How to watch Tennessee baseball vs. East Carolina in NCAA Tournament

The wait is over for Tennessee baseball. The postseason is officially here with the Vols opening the Chapel Hill Regional in the NCAA Tournament against East Carolina on Friday at Noon Eastern Time on ESPNU at Boshamer Stadium. 

Tennessee (38-20) is the No. 2 seed in the Chapel Hill Regional and East Carolina (36-22-1) is the No. 3 seed. 

North Carolina (45-11-1) is the No. 1 seed and host and will face No. 4 VCU (37-23) in Friday’s second game, scheduled for 5 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

Chapel Hill Regional Schedule

All games will be played at Boshamer Stadium in a double-elimination bracket

Friday, May 29

• Game 1: No. 2 Tennessee vs No. 3 East Carolina, Noon ET on ESPNU
• Game 2: No. 1 UNC vs No. 4 VCU, 5 p.m. ET on ESPN+

Saturday, May 30

• Game 3: Vols-ECU loser vs. UNC-VCU loser, TBD (elimination game)
• Game 4: Vols-ECU winner vs. UNC-VCU winner, TBD

Sunday, May 31

• Game 5: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser, TBD (elimination game)
• Game 6: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, TBD

Monday, June 1

• Game 7: Regional championship game (if necessary), TBD

Tennessee vs. East Carolina: The pitching matchup

Tennessee is going with senior left-hander Evan Blanco (7-4, 4.94 ERA) to start against East Carolina. Tegan Kuhns (5-4, 3.39 ERA) is in line to start the second game, which could be against No. 1 seed North Carolina on Saturday. 

“The big thing was (Blanco’s) maturity and the strike-throwing, but also he has pitched in the College World Series and he has pitched in the postseason,” Tennessee coach Josh Elander said of the decision to start Blanco, the Virginia transfer, in the regional opener.

East Carolina will start redshirt junior left-hander Ryan Towers (7-3, 3.04 ERA) against the Vols.

“He is a guy that knows how to pitch,” Pirates coach Cliff Godwin said Wednesday on SportsTalk. “He is a savvy pitcher.”

Chapel Hill Regional Odds

Tennessee is +350 to win the Chapel Hill Regional, according to odds set by BetMGM. It’s the second-best odds in the four-team region, with host North Carolina as the favorite at -200. East Carolina is +600 and VCU is +1800. 

BetMGM has Tennessee -1.5 and +105 vs. East Carolina, with the total set at 9.5. The Vols are -190 on the money line while the Pirates are +145.

Tennessee is +8000 to win the College World Series, tied with East Carolina, Oregon State, Miami (Fla.) and Virginia. UCLA and Georgia Tech are tied as favorites to win the College World Series at +400. Texas is +700, Georgia is +1000, Auburn is +1100 and North Carolina is +1300. 

An SEC team to win the College World Series is -175 and the field is +145.