Pirates rally for 4-3 softball win over Memphis in series opener

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Taylor Apple tossed five strikeouts in seven innings as East Carolina rallied to escape with a 4-3 victory in its series opener with Memphis on Friday evening at Tigers Softball Complex.

Emma Jackson hit her 10th home run of the season for the Pirates (34-16, 10-12 AAC) who won their second straight conference opener with the victory. Logan Sutton added an RBI and Annie Kate Dalton led the Pirates with two hits on the night.

Jackson quickly gave the Pirates a 1-0 lead with her solo shot in the leadoff spot and the Pirates would plate another run in the top of the second after loading the bases with three walks drawn and a sacrifice fly from Kanisha Anderson .

The Tigers would grab the momentum in the bottom of the third after Zoe Adebayo hit a two-run bomb to center field to give Memphis a 3-2 lead going into the fourth inning.

ECU’s offense would struggle in the fourth and fifth innings and the Pirates would leave three runners on base in the sixth as the Tigers would need just three more outs to get the series-opening win.

The Pirates would load the bases once again in the top of the seventh and with two outs, Sutton would draw a walk to score Morgan Johnson and tie the game at 3-3. ECU would then retake the lead after Kaleigh Ayscue advanced to home on a Tigers’ wild pitch.

Apple would quickly retire Memphis’ three batters in the bottom of the seventh to complete ECU’s comeback win.

Up Next
East Carolina will play the second game of the series with Memphis tomorrow at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

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