouts, 73.2 innings pitched).

Overview: The Pirates, making their 33rd NCAA appearance in program history, had a chance to wrap up the AAC championship last weekend, but fell in the title game against seventh-seeded Tulane, 8-6. ECU finished 3-3 against ACC foes during the regular season (2-1 vs. North Carolina; 1-1 vs. NC State; 0-1 vs. Duke). The Pirates (No. 15) are the only team in the Charlottesville Regional ranked in the latest D1Baseball rankings other than No. 11 Virginia. The Pirates, who will be facing Oklahoma for the first time ever on Friday night, participated in the Charlottesville Regional in both 2011 and 2016.

OKLAHOMA SOONERS

Charlottesville Regional Seed: No. 3
Head Coach: Skip Johnson
Overall W-L Record: 31-26
Conference W-L Record: 11-13 (Big 12)
Last 10 games W-L Record: 5-5
Neutral Field W-L Record: 3-4
RPI: 40
Team Batting Average: .283
Runs Scored Per Game: 6.6
Team Slugging Percentage: .422
Team Fielding Percentage: .969
Team ERA: 5.90

Top Batters: Jr. INF Dakota Harris (.322, 56 hits, 7 home runs, 46 RBI); Jr. OF Bryce Madron (.308, 64 hits, 11 home runs, 45 RBI); Jr. INF Anthony Mackenzie (.304, 70 hits, 6 home runs, 39 RBI); R-Jr. OF Kendall Pettis (.323, 54 hits, 1 home run, 21 RBI).

Top Pitchers: R-Sr. LHP Braden Carmichael (7-0, 3.15 ERA, 59 strikeouts, 74.1 innings pitched); R-So. LHP James Hitt (6-1, 4.50 ERA, 41 strikeouts, 66.0 innings pitched); Jr. LHP Carter Campbell (6-4, 4.84 ERA, 39 strikeouts, 57.2 innings pitched); Gr. RHP Braxton Douthit (4-6, 5.89 ERA, 51 strikeouts, 70.1 innings pitched).

Overview: The Sooners were on the NCAA bubble after a regular season full of ups and downs and injuries, but managed to secure an at-large bid after picking up a couple of wins against top-20 rival Oklahoma State toward the end of the campaign, including in the Big 12 Tournament. Skip Johnson’s team is making its 40th trip to the postseason, but only its second since 2018. The Sooners, who made it all the way to Omaha in 2022, registered 15 wins against NCAA Tournament teams during the regular season and own the 15th-best strength of schedule nationally heading into the postseason. This will be Oklahoma’s third time playing in Charlottesville, as the Cavaliers hosted the Sooners in the 2010 Super Regional and the 2012 regional.

ARMY BLACK KNIGHTS

Charlottesville Regional Seed: No. 4
Head Coach: Chris Tracz
Overall W-L Record: 38-16
Conference W-L Record: 21-4 (Patriot League)
Last 10 games W-L Record: 8-2
Neutral Field W-L Record: 3-2
RPI: 91
Team Batting Average: .304
Runs Scored Per Game: 8.0
Team Slugging Percentage: .498
Team Fielding Percentage: .975
Team ERA: 4.11

Top Batters: Sr. INF Kevin Dubrule (.411, 90 hits, 9 home runs, 68 RBI); Sr. 1B/C Ross Friedrick (.372, 83 hits, 17 home runs, 58 RBI); Jr. OF Braden Golinski (.329, 70 hits, 13 home runs, 52 RBI); Jr. INF Sam Ruta (.300, 67 hits, 13 home runs, 58 RBI).

Top Pitchers: Sr. RHP Robbie Buecker (5-3, 2.84 ERA, 47 strikeouts, 63.1 innings pitched); Jr. RHP Mike Ruggieri (9-1, 2.86 ERA, 60 strikeouts, 69.1 innings pitched); Jr. RHP Matthew Ronnebaum (7-4, 5.01 ERA, 82 strikeouts, 79.0 innings pitched); Jr. RHP Tanner Gresham (5-1, 2.90 ERA, 56 strikeouts, 59.0 innings pitched).

Overview: The Cadets blasted Bucknell to notch their fifth-consecutive Patriot League championship, 21-6, punching their ticket to the NCAA Regional round for the 11th time in school history. This will be Army’s third time competing in the Charlottesville Regional (2012, 2013). Army is 3-4 against NCAA Tournament teams this season (2-1 vs. Charlotte; 1-2 vs. Wright State; 0-1 vs. Arkansas). For more on the Black Knights’ season, you can check out The Jerry Ratcliffe Show podcast with Army head coach Chris Tracz here.

CHARLOTTESVILLE REGIONAL SCHEDULE

Friday
Game 1: Virginia vs. Army, Noon (ESPN+)
Game 2: Oklahoma vs. East Carolina, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)

Saturday
Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, Noon*
Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 6 p.m.

Sunday
Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, Noon*
Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 6 p.m.*

Monday
Game 7: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, TBA (if necessary)*
* — Elimination game