Thursday, May 7
Greenville, N.C.
8:30 p.m.
East Carolina University
33-24
4
vs
2
North Texas
28-28
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Texas | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 1 |
| East Carolina | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0 |
Sawyer's Walk-Off Sends Pirates To Semifinals Of American Softball Championship
May 08, 2026 | Softball
GREENVILLE, N.C. – Anna Sawyer went 3-for-5 with three RBI including hitting the two-run walk-off homer in the ninth inning that lifted East Carolina over North Texas, 4-2, in the quarterfinals of the American Softball Championship.
East Carolina advances to the conference semifinals for the second straight season with the win.
Lillian Martineau also drove in a run for the Pirates (33-24, 16-11 American) who looked to be on the brink of having their season end after UNT took a 2-1 lead with runners in scoring position in the top of the seventh but Sawyer laid out for a fly ball to end the Mean Green's run.
Chloe Geijer drew a walk to lead off the bottom of the seventh and Kanisha Anderson advanced Geijer to second with a sac bunt, setting up Sawyer to hit the game-tying double.
Both teams defenses locked in for the eighth inning and top of the ninth and the game looked to be heading for a 10th inning until Sawyer stepped up again with a two-run blast over the left field wall to end the game.
Sydney Rainford (8-9) earned the win in relief while Julia Apostolakos tossed eight strikeouts.
Up Next
East Carolina faces Wichita State in the semifinals at 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
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East Carolina advances to the conference semifinals for the second straight season with the win.
Lillian Martineau also drove in a run for the Pirates (33-24, 16-11 American) who looked to be on the brink of having their season end after UNT took a 2-1 lead with runners in scoring position in the top of the seventh but Sawyer laid out for a fly ball to end the Mean Green's run.
Chloe Geijer drew a walk to lead off the bottom of the seventh and Kanisha Anderson advanced Geijer to second with a sac bunt, setting up Sawyer to hit the game-tying double.
Both teams defenses locked in for the eighth inning and top of the ninth and the game looked to be heading for a 10th inning until Sawyer stepped up again with a two-run blast over the left field wall to end the game.
Sydney Rainford (8-9) earned the win in relief while Julia Apostolakos tossed eight strikeouts.
Up Next
East Carolina faces Wichita State in the semifinals at 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Rainford, Sydney (8-9)
L: Anderson, Anneca (12-9)
Batting:
2B: Conley, Madison 2
RBI: Mitchell, Ariah 1 ; Conley, Madison 1
SH: Slovak, Kaycee 1 ; McNemar, Riley 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hull, Lianna 1 ; Platt, Taylor 1
HBP: Harman, Bradi 1
Batting:
2B: Sawyer, Anna 1
HR: Sawyer, Anna 1
RBI: Sawyer, Anna 3 ; Martineau, Lillian 1
SH: Anderson, Kanisha 1 ; Fowler, Gabby 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Geijer, Chloe 2 ; Anderson, Kanisha 1 ; Sawyer, Anna 1
HBP: Anderson, Kanisha 1
PO: Geijer, Chloe 1
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Softball
RHP/UTL
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
OF
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