Three takeaways from ECU baseball's Game 1 Greenville Super Regional win vs. Texas

East Carolina baseball is one win away from history.

On Friday, in Game 1 of the Greenville Super Regional, a record crowd packed into Clark-LeClair Stadium. ECU carried the momentum from a three-run first inning throughout the afternoon, adding four more by the end of the fifth and never losing the lead.

Despite a Texas rally, the Pirates’ early-inning offensive explosion was too much to overcome, and ECU took the 13-7 victory to start the series.

With this victory, the Pirates are just one win away from earning their first College World Series appearance. A win tomorrow (noon ET, ESPN2) would end ECU’s record Omaha drought. In 32 NCAA appearances, the Pirates have never advanced past the super-regional round.

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Here are three takeaways from East Carolina’s game one victory:

ECU can hit elite pitching

With 21 wins in their last 22 games heading into this weekend, the Pirates have been racking up runs. But during that stretch, they hadn’t often faced a pitching staff like the Longhorns’ — who are in the top-20 nationally in both ERA and WHIP.

On Friday, Texas started its best arm, Pete Hansen, and ECU continued to deliver at the plate. Hansen was a unanimous first-team All-Big 12 selection and had only given up 34 earned runs across 99.1 innings this year. The Pirates put up five runs and seven hits against him in four innings.

With a possible trip to Omaha looming, Friday’s performance at the plate is a sign that ECU can put up runs against anybody.

Texas’ offense can’t be contained forever

After giving up two runs in the top of the first, ECU starter C.J. Mayhue kept Texas off the board for four innings and gave the Pirates time to build a five-run lead. But the Longhorns’ offense is too good to be held at bay for nine innings.

The Longhorns have scored the 10th-most runs in the country this year and Ivan Melendez — the national leader in home runs and RBIs — is going to make an impact in any game. After striking out his first two at-bats, he ignited Texas’ rally with a home run to start the sixth.

The Longhorns are going to score. And for the Pirates to advance, they’ll have to keep putting plenty of runs on the board.

ECU can win close games

During their recent run, the Pirates haven’t often had to win close. Entering the weekend, ECU had outscored its last eight opponents by 40 runs.

But Friday showed they’re capable of winning a battle. The lead shrank to one run in the eighth, but ECU never stopped producing at the plate — scoring in five different innings throughout the game.

In a series between a pair of top-10 seeds, it’s difficult to imagine this series ending in a blowout. And if their dreams of Omaha come true, the Pirates will have to win close to keep advancing.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: ECU baseball wins Game 1 vs. Texas in NCAA Greenville Super Regional