East Carolina Makes First Road Trip Of 2012
February 22, 2012 | Softball
Feb. 22, 2012
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| East Carolina Games 9-10: SIU Edwardsville and No. 2 Alabama Friday, Feb. 24 | 2:30 and 5:00 p.m. ET Tuscaloosa, Ala. (Rhoads Stadium) |
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GREENVILLE, N.C. - Following a season-opening eight-game homestand, East Carolina, off to its best start since 2008 at 5-3, makes its first road trip of the year this weekend, traveling to Tuscaloosa, Ala., for the Easton Bama Bash. The Pirates begin play at the event Friday with SIU Edwardsville (5-3) at 2:30 p.m. and follow with the host, and No. 2 nationally ranked, Crimson Tide (8-0) at 5:00 p.m.
On Saturday, ECU takes on the same two teams in the same order, this time with games at 12:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. Ending the weekend is a 12:00 p.m. tilt against North Dakota State (6-4) Sunday.
Monday against Hofstra, East Carolina held on for a 4-3 victory as a game-ending fielder's choice stranded two Pride runners after a two-run home run in the seventh cut the Pirates' lead to one. Sophomores Alex Fieldhouse and Jordan Lewis combined for four hits, two runs batted in and one scored to pace the offense while freshman pitcher Sarah Christian improved to 4-1.
About The Cougars
SIU Edwardsville heads into this weekend's action with a 5-3 record. The Cougars have recorded victories over Northwestern State, Grambling State, Mississippi State and two against Mississippi Valley State. A year ago, SIUE went 28-30.
Senior outfielder Lindsey Barron is the squad's leading hitter with a .433 batting average and 13 hits. Sophomore infielder Chelsea Yankolovich has been the main run producer with six batted in and nine more scored. Freshman Alex McDavid has gotten her career off to a strong start, hitting .364 with five RBI.
In the circle, junior Lindsey Coleman is 3-0 with a 3.49 earned run average while classmate Amanda Lambrecht has posted a 2-1 mark and 3.74 ERA. McDavid has also pitched 5.2 innings and gone 0-2 with a 7.94 ERA.
East Carolina Versus Alabama
The Pirates and Crimson Tide are tied in the all-time series at 1-1. East Carolina won the first contest 12-11 on Feb. 18, 2000. That game was part of the Triangle Classic in Raleigh, N.C., and served as ECU's season opener. In the only other meeting, the Crimson Tide shut out the Pirates 8-0 in Tuscaloosa on Feb. 15, 2009, when East Carolina was making its first appearance in the Bama Bash.
In the 2009 contest, Sarah Bibee tallied East Carolina's only hit of the game with an infield single in the second inning. The Pirates trailed 3-0 after four innings, but Alabama scored four runs in the fifth and one in the sixth to win by the eight-run rule. Kelsi Dunn struck out 12 while Jennifer Fenton, Lauren Parker and Jazlyn Lunceford each picked up two hits to lead the offense.
ECU In First-Time Meetings
The Pirates will face SIU Edwardsville and North Dakota State for the first time in program history this weekend. Since 2006, ECU has gone 22-15 when facing teams for the first time.
Last season, East Carolina went 5-3 in such matchups, defeating Lipscomb 1-0, New Mexico State 8-5, Creighton 2-0, Northern Iowa 4-1 and Northern Colorado 11-3. The Pirates fell to Illinois State 8-0, Arizona State 11-0 and Baylor 2-0.
Winning From The Beginning
East Carolina finished its season-opening home stand with a 5-3 record. It is the Pirates' best eight-game mark since a 6-2 ledger in 2008. Despite the hot start, that season was the last in which ECU failed to win 40 games as the squad finished 37-30 and earned an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament. A closer look at ECU's eight-game records the last nine years:
| Year | Eight-Game Record | Final Record |
| 2012 | 5-3 | ?? |
| 2011 | 4-4 | 41-22 |
| 2010 | 2-6 | 44-18 |
| 2009 | 4-4 | 40-15 |
| 2008 | 6-2 | 37-30 |
| 2007 | 5-3 | 40-20 |
| 2006 | 8-0 | 40-24 |
| 2005 | 8-0 | 55-19 |
| 2004 | 7-0-1 | 47-24-1 |
Christian Settling In
During her first weekend of collegiate experience, East Carolina freshman pitcher Christian went 2-0, but posted a 6.00 earned run average, walked nine batters in 9.1 innings pitched and surrendered 12 hits. Despite picking up her first loss, she improved in many statistical categories during the second weekend, going 2-1 with a 1.05 ERA. In 20.0 innings, she issued just one walk and allowed 18 hits to go along with three earned runs.
The Greenville product leads Conference USA with four victories and ranks second in ERA at 2.62.
Coming Through With Power
Senior Suzanne Riggs has wasted little time making an impact in her final season with the program, leading the Pirates in batting average (.438), slugging percentage (.813/5th in Conference USA), total bases (13) and home runs (two), while ranking second in hits (seven), runs batted in (six) and on-base percentage (.526).
Riggs lifted East Carolina to its 2-1 victory over UNCG last Friday, hitting a two-run home run in the sixth inning. Monday against Hofstra, the Greenville native stole her fifth base of the season, matching her single-season career high set last year.
Swinging The Big Bat
During East Carolina's 4-3 victory over Hofstra on Monday, Fieldhouse registered her sixth two-out RBI of the season in the bottom of the third. As a freshman last year, she drove in six runs with two down.
Fieldhouse is leading this season's Pirates with seven runs batted in after tallying 12 during her entire freshman campaign.
Lewis Comes Along
After an opening weekend in which Lewis collected just two hits while tallying four strikeouts, she came on strong during last weekend's Pirate Clash and the contest against Hofstra Monday. The Fremont, Calif., native was the team's leading hitter during the four games, batting .429, driving in her first run of the campaign and stealing a base. She also cut her strikeouts in half, whiffing only twice.
Coming Back For The Victory
In last Friday's game against UNCG the Pirates trailed 1-0 through five innings but came back to record a 2-1 win as Riggs hit a two-run home run in the sixth. It was East Carolina's first win when behind after five frames since downing Marshall 4-3 on March 27, 2010.
In 2011, ECU went 0-13 when behind after five innings. The triumph over the Thundering Herd in 2010 was the Pirates' only win that season when down after five as the squad went 1-15 in such contests.
No Stealing Allowed
East Carolina is tied for the Conference USA lead with five runners caught stealing. In all of 2011, the Pirates threw out just eight would-be base stealers.
Cutting Down On The Freebees
Christian and classmate Courtney Smith combined to issue 12 walks during the season's first four games. During the three contests of last weekend's Pirate Clash and the tilt against Hofstra on Monday, the duo drastically cut down the total, surrendering just five free passes.
East Carolina stands third in Conference USA in fewest walks allowed with 17. Last season, the Pirates issued the fewest free passes in the league, totaling 82 in 63 games.
