Wintry Weather Bumps UNC-ECU Baseball Series To Sat./Sun./Mon.

Wintry Weather Bumps UNC-ECU
Baseball Series To Sat./Sun./Mon.

By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network

A highly anticipated multi-day, three-venue clash between East Carolina and UNC, two of the top baseball programs in North Carolina, has been pushed back a day because of the state’s recent wintry weather.

The three-game series, which originally was going to begin Friday, now is scheduled to have games played on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

Sat., Feb. 22 — Durham Bulls Athletic Park, Durham, 12:30 p.m.
Sun., Feb. 23 — UNC’s Boshamer Stadium, Chapel Hill, 1 p.m.
Mon., Feb. 24 — ECU’s Clark-LeClair Stadium, Greenville, 5 p.m.

The game in Greenville originally was scheduled to be played Friday, but a mix of rain, sleet and snow in the area on Wednesday has led to dangerous local road conditions. Forecasts call for a high of 42 degrees on Friday but a high of 62 degrees on Monday, when the teams hope to play the rescheduled contest.

UNC surged last season under coach Scott Forbes, their long-time pitching coach, who is now in his fifth year leading the Tar Heels. Carolina finished 48-16, Forbes was named the ACC Coach of the Year, and the Heels made their 12th all-time trip to the College World Series a year ago.

Despite losing three-time All-ACC center fielder Vance Honeycutt and several other standouts to the professional ranks after last season, this year’s Carolina squad is off to a 4-0 start and ranked #10 in Baseball America’s Top 25.

East Carolina has been a consistent winner in the American Athletic Conference under 11th-year coach Cliff Godwin, with three league championships and five first-place finishes. In Godwin’s nine full seasons (leaving out the truncated 2020/COVID campaign) as the head coach in Greenville, the Pirates have played in eight NCAA Tournaments and advanced to the Super Regionals four times.

This is expected to be another outstanding season for college baseball in the Atlantic Coast Conference and across North Carolina, even beyond UNC and ECU, with Florida State (#5), Virginia (#7), Clemson (#8), NC State (#14), Wake Forest (#15) and Duke (#18) also ranked in the Top 25.

All-Time NCAA Baseball Championship Bids
(NC Division One Programs Only)
Bids — School, Conference (Most Recent)

36 — North Carolina, Atlantic Coast Conference (2024)
34 — East Carolina, American Athletic Conference (2024)
34 — NC State, Atlantic Coast Conference (2024)
16 — Wake Forest, Atlantic Coast Conference (2024)
12 — UNC Wilmington, Coastal Athletic Association (2024)
12 — Western Carolina, Southern Conference (2016)
11 — Duke, Atlantic Coast Conference (2024)
7 — Campbell, Coastal Athletic Association (2023)
7 — Charlotte, American Athletic Conference (2023)
6 — Elon, Coastal Athletic Association (2013)
4 — Appalachian State, Sun Belt Conference (2012)
4 — UNC Greensboro, Southern Conference (2022)
2 — North Carolina A&T, Coastal Athletic Association (2018)
1 — Davidson, Atlantic-10 Conference (2017)
1 — High Point, Big South Conference (2024)
1 — UNC Asheville, Big South Conference (2006)
0 — Gardner-Webb, Big South Conference (D1 since 1990)
0 — Queens, Atlantic Sun Conference (D1 since 2022-23)