Pirates Make Cross-Country Trek To UTEP
April 20, 2011 | Softball
April 20, 2011
| East Carolina Games 48-49: UTEP | |
| Date | Friday, April 22 |
| Times | 4:00 and 6:00 p.m. ET |
| Location | El Paso, Texas (Helen of Troy Field) |
| Game Notes | East Carolina  |
| Statistics | East Carolina | UTEP |
| Internet Coverage | Game 1 Gametracker |  Game 1 Watch Live Game 2 Gametracker | Game 2 Watch Live Live Chat |
| Mobile Connect | Live Chat for Mobile Devices |
| Pirate Softball Central |
Gameday Central | Roster |
GREENVILLE, N.C. - For its final Conference USA road series of the season, East Carolina makes the cross-country, 1,908-mile journey to El Paso, Texas, for three games against UTEP (16-29, 1-14 C-USA). Because of the Easter holiday, the Pirates (31-16, 11-7 C-USA) play a doubleheader Friday at 4:00 p.m. and close the set Saturday with a 2:00 p.m. game. So far this season, East Carolina has gone 7-2 playing on the road in C-USA.
Last weekend, the Pirates took two of three games at league-leading UAB. ECU won the opener 3-2 in 11 innings as freshman Jasmine Robbins drove in the game-winning run with a double to left. Senior Toni Paisley earned the victory, the 109th of her career, to set the C-USA career wins record. UAB used a two-run home run by Kristen McGrath in the bottom of the sixth to down East Carolina 2-0 in the second contest. During the Sunday finale, C-USA Hitter-of-the-Week Suzanne Riggs drove in a career-high five runs and Paisley fanned 11 in the 6-2 win.
The Pirates Against The Miners
East Carolina owns a 12-4 advantage in the all-time series, which began in 2006 when UTEP joined Conference USA. The Pirates have won six of the last seven meetings with the lone loss a 4-3 setback in 13 innings at the 2009 league championship in El Paso. East Carolina is 5-2 at UTEP, outscoring the Miners 46-15.
Last season in Greenville, Paisley and Faith Sutton limited UTEP to one run and 10 hits in a pair of 1-0 victories and a 4-1 triumph. In the opener, Charina Sumner singled to center field with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning and drove in Nicole Jordan with the game-winning run. Paisley limited the Miners to just one hit and struck out 12. During the second game, ECU scored all four runs in the bottom of the second as Jordan tallied two RBI with a double to right center and scored on an illegal pitch. Vanessa Moreno also came home on an illegal pitch during the frame. In Sunday's contest, Riggs played the role of hero, singling to left field with two outs to drive in Kaui Tom with the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh. Paisley fanned 15 in the complete-game victory.
East Carolina's last trip to El Paso resulted in a 4-3 loss in 13 innings during the 2009 league tournament. Chelsea Troupe hit her second home run of the game with two outs in the top of the 13th to give UTEP the victory. ECU sent the game into extras by scoring three unearned runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. During the regular season, the Pirates visited El Paso and swept the Miners. East Carolina won 2-0 and 7-1 before blanking UTEP again in the finale, 8-0 in six innings. Paisley recorded both shutouts and Cristen Aona hit a two-run home run in the first and third games to lead the offense.
Loving The C-USA Road Life
East Carolina's journey to El Paso will cover 1,908 miles, but so far this season, life on the road for the Pirates in league action has been very good. ECU is 7-2 in road C-USA contests.
In series at Marshall, Southern Miss and UAB, East Carolina has outscored the opposition 43-14 while Paisley and Sutton have combined to post a 1.31 earned run average. Riggs and Robbins have led the Pirate offense, batting .400 and .348, respectively, on the road. Riggs paces the squad with 13 RBI in road tilts.
Kee One Away From No. 650
East Carolina head coach Tracey Kee, in her 15th season leading the Pirates, is one victory shy of 650 in her career. The two-time defending Conference USA Coach-of-the-Year has 649 victories heading into Friday's action. She is looking to become the 37th active coach at the NCAA Division I level to reach the 650-victory plateau.
Ironically, a year ago, Kee recorded the 600th victory of her career with the game-one win against UTEP in Greenville April 17.
The Richmond, Va., native began the season ranked 43rd among all Division I active coaches in career victories (618) and 30th in winning percentage (.664).
Riggs Named Conference USA Hitter-of-the-Week
After helping ECU to a series win at UAB last weekend, Riggs was named the Conference USA Hitter-of-the-Week for the second time in her career. Riggs also received the league's honor two weeks ago on April 4.
Riggs tallied at least one hit in each of East Carolina's five games last week and led the Pirates in nearly every offensive category, including hits (7), doubles (2), home runs (1), runs batted in (6), walks drawn (5), total bases (12), slugging percentage (.857) and on-base percentage (.600).
She scored the game-winning run in the opener at UAB and drove in a career-best five runs in the Sunday finale. She became the first Pirate with five RBI during a game since Jessica Johnson against Georgetown March 20, 2009.
Riggs Powering The Offense All Month Long
The C-USA weekly honor for Riggs extended her hot streak in April. So far this month, the Greenville native leads the Pirates with a .405 batting average, 15 hits, 12 runs batted in, 22 total bases, a .595 slugging percentage and .500 on-base percentage. No other ECU player has more than four runs batted in.
Robbins Comes Through Again
With the score tied 2-2 in the bottom of the 10th inning Saturday during the opener at UAB, Caley Walden singled to left center and Blazer pinch runner Donna Plath rounded third and headed home. Robbins picked up the ball in center and fired home, in time to nab Plath at the plate. With two outs and Riggs on second in the 11th, Robbins doubled down the left-field line to drive in the game-winning run and send the Pirates to a 3-2 victory.
Robbins has posted a team second-best .308 batting average and four runs batted in during April. She has also drawn five walks compared with three strikeouts.
Three More For Paisley
Saturday at UAB, Paisley added three more Conference USA career records to her collection, taking over the top spots in wins, innings pitched and appearances. She is also the ECU all-time leader in each of those categories.
Following Sunday's victory, Paisley now has league and program-best marks with 110 wins, 993.0 innings pitched and 169 appearances.
About To Enter The Top 10
Freshman Kristi Oshiro has drawn a Conference USA-best 32 walks this season. One more and she will enter East Carolina's top-10 list for most free passes in a season. The Pirates' record holder in the category is Kate Manuse with 55 in 2005.
For ECU freshmen, only Christine Sheridan (2003/40) and Hillary Halpern (2000/36) have drawn more free passes than Oshiro during their initial collegiate campaigns.
31-16 Again
Through the first 47 games of the last two seasons, the Pirates have posted identical 31-16 records. In 2010, East Carolina had a 10-5 record in Conference USA through 47 overall games. This year, ECU sits at 11-7 in league action after 47 contests. A year ago, the Pirates won their final six C-USA tilts to finish 16-5 and claim the program's first regular season title.
No Walks Allowed
Paisley and Sutton have combined to allow the fewest walks in Conference USA with 56 in 326.1 innings pitched, an average of 1.2 free passes a game. Helping the pair reduce walks is a limited number of three-ball counts. Of Paisley's 833 batters faced this season, 187 have seen three balls (22.4 percent). Sutton has dealt only 128 of her 448 hitters three balls (28.6 percent).
