Saturday, May 6
South Florida 8, Houston 0 – Box Score
Tulsa 6, East Carolina 3 – Box Score
UCF 6, Memphis 3 – Box Score
Recaps
South Florida 8, Houston 0 – Box Score
HOUSTON, Texas, May 6, 2023 – Redshirt freshman, Payton Dixon, tossed her first career no-hitter in the University of South Florida (31-23, 10-7 The American) 8-0 win over the Houston Cougars (20-29, 7-10 The American) on Saturday afternoon.
The last no-hitter from South Florida was back on April 2, 2022, when Georgina Corrick shut down East Carolina, 6-0.
With the win, the Bulls have secured the No. 3 seed in this year's American Athletic Conference Tournament. USF will host this year's tournament from May 11-13.
South Florida's eight runs came in in two innings, four in the third and four in the fifth. Five of the runs scored came off of two home runs. Vivian Ponn hit a two-run home run in the of the fourth.
Camille Ortiz-Martinez solidified the Bulls victory with a three-run home run in the top of the fifth as well as recording the final out of the game in the bottom half of the inning.
Marissa Trivelpiece hit her 13th double of the season in the fifth. She is one away from breaking into the top 10 single season records. Her double brought the fifth run across the plate.
Jordyn Kadlub , Kathy Garcia-Soto , Natalie Zweig Bailee Leistl, and Megan Pierro each scored a run. Garcia-Soto scored on Ponn's home run. Zweig and Leistl were brought in on Ortiz-Martinez's home run.
Tulsa 6, East Carolina 3 – Box Score
GREENVILLE, N.C. – After coming back to tie the game twice, the University of Tulsa softball team took the lead for good on a two-run home run off the bat of Haley Morgan in the seventh inning of a 6-3 win over East Carolina Saturday afternoon at the Max R. Joyner Family Stadium.
Tulsa improves to 22-27, 8-9 in The American with the win, while the loss drops ECU to 27-26 overall and 3-14 in conference play.
The Hurricane tied the game at two in the third inning and then a solo home run from Kailyn Bearpaw brought the teams level again in the sixth. Morgan's home run put Tulsa ahead 5-3 before Bearpaw doubled in another run to secure the win.
Kylee Nash (10-13) had the start and recorded the win, tossing her seventh complete game of the season. The junior hurler allowed just five hits over seven innings of action, giving up three runs, two earned, with five strikeouts.
Morgan hit her seventh homer of the season and scored twice on the afternoon. MacKenzie Denson, Imani Edwards and Bearpaw each had a multi-hit game. Edwards and Bearpaw both had two RBI in the win. Nash also had a double at the plate.
The Pirates struck first in this ballgame. ECU wasted a one-out double in the first but was able to take advantage of a leadoff runner in the second thanks to a hit-by-pitch. With two outs and runners on first and second, a single to left brought in the game's first run. Tulsa looked as if it might escape the inning with no further damage, but a throwing error on a ground ball allowed another run, giving the Pirates a 2-0 advantage.
In the top of the third inning, TU responded with a two-out rally. Morgan was hit by a pitch and then promptly stole second base. Denson laid down a bunt for an infield single, putting runners on the corner for Edwards. She picked up both her RBI with a double down the left field line that bounced away from the diving left fielder.
The game remained tied until the bottom of the fourth. Once again, it was two-out hitting that benefitted ECU. The Pirates had a runner on second with two away before a double to left brought in the runer as East Carolina retook the lead 3-2.
After the Hurricane went down in order in the fifth, ECU had a great opportunity to take control of the game. A leadoff double and a stolen base had an insurance run 60 feet away with nobody out. Nash struck out a batter for the first out. After a walk, she fanned back-to-back batters to strike out the side and escape with no damage.
Bearpaw rewarded the Tulsa pitcher with a solo home run to lead off the sixth, tying the game at 3. The next three Tulsa batters were retired. Nash came back out and set ECU down in order in the sixth to send the game to the final frame with the teams even at 3-3.
Emma Vickrey got on base with a one-out walk. Tara Hall pinch ran for the Tulsa first baseman. Morgan took an 0-1 pitch that was up in the zone and deposited it over the center field wall to give Tulsa the 5-3 lead. The Hurricane wasn't done yet. Denson and Edwards both singled and Bearpaw doubled, scoring one and giving Tulsa a 6-3 advantage.
UCF 6, Memphis 3 – Box Score
MEMPHIS – The UCF softball team defeated Memphis using a three-run seventh inning to take down the Tigers 6-3.
With the win, the Knights improve to 35-19 overall and 14-3 in The American. Memphis falls to 8-41 overall and 2-15 in conference play.
The Knights jumped out to an early lead as Jada Cody scored on a wild pitch before Shannon Doherty drove in the second run of the inning with a double to right center, scoring Aubrey Evans.
Memphis would take the lead in the third inning, scoring three runs. A bases loaded walk would score the first Tiger before Kendall Lee would drive in one run with a fielder’s choice and an error would allow Neely Taylor to score, taking a 3-2 lead.
The Knights would tie the game at three in the fifth inning following a Memphis error.
In the seventh inning, the Knights got things rolling. Cody tripled down the right field line to break the tie, while Chloe Evans and Savannah Adams would each drive in one run to push the score to 6-3.
Grace Jewell (W, 12-6) took home the win in the circle for the Knights, tossing 5.0 shutout innings, striking out two and allowing three hits. Rylee Dugar (L, 2-16) took the loss for the Tigers, allowing five runs off six hits and four walks.