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GREENVILLE, NC\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Anna Sawyer hit a walk-off two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift East Carolina past North Texas 4-2 in extra innings in the quarterfinals of the American Conference Softball Championship on Thursday evening at Joyner Family Softball Stadium. Game 2: No. 7 UTSA 8, No. 10 Memphis 6 | Box Score<\/a><\/p>\n Game 3: No. 5 Charlotte 2, No. 8 Tulsa 0 | Box Score<\/a><\/p>\n Game 4: No. 6 North Texas 7, No. 7 UTSA 6 | Box Score<\/a>
\nThursday, May 7 | Quarterfinals Game 6: No. 3 East Carolina 4, No. 6 North Texas 2 | Box Score<\/a>
\nFriday, May 8 | Semifinals Game 8: No. 2 Wichita State vs No. 3 East Carolina | 3:30 p.m. | ESPN+<\/a> \nSaturday, May 9 | Championship
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\nThe Pirates (33-24) advance to face No. 2 seed Wichita State in the semifinals on Friday at 3:30 p.m. ET.
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\nA scoreless first inning was followed by an hour and eight-minute rain delay. After play resumed, East Carolina loaded the bases on a single from Kanisha Anderson and two walks. Lillian Martineau then drew a walk to bring home the game\u2019s first run.
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\nThe score remained 1-0 until the top of the seventh inning when North Texas rallied. A leadoff single from Taylor Platt ignited the Mean Green offense before Ariah Mitchell delivered an RBI single up the middle to tie the game. Madison Conley followed with an RBI double to right-center field to give North Texas a 2-1 lead.
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\nEast Carolina answered in the bottom half of the inning. After a leadoff walk put the tying run on base, Sawyer lined an RBI double to left-center field to even the score at 2-2.
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\nThe game remained tied until the bottom of the ninth inning. Chloe Geijer opened the frame with a single to left field before Sawyer launched a two-run home run to secure the 4-2 walk-off victory for the Pirates.
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\nJulia Apostolakos started in the circle for East Carolina, pitching 7.1 innings while allowing two runs on seven hits and striking out eight batters. Sydney Rainford (8-9) earned the win after tossing 1.2 scoreless innings in relief.
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\nAnneca Anderson (12-9) took the loss for North Texas pitching 8.2 innings, allowing four runs on six hits while striking out eight batters.
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\n2026 AMERICAN SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
\nJoyner Family Softball Stadium | Greenville, North Carolina
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\nWednesday, May 6 | First and Second Round
\nGame 1: No. 8 Tulsa 2, No. 9 UAB 1 | Box Score<\/a><\/p>\n
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\nGame 5: No. 4 Florida Atlantic 5, No. 5 Charlotte 4 | Box Score<\/a><\/p>\n
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\nGame 7: No. 1 South Florida vs No. 4 Florida Atlantic | 1 p.m. | ESPN+<\/a>
\nLive Stats<\/a><\/p>\n
\nLive Stats<\/a>
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\nGame 9: Game 7 Winner vs Game 8 Winner | 12 p.m. | ESPN2<\/a>
\nLive Stats<\/a>
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