Pirate Softball Receives National Recognition
April 28, 2009 | Softball
April 28, 2009
GREENVILLE, N.C. - The East Carolina softball team, 38-13 and in first-place in Conference USA, received two votes in this week's USA Today/NFCA poll released on Tuesday. The Pirates have not entered the Top 25 of the poll since 2000.
Last weekend ECU defeated Marshall twice to finish the C-USA regular season with a 19-5 record, the most victories the program has had since joining the league in 2002. The Pirates also set the season record for most Conference USA three-game series sweeps with four. In those 12 victories, ECU outscored its competition 46-6.
Aside from the USA Today/NFCA poll, the Pirates are receiving national attention through their rankings in numerous statistical categories. With the release of the most recent set of NCAA statistics, through games as of April 26, East Carolina finds itself ranked in the top 30 in four categories. The squad's .976 fielding percentage checks in seventh, the pitching staff 's 1.48 earned run average is the ninth-best, the team's .745 winning percentage is the 22nd-highest and the Pirates' 1.71 stolen bases per game are the 24th-most in Division I.
Individually, redshirt sophomore pitcher Toni Paisley is ranked fourth nationally in wins (28), 10th in strikeouts (268), 17th in shutouts (8) and ERA (1.21) and 25th in saves (3).
Offensively, senior Angel Barrella is ranked 30th nationally with four triples. After putting down 11 sacrifice bunts in the last two weeks, junior Charina Sumner checks in ninth with 0.37 sacrifice hits per game and is also the 15th-toughest player to strikeout, having fanned just six times this season.
East Carolina will conclude the regular season this weekend, hosting Campbell and Virginia Tech. The Pirates will play Campbell at 3 p.m. Saturday and take on Virginia Tech at 5 p.m. Saturday and again at 12 p.m. Sunday. ECU will hold its Senior Day celebration before Sunday's contest against the Hokies.
