GREENVILLE, N.C. – The East Carolina softball team earned a split on day two of the Purple-Gold Invitational as the Pirates fell short against UMass 4-3 in the first game before bouncing back to defeat Norfolk State 7-5 on Saturday afternoon at Max R. Joyner Stadium.
 
Taylor Edwards was the top hitter on the day for ECU (18-6), going 3-for-3 at the plate in the Pirates’ second game against Norfolk State.
 
Game One: UMass 4, East Carolina 3
ECU would strike first in the bottom of the first inning after Joie Fittante stole second, allowing Taudrea Sinnie to steal home to put the Pirates up 1-0. UMass would start to work Jordan Hatch in the top of the fourth, scoring three runs on the sophomore and adding a fourth run on a sacrifice fly to go ahead 4-1.
 
The Pirates would make things interesting late with two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning but three of the four final Pirate batter could not get on base as UMass would take the 4-3 win.
 
Hatch (7-4) allowed four earned runs in 3.1 innings of work in the loss while Jessie DiPasquale (2-3) earned the win with five strikeouts in seven innings.
 
Game Two: East Carolina 7, Norfolk State 5
Norfolk State would take an early 1-0 lead after a single to right center in the top of the first but the Pirates would start piling on the runs, scoring seven from the bottom of the second to the bottom of the fourth inning to take a 7-1 lead.
 
The Spartans would attempt a late comeback after driving in three runs to make the score 7-5 but Taylor Smith would retire the next Spartan batter to thwart the comeback attempt and give ECU the win.
 
Smith (1-0) picked up her first win of the season in four innings in the circle while Alexis Robinson (4-4) allowed 11 hits and four earned runs in 4.1 innings of work.
 
Up Next
East Carolina wraps up the Purple-Gold Invitational against Norfolk State tomorrow morning at 11:30 a.m. on ESPN+.