East Carolina Walks Away With Extra-Inning Win Over Youngstown State

Wednesday, March 8

Greenville, N.C.

5:00 p.m.

East Carolina University

13-8

Youngstown State

3-14

Youngstown State

East Carolina

East Carolina Walks Away With Extra-Inning Win Over Youngstown State

March 08, 2017 | Softball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

GREENVILLE, N.C. – Senior outfielder Kacie Oshiro drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth inning Wednesday, lifting East Carolina over Youngstown State 5-4 in walkoff fashion in a non-conference softball contest at the ECU Softball Stadium.

Team Records: East Carolina: (13-8) | Youngstown State: (3-14)

It was the first extra-inning affair of the campaign for the Purple and Gold while the contest also tied Sunday's 15-14 walkoff win over Seton Hall for the longest game in 2017 at three hours.

The Pirates improved to 8-3 at home and have won 11 of their last 14 overall.

The Rundown
Sophomore RHP Mary Williams (3-3) produced a solid six-inning effort, picking up the victory to even her overall record. She surrendered just one run on six hits while walking three batters and striking out three. Junior Meredith Burroughs took care of the other three innings in the circle, allowing three runs on six hits with three walks. Maddi Lusk (1-6) was saddled with the loss, hurling 8.2 innings as ECU touched her up for five runs on 11 hits. She walked nine batters and notched five strikeouts.

A quartet of East Carolina hitters tallied two hits in the contest as reigning Louisville Slugger/NFCA National Player of the Week and redshirt junior catcher Alex Mycek helped lead the way with a double and a RBI. Senior outfielder Ciara Ervin rapped out two doubles, scored a run and recorded a RBI while Oshiro collected two RBI - including the game-winning tally on the bases-loaded walk – and Burroughs drew three walks of her own. Maria Lacatena had a day for the Penguins at the dish, going 3-for-4 with a RBI and a walk.

The Decisive Sequence
With the game in extra innings, Cali Mikovich delivered a one-out, two-run double to pushed Youngstown State ahead by a 4-2 margin. Down to their final swings, the Pirates received a leadoff walk from junior infielder Rebecca Perrell to lead off the home half. Ervin then roped a double to left center, advancing Perrell to third with no outs on the board. Oshiro followed with a RBI single to cut the deficit to one before Mycek came through with a RBI groundout that plated Ervin to knot the score once more.

Williams breezed through the YSU lineup with three groundouts in the top of the ninth to hold the Penguins at bay. Senior outfielder Ali Ramirez began the home half with a walk and sophomore utility player Morgan Halo poked a single up the middle to put the Purple and Gold in business. Following a pair of strikeouts, Ervin worked a four-pitch walk to load the bases. Out of gas with her pitch count over 170, Lusk then issued another four-pitch walk to Oshiro that scored Ramirez and sent the ECU faithful home happy.

Statistics of the Game
Three of the Pirates' five RBI occurred with two outs on the board, including Oshiro's game-winning walk. The teams also combined to leave 29 runners on base.

Up Next
East Carolina continues its newly-minted homestand Thursday with a single contest against Pittsburgh. First pitch between the Pirates and Panthers is slated for 4 p.m.