East Carolina’s softball team dropped a 5-1 decision to South Florida in Saturday’s final of the American Conference Tournament.
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Photo credit: (ECU Sports Information)
The East Carolina softball team’s run in the American Softball Championship came to an end on Saturday afternoon as the Pirates fell, 5-1, to South Florida in the title game at Max R. Joyner Family Stadium.
Hailey Deter had the lone hit on the day for the Pirates (34-25, 16-11 American) who took the field in front of a record-setting home crowd of 921 in their first-ever championship game appearance as a member of the American, breaking the previous stadium record of 861 vs. NC State (April 8, 2025).
South Florida jumped out to a 1-0 lead after one inning and the Bulls extended their lead to 5-0 in the bottom of the third with the help of some Pirate miscues.
Deter prevented the shutout with a solo home run in the top of the fifth but USF’s defense shut down the Pirates in the top of the sixth and seventh innings to capture its second straight conference title.
Julia Apostolakos (18-12) tossed three strikeouts in the circle, bringing her total strikeouts for the tournament to 19 while Anne Long (21-5) fanned five batters.
Anna Sawyer and Sydney Rainford were named to the All-Tournament Team along with Apostolakos and Deter.
2026 American Conference All-Tournament Awards
Most Outstanding Player
Anne Long, P, South Florida
All-Tournament
Sydney Lewis, DP, Charlotte
Anneca Anderson, P, North Texas
Ryley Nihart, P, Wichita State
Julia Apostolakos, P, East Carolina
Sydney Rainford, P, East Carolina
Anna Sawyer, OF, East Carolina
Hailey Deter, OF, East Carolina
Olivia Elliott, OF, South Florida
Jamia Nelson, 1B, South Florida
Kathy Garcia-Soto, 2B, South Florida
Anne Long, P, South Florida
Alex Wilkes, SS, South Florida