TAMPA, Fla. – Gabriella Nori pitched a two-hit shutout with six strikeouts as South Florida took a 7-0 win against East Carolina in a first-round game in the 2023 American Athletic Conference Softball Championship Thursday afternoon at the USF Softball Stadium.
 
The No. 3-seeded Bulls (32-23) advance to Friday's semifinals, where they will face either No. 2-seeded UCF at 2:30 p.m. ET.
 
Nori faced two batters over the minimum as she allowed a leadoff single in the first inning and a two-out single in the seventh. In between, she retired 20 consecutive East Carolina hitters on her way to her eighth complete game of the season and her third complete-game shutout.
 
Jordyn Kadlub was 2-for-2 with two RBIs for South Florida, which held a two-run lead after the first inning and a 3-0 cushion after four before the Bulls broke it open with four in the sixth.
 
Marissa Trivelpiece gave South Florida the only run it would need on a two-out single up the middle in the bottom of the first, while the Bulls gained a 2-0 lead on a Pirate throwing error.
 
Kathy Garcia made it 3-0 in the fourth inning when she worked a two-out, two-strike base hit to left, which brought Kadlub home from second.
 
Kadlub laced a two-run single to left and later scored on a wild pitch as part of South Florida's two-out rally in the bottom of the sixth. The Bulls threatened to end the game via the eight-run rule after a hit batter with the bases loaded made it 7-0, but the Pirates stayed alive to give themselves a chance in the top of the seventh.
 
Nori got the first two hitters in the seventh on a strikeout and a flyout before Jocelyn Alonoso reached on a base hit. But Nori got Anna Sawyer on a fly ball to left to end the game.
 
The Bulls managed five hits, but took advantage of six walks, two hit batters and two East Carolina errors. Rian Eigenmann joined Kadlub with two hits for South Florida.
 
The latest information on the 2023 American Softball Championship can be found on the conference's Championship Central site.