WILMINGTON, North Carolina – The UNCW softball team collected 12 hits to beat visiting East Carolina, 5-4, in Wednesday night softball action at Boseman Field.

The Seahawks (24-16) scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh after ECU (30-15) tied the game in the top half of the final inning.

UNCW outfielders Cassidy Relay and Skylar Stockton combined for seven hits with Stockton adding two RBI. Graduate students Morgan Britt and Mary Sobataka also drove in runs for the Seahawks.

The Pirates collected 10 hits with Clemson transfer Morgan Johnson accounting for four knocks, including a seventh-inning solo home run that brought the game to within one run before ECU tied it with another unearned run in the frame.

Lead-off hitter Tayler Vitola and Relay legged out back-to-back infield singles to put runners on the corners with one out in the seventh. Sobataka then lined the fifth pitch of her at-bat back to Pirate reliever Taylor Apple (11-6). Apple attempted to double-off Relay at first, but the ball got away from Johnson as Vitola scored from third to win the game.

Sobataka evened the game in the first inning after the Pirates struck first with a single to score Relay. UNCW then went ahead 2-2 in the third when Britt laced a triple to the right-center gap.

After ECU tied it in the fourth on an RBI double by Taylor Woodring, Stockton singled to drive in two in the bottom frame to give the Seahawks a 4-2 lead and set the stage for the dramatic seventh.

The Seahawks now turn their attention to a key CAA series vs. Campbell this weekend at Boseman Field.