ECU gets 4th seed in AAC softball

The American Athletic Conference announced the seeding for its softball championship, which begins Thursday and concludes Saturday. East Carolina earned a No. 4 seed while Central Florida, the tournament host, claimed the No. 1 seed.

Saturday’s final will be televised live on ESPN2 at 1 p.m. (ET). The winner will earn the American’s automatic bid to the NCAA championship.

NC State: Chance Shepard provided the go-ahead pop and Tommy DeJuneas retired all 10 batters he faced, as the host Wolfpack (26-18) finished its sweep of Longwood with a 6-3 win.

Andrew Knizner went 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI, finishing the weekend 6-for-11. Joe Dunand supplied the Pack’s other multi-hit effort, a 2-for-4 outing with two runs and a double. Preston Palmeiro doubled in a 1-for-4 day with a run. Brock Deatherage tripled in a 1-for-3 game with a run. Tommy DeJuneas and Chance Shepard each drove in a pair, with Shepard’s coming via the longball.

Wolfpack starter Johnny Piedmote lasted 3 1/3 innings, allowing two earned on five hits and a walk, striking out one. Will Gilbert (2-1) was first out of the pen and secured the win, working the next 2 1/3 with one run on five hits and a walk, punching out four. DeJuneas finished the game with a perfect 3 1/3, punching out three for his fourth save of the year.

Campbell: Cedric Mullins went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles as Campbell took the series with a come-from-behind 5-3 win at Gardner-Webb.

The Camels (27-19, 9-11 Big South) took their second two-run game of the weekend. Gardner-Webb (20-28, 6-15 Big South) fell to 2-13 over their last five conference series.

Bobby Thorson (4-2) earned the victory for Campbell with 2 2/3 innings in relief, giving up just one hit with no runs and a pair of strikeouts.

Starter Grant Yost spun five scoreless innings to open the game, scattering five hits and striking out two with no walks.

Cole Hallum earned his ninth save of the year by holding the Runnin' Bulldogs without a hit in the ninth inning.

ECU: Bryce Harman and Charlie Yorgen hit home runs and Jacob Wolfe (4-1) gave up two runs over seven innings, lifting the host Pirates (31-18, 11-7) to an American Athletic Conference series-clinching 5-2 win over UConn.

Duke: Freshman attackman Justin Guterding scored four goals and added one assist to lead No. 4 Duke (12-5) to a 13-7 win over visiting Boston University.

With his four-tally performance, Guterding reached the 50-goal plateau for the season. The ACC Rookie of the Year sits seven markers shy of the Duke single-season record for freshmen, a standard of 57 set in 2005 by Zack Greer, while the 50 are tied for 10th in Duke single-season history.

Duke: Fourth-ranked Duke (14-4) battled back after falling behind 18th-ranked Johns Hopkins, 9-1, but the early deficit proved too much in a 9-8 loss to the visiting Blue Jays.

This story was originally published May 3, 2015 at 11:32 PM with the headline "ECU gets 4th seed in AAC softball."