By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
GREENVILLE, N.C. – Locked up in a pitcher's duel in the finale of a three-game set at East Carolina, the Tennessee Tech softball team was upended 4-0 to close out the series. ECU (11-4) captured all three games over the weekend, using two runs in the third, one in the fifth, and one more in the sixth to take Sunday's affair.
The Golden Eagles (5-11) received a stellar performance on the rubber from sophomore Hannah Weaver (2-4), who gave Tech an opportunity to win by surrendering just two runs over the first four innings. The 5-5 righty from Corona, Calif. did pitch into the fifth, retiring the first batter she faced, before a solo home run by senior Kristi Oshiro and a walk to red-shirt junior Abby Wynne signaled the end of Weaver's showing.
In total she tossed 4 1/3 innings, giving up three earned runs on five hits in suffering the loss.
Offensively, Tech ran into a strong effort by the Pirates' junior hurler Sarah Christian (8-1). The Golden Eagles managed just one hit off the Greenville, N.C. native, a first inning single off the bat of senior Kendall Hooper.
Christian would go the distance in notching her eighth win of the year, blanking TTU behind ten strikeouts.
After Weaver kept the East Carolina offense at bay by hanging a pair of zeroes in the first and second innings, the Pirates jumped on the board with two in the third.
Senior Shelby Johnson was responsible for knocking in the first run of the frame thanks to a one-out RBI double to left center that brought around sophomore Meredith Mitchell, before senior Jordan Lewis capped off the third inning scoring with a bases loaded hit-by-pitch that plated Johnson just a few batters later.
The Pirates ended their scoring in the bottom of the sixth, notching their fourth run of the game on a Chelsea Kaluhiokalani-Glackin RBI double to right center.
TTU will now set its sights on its home opener, returning to Cookeville for a doubleheader with Holy Cross on Wednesday, Mar. 5. The first game is slated to begin at 3 p.m. CT, with the second tilt scheduled to get underway at 5 p.m. CT.
