University of North Texas
East Carolina
Savage Spins Saturday Shutout
3/9/2024 6:06:00 PM | Softball
DENTON, Texas – Skylar Savage led UNT softball in a 2-0 victory over East Carolina at Lovelace Stadium on Saturday.
"Skylar was excellent," head coach Rodney DeLong said. "[That was] probably her best performance of the year and hopefully that gets her going confidence-wise. I'm proud of her and I knew it was going to be tough to score today, but she was nails."
The Mean Green (11-11, 2-0) opened American Athletic Conference play with back-to-back shutouts over league opponents for the first time in program history after McKenzie Wagoner accomplished the feat on Friday.
Savage (W, 2-5) recorded her fifth complete-game shutout of her career and fourth with 7.0-plus innings pitched, first since May 21, 2022, versus Nebraska at the NCAA Stillwater Regional. She tallied season-best marks of six strikeouts and 7.0 innings while she limited the Pirates (21-3, 0-2) to three hits and one walk.
The third inning provided North Texas with both of its runs after Jodie Epperson deposited an RBI single into center and scored Cierra Simon to open the frame. Kailey Gamble brought home Epperson with her 11th career sacrifice fly later in the inning.
Gamble moved into a tie with UNT Athletics Hall of Fame member Mariza Martinez (2008-11) for the fourth-most career RBI at 119.
Mikayla Smith reached base in each of her three plate appearances and finished 2-for-2 including a double.
UP NEXT
UNT looks to sweep its first AAC series on Sunday at noon versus ECU from Lovelace Stadium. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and fans can purchase tickets HERE.
