Tulsa’s pitching held East Carolina scoreless for the first 12 innings of play on Saturday, as the Golden Hurricane defeated the Pirates in both games of their doubleheader in Greenville, N.C. Golden Hurricane pitcher Caitlin Sill struck out five batters and allowed three hits in Tulsa’s 5-0 game one shutout. The Hurricane totaled nine hits as they scored once in each of the first two innings and three more times in the fifth. East Carolina threatened to score twice, but Ciara Ervin was thrown out at the plate in the fourth inning and the Hurricane defense prevented a score when the bases were loaded with no outs in the fifth. Pirates’ starter Sarah Christian (5-11) took the loss, as she threw 4.1 innings and allowed four runs.
In the next game East Carolina was able to score in the bottom of the sixth, when Ervin hit a triple and reached home on Kacie Oshiro’s single to left. However, the lone run wasn’t enough to fight back against Tulsa’s four runs on eight hits. Hurricane senior Erica Sampson, who finished the day 4-7 at the plate, launched a solo home run to right center in the third inning. Sampson and two other Tulsa players, Julie Kernen and Maddie Withee, each had two RBIs and two runs in the victories. Emily Watson (7-3) struck out four and allowed one earned run on three hits in the Golden Hurricane’s 4-1 win.
Tulsa completed their series sweep over East Carolina with an 8-0 win in five innings on Sunday. The Golden Hurricane totaled 12 hits in the win, as freshman Shelby Estocado went 2-3 with her fifth home run of the year and three RBIs. Kernen, Maddie Withee and Maggie Withee tallied two hits each. Tulsa pitcher Baily Erwin allowed only one hit and struck out four in the victory. The first run of the game came with one out in the third inning when Sampson hit her second solo home run of the weekend, her eighth of the season. A single put Maggie Withee on base, and she gave the Hurricane a 2-0 lead after she scored on Kernen’s double to right center. Estocado’s two-run homer to left center in the fourth increased the lead to 4-0. In the fifth inning Tulsa scored four runs on four hits and one error as they took the win and improved to 26-15 overall and 8-4 in conference play. East Carolina got on base when Erwin hit a batter in the first inning, and the Pirates’ lone hit was a single in the third. Starting pitcher Lydia Ritchie (0-4) allowed two runs on four hits in three innings in the circle. East Carolina is now 3-9 in the league play and 11-32 overall.
The first of Tulsa’s four non-conference games this week will begin with a home stand against in-state rival Oklahoma State on Wednesday at 7 p.m. CT. The Pirates will host No. 24/25 James Madison in a non-conference game on Wednesday at 5 p.m. ET. East Carolina travels to Tampa, Fla. on Saturday and continue conference play as they face USF in a three-game series.