GREENVILLE, North Carolina – Georgina Corrick worked six shutout innings and allowed only one hit to earn her NCAA-leading 35th win of the season, leading South Florida to an 8-0 win against East Carolina Thursday afternoon in the first round of the American Athletic Conference Softball Championship at Max R. Joyner Family Stadium.
 
The Bulls advance to Friday’s semifinals, where they will face Wichita State at 3:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. CT on ESPN+.
 
Corrick struck out eight and allowed only two baserunners to improve to 35-5 on the year, while lowering her earned-run average to 0.42, good for third among all NCAA Division I pitchers. Corrick was perfect through five innings and didn’t allow an East Carolina player to reach base until she hit Taylor Woodring with a pitch to lead off the top of the sixth. The only base hit for the Pirates was on a two-out grounder by Taudrea Sinnie.
 
Third baseman Dezarae Maldonado, South Florida’s No. 9 hitter, went 3-for-3 with a double, a home run and two runs scored to lead the Bulls offensively.
 
South Florida scored the only run it would need on Vivian Ponn’s fifth home run of the season, a solo shot to center on the first pitch of the bottom of the second inning.
 
The Bulls scored three more in the bottom of the third thanks to timely hitting and aggressive baserunning. Jordyn Kadlub led off with a double to left-center and came in to score when the Pirates allowed a bunt by Maldonado to roll down the first base line. Maldonado caught the Pirates napping on the play, as she dashed to an uncovered second base and ended up at third on an errant throw when East Carolina tried to get Kadlub at the plate.
 
Another East Carolina error allowed Maldonado to score on a grounder to shortstop, and Alexis Johns came in on Meghan Sheehan’s base hit up the middle to give the Bulls a 4-0 lead.
 
Maldonado took a 1-0 pitch over the fence in right-center in the bottom of the fifth to put South Florida ahead 5-0 and the Bulls broke it open on RBI singles by Ponn and Meghan Sheehan in the bottom of the fifth to lead 7-0.
 
South Florida ended the game in the bottom of the sixth when Maldonado led off with a double, and pinch runner Lexie Kopko came in from third on a grounder to first to give the Bulls the eight-run lead.
 
Maldonado led all players with three hits, while Ponn and Sheehan were both 2-for-3 for South Florida (43-13).