ECU Softball splits doubleheader with Campbell

The ECU softball team wrapped up its homestand with a doubleheader split against Campbell Wednesday at the ECU Softball Stadium, downing the Camels 9-4 in game one before dropping the nightcap 10-2 in five innings.

Tyler King went 4-for-4 in the opening contest and added a hit in the second game to extend her hitting streak to 13 games. Rachel McCollum was 3-for-4 with a run scored and two RBI while Ashley Weingartz was 2-for-2 with two runs scored in the victory. Morgan Halo and Abigail Umphlett accounted for the Pirates’ two RBI in the latter game.

ECU jumped out to a quick 6-0 advantage in the first inning of the twinbill. King led off with an infield single before Ashleigh Inae singled through the right side. Inae stole second and Logan Wood sent a single through the left side that plated King. McCollum followed with a double to left center and Tate McClellan recorded a sacrifice fly to leave the Pirates with a 3-0 lead. Weingartz kept things going by drawing a walk and Kendra Ziemba doubled down the right field line to push the cushion to four runs. Olivia Narron capped the inning with a two-run single.

An RBI single by Ziemba in the bottom of the third made the score 7-0 before Kayla Fredendall put the visitors on the board with a leadoff home run in the top of the fourth. McCollum swiftly answered with a RBI single in the home half of the frame to re-establish ECU’s seven-run lead.

Fredendall tacked on another RBI in the top of the fifth and Cassie Wancheck posted a two-run double to pull the Camels within 8-4. Ziemba drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the sixth to account for the final score.

Erin Poepping (8-3) tossed her eighth complete game of the season in the win, allowing four runs on 10 hits with three walks and six strikeouts. Megan Richards (3-6) was tagged with the loss, surrendering nine runs (all earned) on 15 hits while walking four and striking out five. Fredendall paced the Campbell offense with two hits, two runs and two RBI in four at bats.

In the second game, a scoreless first inning gave way to a big frame for the Camels in the second. A Fredendall double kicked things off and Wancheck doubled with one out to plate Campbell’s first run. Danielle Northrup struck out for the second out, but a throwing error at short opened the floodgates and allowed the visitors to score eight runs in the inning of which only one was actually earned.

Abby Perryman extended the Camel lead to 10-0 in the top of the third with a two-run single before the Pirates responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth. Halo (RBI single) and Umphlett (fielder’s choice) made it happen as ECU cut its deficit to 10-2.

The Pirates had a chance to extend the game in the bottom of the fifth with Inae and King at second and third with one out, but a pair of looking strikeouts terminated the potential rally.

Whitney Sanford (3-3) took the loss in the circle after giving up eight runs (one earned) on six hits with four walks and five strikeouts in 3.2 innings pitched. Haley Hutchins (3-6) went the distance for Campbell, allowing two runs on four hits with four strikeouts.

ECU returns to action this weekend at the FAU/FIU Parents’ Weekend Tournament. The Pirates will split locations between Boca Raton and Miami, Fla.