TAMPA, Fla. – The East Carolina softball team dropped its conference opener against South Florida 6-1 on Friday afternoon at USF Softball Stadium. 
 
Coming off one of its best offensive outings of the season, the Pirates (21-10) struggled to replicate that same success throughout the majority of the game with only three hits in the first six innings and runners only advancing as far as second base.
 
The Bulls (20-15) jumped ahead with a three-hit second inning including a two RBI double to take a 3-0 lead. South Florida would add another run in the fourth on a sacrifice fly and put the game out of reach with two more runs in the sixth inning to make it 6-0.
 
ECU’s offense finally sprung to life in the top of the seventh as the Pirates would have the bases loaded with only one out but only managed to score one run as the Bulls snuffed out the last-inning comeback attempt.
 
Mackenzie Kila led the Pirates at the plate with two hits and an RBI in three at bats. Addy Bullis (12-4) took the loss with four runs and five hits, four of which were doubles in 3.2 innings of work. Gabriella Nori (2-4) only allowed one run in seven innings for the win.
 
Up Next
East Carolina continues the series against South Florida tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. on ESPN+.