SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA softball team suffered a 10-5 defeat at the hands of East Carolina on Friday at Roadrunner Field, in what represented the first contest of American Athletic Conference play.
The Roadrunners (12-8) fell to the Pirates (13-8), with freshman Kaylie Olivarez (3-2) getting tagged with the loss and Taylor Apple (6-2) earning the win.
Redshirt freshman Makayla Madrid and senior Camryn Robillard each logged home runs on the evening, while classmates Jaylen Prichard and Crislyne Moreno joined them in posting RBIs.
UTSA jumped on the board quickly, as freshman Sabrina Wick singled before swiping second and taking third on a wild pitch. Newcomer Skylar Rucker was walked before Prichard laced a double off the left field wall, scoring Wick, and Rucker trotted home on an RBI groundout by Madrid for a 2-0 edge.
The Pirates replied in the top of the second, putting up a crooked number and adding two more in the third for a 4-2 advantage.
UTSA got one back in the home half off a Madrid home run, working a 4-3 score line.
In the fourth, a two-run double increased the ECU advantage to three, but the ‘Runners battled back to within one as Moreno plated sophomore Kalee Rochinski in the fifth and Robillard launched a long ball in the sixth.
The Pirates, however, finished the fight in the seventh as a grand slam provided the dagger and propelled them to a 10-5 victory.
UTSA and ECU will meet twice more, with a noon contest on Saturday, ahead of the series finale on Sunday.
Keep up with UTSA Softball all season long on goutsa.com, and by following the program on Facebook at /UTSASB, X (Twitter) @UTSASoftball, and on Instagram @utsasoftball.
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