East Carolina University
Indiana
Big First Inning Leads Pirates Past Hoosiers
February 22, 2009 | Softball
Feb. 22, 2009
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The East Carolina softball team played an early morning game against Indiana on Sunday at the Seminole Classic in Tallahassee, Fla., and walked away an 8-3 winner. With the victory, the Pirates moved to 6-5 and the Hoosiers fell to 1-9. Toni Paisley started in the circle for ECU, improved her record to 5-2 this season and tied her career-high in strikeouts with 15.
The Pirates wasted little time getting on the board, batting around, smacking six hits and scoring six runs in the top of the first inning. Prior to the Indiana game, ECU had scored just two runs in the first inning all season and had not totaled six hits in an entire contest since facing Middle Tennessee in the second game of the season.
Christina Merrida started the opening frame with a leadoff walk and moved to second on Charina Sumner’s bunt single. A Jessica Johnson sacrifice bunt advanced both runners a base and Angel Barrella’s double to left center drove in the first two runs. Kaui Tom then singled through the left side, plating Barrella and pushing the lead to 3-0. A single by Cristen Aona put runners on the corners and Marina Gusman-Brown drove in both with a triple down the right field line. Sarah Bibee finished the scoring with a sacrifice fly to center field that drove in Gusman-Brown and put the Pirates ahead 6-0.
Indiana answered immediately in the bottom of the first with a triple followed by a single that made the score 6-1. The Hoosiers then mixed in two walks around two outs to load the bases. Paisley managed to strike out Julie DiNallo, but the ball bounced off Bibee’s glove and went all the way to the backstop, pushing another run across and allowing DiNallo to reach first base. Kristin King then struck out looking to end the frame with the score 6-2 in favor of East Carolina.
Sumner got things going for the Pirates again in the second when she led off with an infield single. Johnson then doubled to right field, driving in Sumner and making the ECU lead 7-2.
The Hoosiers had a chance to add runs of their own in the bottom of the second with a leadoff walk and steal of second base. A bunt single put runners on the corners with one out, but back-to-back strikeouts ended the threat.
The bottom of the fourth inning also had Indiana put two runners on base with a walk and a single. Paisley then induced a strikeout swinging and a groundout to third base to keep the Pirate lead at 7-2.
The bottom of the sixth had the final threat by Indiana as pinch hitter Bridget Langan singled to left and scored on Jennifer Glueckert’s second triple of the game, cutting the ECU lead to 7-3.
East Carolina added the final run of the game in the top of the seventh on a single by Sumner and double to left center by Johnson to regain the five-run advantage at 8-3.
For the game, ECU collected 12 hits, the first time the Pirates had reached double-digits since April 26, 2008, against Memphis.
Individually, Sumner tallied three hits and Johnson and Aona both had two, while Barrella, Gusman-Brown and Johnson had two runs batted in.
The Pirates play their last game of the Seminole Classic at 1:30 p.m. against UC Riverside.
