East Carolina Drops Series Finale At Houston, 2-1

Sunday, April 23

Houston, Texas

1:00 p.m.

East Carolina University

25-26, 5-10

Houston

23-20, 8-4

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
East Carolina	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	3	0
Houston	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	2	9	1

April 23, 2017 | Softball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

HOUSTON, Texas – Savannah Heebner hit a walkoff single in the bottom of the seventh to lift Houston past East Carolina 2-1 in the series finale Sunday at Cougar Softball Stadium as UH swept the weekend set.

Team Records: East Carolina – 25-26, 5-10 AAC \\\ Houston – 24-20, 8-4 AAC

The Rundown
The Pirates managed three hits in the contest off the bats of junior infielder Meredith Burroughs, senior outfielder Kacie Oshiro and redshirt freshman infielder Tate McClellan. Burroughs drove ECU's lone run of the game via her 14th home run of the campaign. Heebner and Shelby Miller posted two hits apiece to pace the Houston offense.

Heebner (11-8) recorded seven strikeouts and did not walk a batter in her second complete-game effort of the weekend. Senior RHP Lydia Ritchie (16-12) suffered the tough-luck loss, allowing just two runs on nine hits in going the distance. She walked just one hitter and fanned six.

How They Scored
The home team had the first good scoring chance of the day in the bottom of the second with Brooke Vannoy doubled and reached third base with no outs. Ritchie buckled down, however, striking out the next three UH batters.

The game stayed in a scoreless deadlock until the first pitch of the fourth inning. Burroughs got a hold of Heebner's offering and launched it over both outfield fences to put the Pirates ahead 1-0. The Cougars evened things up in the bottom of the sixth when Sarah Queen hit a solo shot of her own to left center field, knotting the score at one.

In the bottom of the seventh, Kayla Crumpton singled through the right side with one out before Ritchie induced a popup for the second out. Miller followed with a single down the left field line and Heebner found the gap in right center to drive home the winning score.

Of Note
Ritchie increased her career strikeout total to 351 – just eight away from moving into sixth place on the program career list.

Up Next
East Carolina wraps up the regular season at home next weekend, hosting league leader Tulsa for a three-game AAC series at the ECU Softball Stadium. The set kicks off Friday at 6 p.m.