East Tennessee State University’s softball team lost both games of its Southern Conference opening doubleheader against the University of North Carolina at Greensboro on March 21. The Buccaneers fell 0-4 in the first game and 2-3 in extra innings during the second contest, with all but one run across both games coming from home runs.
The outcome marks a challenging start for East Tennessee State (12-10, 0-2 SoCon) as they faced a strong performance from UNC Greensboro (21-12, 2-0 SoCon). The Spartans’ ace pitcher held ETSU hitless through five innings in the first game, while her offense produced four runs from a combination of singles and home runs. ETSU managed to break up both a perfect game and no-hitter late but could not score.
In the second game, UNC Greensboro took an early lead with solo home runs in the second and sixth innings. ETSU tied the score in the bottom of the sixth with a two-run home run—her fifth of the season and career. The teams remained deadlocked until extra innings when UNCG scored on a sacrifice fly after advancing a runner to third base. ETSU was unable to answer back in their half of the eighth inning.
One notable moment came when an ETSU batter forced UNCG’s pitcher to throw 18 pitches during her first at-bat, including 13 foul balls—just two shy of tying an NCAA single-at bat record. Defensively, one player recorded nine putouts for ETSU, marking a season high for an outfielder.
ETSU will conclude its series against UNC Greensboro on Sunday at Betty Basler Field.
