ECU 3, USF 2
American Athletic Conference leader USF managed to rally past ECU late in Friday's series opener but there would be no such answer Saturday as the Pirates handed the Bulls just their fourth loss in league play in a 3-2 decision at the ECU Softball Stadium. Both teams stranded a pair of runners in the second inning before ECU broke onto the scoreboard in the bottom of the third. An infield single off the bat of Ashleigh Inae and a fielding error at second base set the table for Tate McClellan, who lined a 2-2 offering into the right center gap to score both runners and put the Pirates on top 2-0. Mycek followed with a RBI single to leave ECU with a 3-0 lead after three complete. A two-out, two-run single by Lauren Evans tightened up the score at 3-2 in the top of the fourth inning, but the pitchers on both sides settled in from there. The Pirates went down in order in each of the last four innings and freshman RHP Erin Poepping squelched a USF rally in the top of the sixth, stranding two Bulls on base via a fly ball to right field. The rookie then sent the visitors down quietly in the top of the seventh to seal the complete-game win.
Houston 3, Tulsa 2
Houston bested Tulsa, 3-2, to clinch the American Athletic Conference series, 2-0, on Saturday afternoon at Cougar Softball Stadium. Sarah Queen hit a go-ahead, leadoff home run in the bottom of the fifth inning for the Cougars. The home run is her team-leading eight of the season and second of the series. For the game, Queen finished 1-2 with two walks. Brooke Vannoy turned in the lone multi-hit performance for either team, going 2-for-2 with a pair of singles, one walk and one run scored. In the circle, Presley Bell improved to 4-3 behind three shutout innings of relief of starter Trystan Melancon. Shannon Hughes and Haley Meinen each had solo homers for Tulsa, while Julia Hollingsworth also doubled for the Golden Hurricane as three of the squad's five hits went for extra-bases. Samantha Pochop took the loss with three runs on seven hits and four walks with six strikeouts in five innings.
Memphis 8, UConn 0 (Game 1); UConn 10, Memphis 0 (Game 2)
Memphis and UConn split their Saturday doubleheader, with the Tigers winning game one by a score of 8-0 before the Huskies took game two by a score of 10-0. The teams experienced scoreless play for the first three innings of game one before a sacrifice fly by Brooke Lee scored Memphis' first run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Tigers tacked on one run in the bottom of the fifth inning before erupting offensively in the bottom half of the sixth. With two runs already across the plate and the bases loaded, Tyler Johnson hit a pinch-hit grand slam to lift Memphis to an 8-0 run-rule victory. Molly Smith picked up the win in game one to improve to 21-6 on the year.
The UConn offense came alive in series finale. Briana Marcelino and Chloe Kerns each launched three-run homers as part of an aggressive offensive explosion, as Kelli Bates went 3-for-3 at the plate with two runs scored, leading the 10-hit attack for the Huskies. The first six batters in the UConn lineup combined for seven hits, eight runs and nine RBI - with help from Marcelino going 2-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored. Kerns added her homer, along with three runs.