CHAPEL HILL (Interstat) — East Carolina scored four runs in the 14th inning to defeat Tennessee 7-3 on Friday in a marathon playoff game at Boshamer Stadium.

The Pirates, now 37-22-1, outlasted the Volunteers 38-21-1 after 14 innings and nearly five hours of play. East Carolina banged out 15 hits while Tennessee managed 10.

The game was tied 3-3 entering the 14th. East Carolina third baseman Colby Wallace, who finished 1-for-6 with three RBIs, delivered a two-run double to cap the decisive rally. The Pirates had taken a 4-3 lead on a solo home run by Barron earlier in the inning.

Tennessee had forced extra innings with a ninth-inning solo homer by Ford, his 20th of the season, and tied the game again in the 13th on an RBI single by Blake Grimmer. Grimmer, the Volunteers’ second baseman, went 2-for-6 with a home run and two RBIs.

East Carolina’s pitching staff was the story, with four relievers combining for 12 innings of three-hit ball after starter Ryan Towers worked four innings. Ethan Norby emerged as the top star, tossing 4.2 innings of hitless relief, allowing one earned run and striking out eight. Norby entered in the seventh inning and kept Tennessee off the board until the 13th. Joseph Webb added 2.1 scoreless innings with three strikeouts, and Brett Antolick struck out five over 2.2 innings, allowing one run. Charlie Hoagland and Ethan Rose also saw brief relief duty.

Tennessee starter Evan Blanco was sharp over seven innings, allowing seven hits and one earned run while striking out four. Bo Rhudy threw four innings of relief, giving up three hits and one earned run with four strikeouts.

The game was scoreless until the fourth inning, when Grimmer homered to right field for a 1-0 Tennessee lead. East Carolina answered in the fifth when Parham singled home Irby to tie the game 1-1. The Pirates took a 2-1 lead in the ninth on Whitaker’s solo homer, his 10th of the season, before Ford’s blast in the bottom half forced extras.

In the 13th, East Carolina’s Wallace laid down a sacrifice bunt that brought home Burress for a 3-2 lead, but Tennessee’s Grimmer singled home Wright in the bottom half to tie it again. The Pirates’ 14th-inning rally began with Barron’s homer and continued with an RBI single by Burress and Wallace’s two-run double.

East Carolina advances with the win. Tennessee had entered as the favorite according to Interstat’s game simulator, which projected a 7-6 Volunteers victory. Interstat’s ELO system gave Tennessee a 66.00 percent probability of winning.