East Carolina University
Memphis
Ervin Walkoff Home Run Lifts ECU Over Memphis, 8-7
April 09, 2016 | Softball
Box Score | East Carolina 8, Memphis 7 
GREENVILLE, N.C. - With two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning and East Carolina trailing Memphis by one run, junior outfielder Ciara Ervin drilled a two-run home run to deep center field to give the Pirates an 8-7 American Athletic Conference softball victory over the Tigers Saturday afternoon at the ECU Softball Stadium. The series is now even heading into Sunday morning's finale.
East Carolina (19-23, 1-7 AAC) recorded its first conference win of 2016 and its first victory overall since beating NC State 7-4 back on March 22 in Raleigh. Meanwhile, Memphis dropped back under the .500 mark overall at 19-20 and fell to 3-2 in league play.
A quartet of Pirates recorded two hits apiece in the contest while Ervin and senior third baseman Kelsi Briggs notched a pair of RBI. Brooke Lee paced the Tiger offensive unit with two hits a run scored and two runs driven in. The teams also combined for three errors and left 21 runners on base.
Freshman RHP Mary Williams earned the win in relief, throwing the final 5.2 innings and surrendering six runs (three earned) on six hits. She walked seven batters and struck out five. Molly Smith (7-9) was saddled with the loss after giving up the tying and winning runs in just 0.2 innings of work. She allowed a hit to go along with a walk and a strikeout.
How it Happened: After ECU starter Lydia Ritchie stranded a Memphis runner at third base in the top of the first inning, the Pirates took an early 1-0 lead via a RBI double by junior first baseman Ali Ramirez. The Tigers answered in the top of the second and tied the score at one following a Lee RBI double with one out.
Cheek gave the lead back to East Carolina in the home half of the frame, hitting the first pitch she saw over the left field fence to make it 2-1. It represented her first home run of the campaign. Memphis took advantage of a Pirate error in the top of the third that led to three unearned runs and a 4-2 Tiger lead.
The next two half innings went by without a run before ECU exploded in the bottom of the fourth - plating four runs on five hits to pull ahead 6-4. Briggs drove in two runs during the frame with a single up the middle to go along with RBI singles by sophomore Sloan Bradford and senior shortstop Casey Alcorn.
The visitors tied the contest at six with a pair of two-out runs in the top of the sixth. East Carolina attempted to respond in the bottom of the inning, loading the bases with two outs, but Cheek's sharp liner up the middle was snagged by the Memphis pitcher to end the frame. A RBI single by Brittany Seale afforded the Tigers a 7-6 lead in the top of the seventh and put Memphis three outs away from the series win. Smith would retire the first two Pirates in the bottom of the inning, but walked pinch hitter and freshman Morgan Halo to bring up Ervin. On a 1-0 pitch, the junior smashed her team-leading sixth round-tripper of the year over the wall in deep center to seal the ECU victory.
Bits and Pieces: East Carolina improved to 21-8 in the all-time series with Memphis and 10-4 against the Tigers in Greenville ... The Pirates' 14 hits were the most in a single contest this season ... The walkoff win was the second of the campaign and first since a 6-5 victory over UMass Feb. 19 at the Pirate Clash ... ECU moved to 5-8 at home while Memphis dropped to 4-4 in true road contests ... The Pirates improved to 15-3 when out-hitting their opponent, 15-5 when scoring first and 9-4 when scoring in the first inning ... East Carolina picked up its seventh come-from-behind win of 2016 ... ECU upped its season home run total to 27 - just one behind its mark in 2015.
Up Next: East Carolina and Memphis return to the ECU Softball Stadium Sunday at 11:00 a.m. for the series finale and rubber game. Admission is free of charge. The first 100 fans through the gates will receive a free pink "Strike Out Cancer" t-shirt.
