
Pirates Roll Past Charleston Southern In Season Opener, 11-1
February 08, 2024 | Softball
Charleston, S.C. – The East Carolina softball team opened the 2024 season on a strong note, defeating Charleston Southern 11-1 and earning head coach Shane Winkler his 400th career win at the CSU Softball Complex on Thursday evening.
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Emma Jackson  led the way for the Pirates (1-0) at the plate, going 4-for-5 with two home runs and three RBI. Joie Fittante hit a grand slam in the fifth inning and tallied five RBI.
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The Pirates got off to a quick start as Jackson and Annie Kate Dalton both recorded singles in the top of the first and ECU would get on the board first after Anna Sawyer reached first on an error, scoring Morgan Johnson.
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Charleston Southern (0-1) would answer with a single RBI to tie the game at 1-1 going into the second inning.
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After three scoreless innings, the Pirates' bats would come alive as Jackson would hit a solo home run to left center to put ECU back in front 2-1. The next four batters for ECU would all single, leading to Fittante's grand slam that would break the game open with ECU taking a 7-1 lead in the fifth inning.Â
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The Pirates would tack on another run in the sixth inning and Jackson would hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning to all but secure the season-opening victory for the Pirates.
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Jordan Hatch (1-0) picked up the win for ECU in the circle, tossing four strikeouts in four innings while Taylor Apple had an impressive collegiate debut, throwing five strikeouts in three innings.
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Up Next
East Carolina will remain in Charleston for the weekend as the Pirates will compete in the Charleston Invitational beginning tomorrow with Saint Joseph's at 10 a.m.
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Emma Jackson  led the way for the Pirates (1-0) at the plate, going 4-for-5 with two home runs and three RBI. Joie Fittante hit a grand slam in the fifth inning and tallied five RBI.
Â
The Pirates got off to a quick start as Jackson and Annie Kate Dalton both recorded singles in the top of the first and ECU would get on the board first after Anna Sawyer reached first on an error, scoring Morgan Johnson.
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Charleston Southern (0-1) would answer with a single RBI to tie the game at 1-1 going into the second inning.
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After three scoreless innings, the Pirates' bats would come alive as Jackson would hit a solo home run to left center to put ECU back in front 2-1. The next four batters for ECU would all single, leading to Fittante's grand slam that would break the game open with ECU taking a 7-1 lead in the fifth inning.Â
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The Pirates would tack on another run in the sixth inning and Jackson would hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning to all but secure the season-opening victory for the Pirates.
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Jordan Hatch (1-0) picked up the win for ECU in the circle, tossing four strikeouts in four innings while Taylor Apple had an impressive collegiate debut, throwing five strikeouts in three innings.
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Up Next
East Carolina will remain in Charleston for the weekend as the Pirates will compete in the Charleston Invitational beginning tomorrow with Saint Joseph's at 10 a.m.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hatch, Jordan (1-0)
L: JUNGE, A. (0-1)

Batting:
HR: Jackson, Emma 2 ; Fittante, Joie 1
RBI: Jackson, Emma 3 ; Sawyer, Anna 1 ; Fittante, Joie 5
SH: Mason, Makenzie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jackson, Emma 3 ; Dalton, Annie Kate 1 ; Ayscue, Kaleigh 1 ; Johnson, Morgan 2 ; Sutton, Logan 1 ; Sawyer, Anna 1 ; Fittante, Joie 1 ; Evans, Hannah 1
SB: Sutton, Logan 1
CS: Mason, Makenzie 1

Batting:
RBI: YOURMAN, C. 1
SH: LEE, M. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: WALDING, C. 1
HBP: WALDING, C. 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
Players Mentioned
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