DENTON, Texas — The East Carolina softball team is set to begin American Athletic Conference play this weekend when the Pirates will travel to Denton to face North Texas inside Lovelace Stadium.
 
The first game will be Friday, Mar. 8 at 7 p.m. ET and all games will be streamed via ESPN+ with Kyle Youmans (play-by-play) and Hek’ma Harrison (analyst) on the call for all games. It will be the first-ever meeting between the Pirates and Mean Green.
 
The Pirates are off to the best start in program history since the 2000 Pirate softball team that started 21-2 in its first 23 games and went on to win a program-record 60 games. ECU is coming off a 5-1 week as the Pirates fell to NC State 11-2 in five innings before sweeping thru their final home tournament, including a shutout, two run-rules and a comeback win.
 
Emma Jackson leads ECU at the plate, batting .500 and tallying 39 hits (1st in AAC/1st in NCAA) along with 17 doubles (1st in AAC/1st in NCAA). Morgan Johnson leads the American and is third in the country in RBI with 32. ECU is currently first in the AAC in runs scored (163), hits (222), on-base percentage (.440) and doubles (54). The Pirates currently have four players who are hitting .400 or higher at the plate. ECU is one of only six teams in the country that is top-10 in batting average (7th) and ERA (7th), joining Florida, Texas, Duke, Oklahoma and Mississippi State.
 
Scouting the Mean Green
North Texas enters the weekend with a 9-11 record after falling in five innings to No. 17 Texas A&M 12-0. Cierra Simon leads the Mean Green at the plate with a .326 batting average and nine RBI while McKenzie Wagoner leads the team in the circle with a 2.61 ERA and a 5-3 record with 41 strikeouts.
 
Up Next
East Carolina returns to Max R. Joyner Family Stadium for its conference home opener against Wichita State Mar. 15-17 on ESPN+.