Pirates Play For C-USA Tournament Title
May 14, 2010 | Softball
May 14, 2010
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HOUSTON, Texas - The Conference USA regular season champion East Carolina softball team will go for its first league tournament title Saturday against UCF (35-20). The Pirates (41-16) have played in one other championship game, a 1-0 loss against Houston in 2007 in Orlando, Fla. ECU suffered a 1-0 setback in that contest on an unearned run in the first.
The Pirates Against The Knights ...
The teams have a brief history as the series began in 2006 when UCF joined C-USA. East Carolina owns a 15-2 advantage. The Pirates have shut out the Knights in the past six games.
Earlier this season in Orlando, Fla., ECU recorded 2-0, 2-0 and 6- 0 victories. In the opener, junior Sissy Jimenez drove in a run with a second-inning single and senior Kaui Tom added the insurance tally with a sixth-inning home run. The second game was scoreless until the top of the eighth, when seniors Vanessa Moreno and Cristen Aona each hit an RBI single. The Sunday finale had the Pirates score an unearned run in the first and senior Charina Sumner hit a three-run long ball in the top of the third. Junior Toni Paisley recorded all three wins as she gave up 11 hits in 17.1 innings pitched.
During the 2009 series in Greenville, ECU won the three contests 3-0, 3-0 and 5-0. In the opener, Jessica Johnson's two-out, two-run single in the fifth inning provided the winning run. The second contest had ECU scoring all three of its runs on wild pitches thrown in the sixth inning by UCF's Ashleigh Cole. In the Sunday finale, Angel Barrella, Marina Gusman-Brown, Jimenez, Johnson and Paisley each drove in a run while Christina Merrida had two hits.
Leading The Country ...
With the release of the NCAA statistics through May 9, East Carolina is ranked first in the nation with a .983 fielding percentage. The Pirates have committed just 24 errors in 55 games. For the past three seasons, ECU has not finished lower than third in the country in fielding percentage (second in 2007, .977; third in 2008, .980; third in 2009, .978).
Individually, Paisley is tied for the overall lead with 19 shutouts.
Among The Nation's Best ...
In addition to leading the nation in fielding percentage, East Carolina's 1.48 earned run average is the fifth best.
Individually, Sumner is 15th in triples (5). Paisley ranks ninth in earned run average (1.05), 11th in strikeouts (320), 13th in hits allowed per seven innings (3.64) and victories (27) and 27th in strikeouts per seven innings (9.3).
East Carolina And The RPI ...
With the most recent RPI release by the NCAA, through May 9 games, East Carolina checks in 40th. This season, the Pirates are 5-10 against teams in the top 50 of the RPI. ECU is 13-6 against teams ranked 51-100 and is 21-0 from 101 to the end of the rankings. The Pirates have captured three road triumphs over UCF (RPI: 39), one over Fresno State (RPI: 46) and two over N.C. State (RPI: 58).
Road Warriors ...
East Carolina has played 37 contests away from Greenville this season, going 24-13. In true away games, the Pirates have excelled, posting an 18-7 mark, the most true road wins in the country. ECU is 19-2 away from home since March 13.
