NCAA Division I Baseball Championship (Interstat) — Chapel Hill Regional

seed VCU (38-24) vs. seed East Carolina (37-23)

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (Interstat) — The VCU Rams and East Carolina Pirates meet Sunday afternoon in an elimination game of the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship at Boshamer Stadium. The winner stays alive; the loser’s season ends.

VCU (38-24) enters after a 5-4 win Saturday over Tennessee. Elias Holbert, who will start Sunday for the Rams, threw six innings, allowed seven hits and three earned runs, and struck out 10 in that game. Holbert (6-2) has been dominant in recent outings: over his last three starts he has a 1.23 ERA with 25 strikeouts in 17⅔ innings, including a 5⅔‑inning, six‑strikeout shutout of Richmond on May 21.

East Carolina (37-23) lost its regional opener 7-5 to North Carolina on Saturday. Left fielder Jeff Sabater went 3-for-4 with four RBIs. Sabater, a senior, has hit safely in five of his last six games and leads the Pirates with a .327 average and 14 home runs.

The Rams’ offense has been potent in the postseason. VCU scored 18 runs against Rhode Island on May 23 and 13 against Saint Joseph’s on May 22. Trent Adelman homered and drove in a run Saturday.

East Carolina’s pitching struggled Saturday, but the Pirates have relied on a deep bullpen. In a 7-3 win over Tennessee on Friday, they used four pitchers to limit the Volunteers to three runs.

The Interstat game simulator projects a high‑scoring affair: VCU 8, East Carolina 7.

First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. The forecast calls for partly cloudy skies with temperatures in the low 80s.