Softball Ends Homestand With Pirate Clash
February 24, 2011 | Softball
Feb. 24, 2011
| East Carolina Game 13: Towson | |
| Date | Friday, Feb. 25 |
| Times | 4:00 p.m. ET |
| Location | Greenville, N.C. (ECU Softball Stadium) |
| Tickets | Ticket Central |
| Game Notes | East Carolina  |
| Statistics | East Carolina | Towson |
| Internet Coverage | Gametracker |  Watch LivePirate Clash Central | Live Chat |
| Mobile Connect | Live Chat for Mobile Devices |
| Pirate Softball Central |
Gameday Central | Roster |
GREENVILLE, N.C. - East Carolina wraps up its season-long 11-game homestand with the Pirate Clash, completing ECU's longest stretch of home games since 2008. Friday through Sunday, the Pirates welcome Towson (2-3), Fairfield (0-0), Lehigh (0-0) and Campbell (6-4) to Greenville. East Carolina plays the Tigers Friday at approximately 4:00 p.m. before facing the Stags and Mountain Hawks Saturday. Scheduled start times are 2:00 and 4:00 p.m., respectively. Sunday, the Pirates finish with a 3:00 p.m. contest against the Camels and go for their 16th-straight win against in-state foes.
Monday afternoon East Carolina held on for a 5-4 victory over Hofstra as the Pride scored four times in the seventh inning after ECU established a five-run cushion. Junior Suzanne Riggs drove in four runs and hit her first career home run to lead the offense. Senior Toni Paisley struck out six and allowed six singles.
The Pirates Against The Tigers
East Carolina has an all-time record of 12-1 against Towson with the teams meeting once a year in Greenville since 2005.
The only Pirate loss occurred Feb. 23, 2007, when the Tigers won 1-0 via a third-inning unearned run. In that contest, Brooke Swann pitched a complete game and allowed just two hits, a single and a double.
Last year, ECU blanked Towson in a 2-0 victory. Paisley went the distance in the circle for the Pirates, allowing just two hits and a walk. She also struck out 13. The offense was led by Christina Merrida's two hits, run scored and run batted in. Merrida scored the game-winning run on a throwing error by the catcher after Merrida stole third and drove in the insurance run with a fifth-inning single to center field.
Paisley The New Strikeout Queen
With an eighth-inning strikeout of St. John's Michelle Tilson Friday evening, Paisley became the all-time Conference USA and East Carolina career strikeout leader. Tilson's whiff was Paisley's 949th, pushing her past 2007 teammate and former coach Keli Harrell's 948 for the league and program records.
Paisley enters this weekend's action with 972 career strikeouts.
Paisley Climbs The Wins Charts
In addition to claiming the league and program strikeout crowns, Paisley is also approaching the all-time wins marks. Monday's victory against Hofstra was the 93rd of her career, one short of Houston's Angel Shamblin (2005-08/94) for second on the Conference USA list and one ahead of Denise Reagan (1997-2000/92) for second on the ECU chart.
DePaul's Lindsay Chouinard (2000-03/108) is the league's all-time victory leader while Jenny Parsons (1990-93/102) holds the ECU career record for wins.
Riggs On A Roll
After serving as a part-time pitcher her freshman year, struggling through an injury that shelved her for all of 2009 and experiencing action as a reserve on a senior-dominated 2010 squad, redshirt junior Riggs has become the Pirates' offensive centerpiece this season.
Riggs entered the year with eight hits and 10 runs batted in during her career and has already exceeded or matched those numbers with 12 hits and 10 RBI. She leads the squad with four multiple-hit games, three multi-RBI contests, a .412 batting average with runners in scoring position and five two-out runs batted in.
Monday against Hofstra she tied her career high by driving in four runs and added her first career home run.
Success At The Hardest Job In Sports
The Pirates have totaled 26 pinch hit at-bats this season with senior Sissy Jimenez's six tying her for the most on the squad.
In her last four plate appearances, she has played the role to perfection, collecting three hits and being hit by a pitch. Against St. John's Sunday afternoon, she was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, giving Jimenez her first RBI of the season.
Leaving The Yard For The First Time
The Pirates waited five games before hitting a home run at the new ECU Softball Stadium, but freshman Jasmine Robbins ended the drought Sunday afternoon with a two-out solo shot to left field in the second inning. It was Robbins' first career homer and the first round tripper for the Pirates this season.
Defense Settling In
After committing five errors, all by freshmen, through the first two games of the season, the Pirates seem to have settled down. East Carolina has committed just three errors in the last 10 games, raising its fielding percentage to .974.
This season's numbers are nearly identical to last season, when ECU ended the year leading the nation in fielding percentage. Through 12 games in 2010, the Pirates had eight errors and a .973 fielding percentage.
