ECU Falls In AAC Series Finale At Tulsa

TULSA, Okla. – Tulsa scored seven runs in the fourth inning Saturday afternoon to claim a 9-0 five-inning victory in the finale of an American Athletic Conference softball series at the Collins Family Softball Complex.

Team Records

ECU: 15-21, 1-5 AAC

Tulsa: 22-14, 3-3 AAC

How It Happened

Freshman Tyler King roped a leadoff single to left field on the first pitch of the game and moved to second on a Ashleigh Inae sacrifice bunt. King then moved to third on a groundout to second but was stranded 90 feet away from home following an inning-ending strikeout. The Golden Hurricane threatened to score first in the home half, but with runners on second and third with two outs, freshman RHP Whitney Sanford induced a liner to left to escape the jam and keep the game scoreless.

With one out in the bottom of the second, a pair of walks and a single loaded the bases for Tulsa. A pop up to short accounted for the second out, but Shelby Estocado deposited a 2-2 pitch into center field to score two and give the Golden Hurricane a 2-0 advantage after two complete.

Tulsa put the game away in the bottom of the fourth, scoring seven runs to push ahead 9-0. ECU went down in order in the top of the fifth to end the contest.

Pitchers of Record

WP – Emily Watson (13-6)

LP – Whitney Sanford (5-9)

ECU Top Performers

Tyler King: 1-for-1, Walk

Tulsa Top Performers

Haley Meinen: 2-for-3, Run, RBI

Mikayla Whitten: 2-for-2, Run, 2 RBI

Emily Watson: 5.0 IP, 0 Runs, 1 Hit, Walk, 8 Strikeouts

Things to Note

ECU fell to 11-28 all-time against Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane have won 14 straight in the series.

The Pirate pitching staff issued eight walks in the contest.

All of Tulsa’s seven hits in the game were singles.

Up Next: ECU looks to get back on track when it takes on Campbell Tuesday (April 3) in Buies Creek. First pitch for the non-conference matchup is set for 6 p.m.