A season best characterized by inconsistency came screeching to a halt with the wildest of momentum swings in the ninth inning.

Wake Forest lost to East Carolina 7-6 in an elimination game in the Greenville Regional on Saturday at Clark-LeClaire Stadium.

Wake Forest (38-22) bows out of the NCAA tournament after two losses in as many games; ECU (44-16) will play the loser of tonight’s game between third-seeded VCU and fourth-seeded Evansville, which both pulled upsets on Friday.

Saturday’s game went to the ninth with ECU leading 4-1 and Wake Forest looking listless offensively for most of the first 17 innings it played in Greenville.

The Deacons rallied for five runs in the ninth, getting RBI singles by freshmen Antonio Morales and Javar Williams for the first two runs. After Cameron Gill bunted and reached on an error to load the bases, Marek Houston walked to tie the game. Nick Kurtz grounded into a fielder’s choice, beating the throw to first meaning Wake’s fourth run of the inning scored; Jack Winnay singled in what was at the time an insurance run.

Michael Massey started the bottom of the ninth and allowed four straight singles, the last two of which drove in runs to tie the game at 6-6. Massey hit the fifth batter he faced to load the bases and was relieved by Cole Roland.

He got one out, a grounder to a pulled-in Adam Tellier, who threw to home plate to temporarily save the game. Luke Nowak, who made two diving catches in left field in the top of the ninth, hit a grounder through the right side of the infield to end the game.

So, in the ninth, it was a combined: 8 runs, 9 hits, 2 errors, 7 pitchers, 18 batters to the plate.

The game started as a pitcher’s duel of expected top-20 picks, a similar storyline with lower stakes than last year’s finale in Omaha.

The Deacons scored first against Trey Yesavage; the Pirates did more damage against Chase Burns.

Burns navigated trouble in the first four innings, stranding five runners in that span. When ECU got a runner to second base with one out in the first, Burns got a strikeout and groundout to end it; when ECU put two on in the second, the formula was reversed to end the inning (groundout-strikeout); and when the Pirates had singles on the first two pitches of the fourth, Burns notched two strikeouts and a groundout.

He ran out of maneuverability in the fifth.

After the leadoff batter walked, Burns got a flyout and groundout, the runner moving to third. On a 0-2 pitch, Ryan McCrystal inside-outed a double down the left field line to tie the game at 1-1. Burns walked the next batter, and then Dixon Williams launched a towering three-run homer that landed atop the scoreboard in right field to make it a 4-1 game.

Burns exited after walking the leadoff batter of the sixth. That was his fourth walk of the game, matching a season-high; the only other game with four walks was his second start of the season against Dayton. His seven strikeouts were a season-low; Burns finished the season with 191 strikeouts, the third-most in ACC single-season history and a Wake Forest program record.

Wake Forest put two runners on base in the eighth, Gill getting hit by a pitch and Houston notching an infield single.

Kurtz popped out to shallow centerfield and Winnay flew out to left field to end that threat.

Wake Forest didn’t have a baserunner against Yesavage until its ninth batter of the game when Gill drew a two-out walk in the third.

The Deacons made that one count, though.

Houston worked an eight-pitch walk and Kurtz followed with a single through the right side of the infield, scoring Gill from second base.

That was Wake’s only hit for the first seven innings.