East Carolina Continues Home Stand With Pirate Clash
February 16, 2012 | Softball
Feb. 16, 2012
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| East Carolina Games 5-6: No. 21 Louisville and UNCG Friday, Feb. 17 | 1:00 and 5:00 p.m. ET Greenville, N.C. (ECU Softball Stadium) |
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GREENVILLE, N.C. - East Carolina, off to its best start since 2009 with a 3-1 record, continues home action this weekend, hosting the Pirate Clash. The Pirates face No. 21 Louisville (5-0) at 1:00 p.m. Friday before taking on in-state rival UNCG (0-5) at 5:00 p.m.
On Saturday, ECU plays Fordham (0-0) at 3:00 p.m. Wrapping up the weekend, and home stand, are two contests against Hofstra (0-0), at 3:00 p.m. Sunday and at 5:00 p.m. Monday.
The Pirates fell to Virginia in last Friday's season opener 3-1 before reeling off three-straight victories, topping Canisius by 12-4 and 6-2 scores and Drexel 9-7. Freshman pitcher Sarah Christian went 2-0 and classmate Courtney Smith went 1-1 and recorded a save in the victory over Drexel. Offensively, sophomores Jasmine Robbins and Alex Fieldhouse each drove in six runs while classmate Rebecca Lee posted a .714 on-base percentage, hit .556, stole six bases in six attempts and scored six runs.
The Pirates Against The Cardinals
East Carolina and Louisville will meet for the first time since 2005, when both programs were members of Conference USA. The Cardinals own an 8-6 advantage in the all-time series as the Pirates took three of the first four and the last three, but dropped seven straight in between.
In the last series the teams played, April 16-17, 2005, ECU swept the trio of contests by 6-2, 1-0 and 4-1 scores. Stephanie Hayes recorded the victory in game one while Keli Harrell picked up the wins in games two and three. Offensively, Kate Manuse and Mandi Nichols drove in two runs in the opener and a Beth Nolan home run provided the only offense in game two as the contest's three pitchers combined to strike out 22 batters. Manuse and Nolan each plated two runs in the game three triumph.
East Carolina Versus UNCG
The Pirates lead the all-time series with the Spartans 26-12. After taking a four-year break in the series, the teams resumed meeting in 2007 and played a doubleheader every season until 2011, when the programs did not face each other. ECU has won all eight contests since 2007 after dropping three-straight decisions.
The last time against the Spartans, on March 30, 2010, the Pirates recorded 4-1 and 6-3 victories as Charina Sumner, Kaui Tom, Vanessa Moreno and Marina Gusman-Brown each hit a home run and were credited with six of the team's nine runs batted in. Toni Paisley picked up both wins in the circle.
Kee Coaches Game No. 1,000
ECU head coach Tracey Kee will reach another milestone during the UNCG game Friday afternoon as it will be her 1,000th leading the Pirates.
The Richmond, Va., native is in her 26th year at East Carolina, having spent four seasons as a standout player (1987-90) and six as an assistant coach (1991-96) before taking over the helm in 1997. The two-time reigning National Fastpitch Coaches Association Mideast Region Coaching Staff-of-the-Year honoree enters Friday's action with a 662-335-1 record.
Kee stands 35th among all active NCAA Division I coaches in victories and is 30th in winning percentage at .664.
Off To A Strong Start
After dropping a 3-1 decision to Virginia to start the 2012 campaign, East Carolina won its next three games to close the weekend with a 3-1 mark. It is the Pirates' best four-game record since a matching 3-1 ledger in 2009. Through four games in 2010, the Pirates were 1-3 and they went 2-2 in the initial four contests of 2011.
The 2012 and 2009 seasons are the last two in which ECU has opened at home. The lone loss during the first four contests both seasons was to Virginia.
The Two Best In The Region Since 2009
Over the last three-plus seasons, East Carolina has been the winningest program in Conference USA and one of the most successful in the region. Friday afternoon when the Pirates square off against Louisville, they will be facing the top team in the region since 2009. The Cardinals have tallied 132 wins to ECU's 128. A closer look:
| School | Wins |
| Louisville | 132 |
| East Carolina | 128 |
| Tulsa | 119 |
| North Carolina | 117 |
| Radford | 117 |
| Kentucky | 107 |
| Houston | 104 |
| Maryland | 103 |
| UAB | 100 |
| Virginia Tech | 96 |
| Campbell | 94 |
| Virginia | 87 |
Victorious In Her Debut
With a 12-4 victory over Canisius, Christian became the first East Carolina freshman pitcher to record a win in her initial career appearance since Caitlin Wainright tallied the victory over Middle Tennessee on Feb. 7, 2009. In addition, Christian is the first Pirate rookie hurler to win her initial career start since current senior Suzanne Riggs and the Pirates downed North Florida on March 12, 2008.
Christian also won her second start, picking up the victory in ECU's 9-7 triumph over Drexel. She could become the first Pirate rookie to win her initial three starts since Britt Howell in 2008.
A Different Style Of Play
With three freshman pitchers on this season's roster, the Pirate offense knew it was going to have to produce more runs than the 3.6 per game it averaged a year ago.
After one weekend of play, consider it mission accomplished. East Carolina scored 28 runs in four games, an average of 7.0 a tilt. The Pirates pounded out 35 hits, including three home runs, and 25 runs batted in. It is the most production ECU has gotten out of its offense through four games since the beginning of the 2004 campaign. A closer look at the opening four-game offensive production of the last nine seasons:
| Year | Runs | Hits | Home Runs | Runs Batted In |
| 2012 | 28 | 35 | 3 | 25 |
| 2011 | 2 | 15 | 0 | 2 |
| 2010 | 9 | 24 | 0 | 9 |
| 2009 | 16 | 21 | 1 | 10 |
| 2008 | 22 | 34 | 6 | 22 |
| 2007 | 23 | 30 | 6 | 19 |
| 2006 | 19 | 28 | 0 | 19 |
| 2005 | 21 | 27 | 6 | 20 |
| 2004 | 31 | 36 | 2 | 27 |
