Evansville earns program's first NCAA baseball regional title - ESPN

Those pesky Purple Aces of Evansville earned their first NCAA regional title Monday, and their reward is a weekend trip to No. 1 national seed Tennessee for the next round.

They weren't concerned about what's next. They were too busy celebrating the biggest win in the program's 100-year history.

Evansville became the ninth No. 4 regional seed since 1999 to reach a super regional when it bounced back from a 13-run loss to East Carolina on Sunday to beat the No. 16 Pirates 6-5 on their home field in Greenville, North Carolina.

Florida, Oregon State and LSU also locked up regionals Monday. UConn met Oklahoma in winner-take-all finals Monday night.

The eight best-of-three super regionals open Friday and Saturday. The NCAA will announce the schedule and hosts Tuesday, though the higher seeded team typically plays on its home field.

The matchups, with national seeds: Evansville (38-24) vs. No. 1 Tennessee (53-11); No. 9 Oklahoma (40-20) or UConn (34-24) vs. No. 8 Florida State (45-15); Kansas State (35-24) vs. No. 12 Virginia (44-15); West Virginia (36-22) vs. No. 4 North Carolina (44-14); No. 15 Oregon State (45-14) vs. No. 2 Kentucky (43-14); No. 10 North Carolina State (36-20) vs. No. 7 Georgia (42-15); Florida (32-28) vs. No. 6 Clemson (44-14); Oregon (40-18) vs. No. 3 Texas A&M (47-13).

Mark Shallenberger's three-run homer in the sixth inning gave Evansville the lead against East Carolina, and relievers Max Hansmann and Shane Harris combined to hold the Pirates to one hit and one walk the rest of the way.

Coach Wes Carroll said the program's milestone victory was achieved through recent facilities upgrades, recruiting and strong administrative support. It was especially emotional for Carroll, who grew up 15 minutes from