Pirates Look To Bounce Back Saturday
March 10, 2012 | Softball
March 10, 2012
 and  |
| East Carolina Games 21-22: Creighton and New Mexico State Saturday, March 10 | 1:00 and 5:30 p.m. ET Tempe, Ariz. (Alberta B. Farrington Stadium) |
 Creighton Gametracker | New Mexico State Gametracker |  Live Chat | Mobile Live Chat |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
GREENVILLE, N.C. - East Carolina (8-12) continues play at the Diamond Devil Invitational on Saturday with contests against Creighton (8-9) and New Mexico State (15-10). First pitch against the Blue Jays is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. ET with the clash against the Aggies taking place at approximately 5:30 p.m. ET.
In Friday's games against Pacific and Arizona State, the Pirates suffered 6-3 and 9-1 setbacks. Junior Kai Clark hit a three-run home run in the seventh against the Tigers to account for ECU's runs during the contest. Versus the defending national champion Sun Devils, senior Suzanne Riggs collected two hits and drove in the team's lone run with a third-inning single.
The Pirates Taking On The Blue Jays
Last year's trip to Arizona State's Wilson/DeMarini Invitational provided the first matchup between East Carolina and Creighton. The Pirates defeated the Blue Jays 2-0 on March 5. ECU scored in the bottom of the first on an RBI-groundout by Alex Fieldhouse and pushed across another run in the sixth on a Kai Clark sacrifice fly. Paisley went all seven frames, fanning 10 and allowing just three hits and a walk.
This season, Creighton is 8-9 and led on offense by junior Amy Baker's 23 runs batted in, five doubles and three home runs. Freshman Allie Mathewson and sophomore Ellen Homan are tied for the top spot on the team with 22 hits and 16 runs scored. Of the Blue Jays five pitchers, sophomore Becca Changstrom and junior Sammy Snygg's three wins top the staff. Sophomore Brittany Telecky has posted the lowest earned run average at 2.33.
ECU Against New Mexico State
The Pirates downed the Aggies 8-5 on March 4, 2011, in the only previous meeting between the two programs. NMSU represents the third program the Pirates faced during last year's Wilson/DeMarini Invitational. Rebecca Lee hit her first career home run, Riggs added a solo homer and Priscilla Velasquez tallied two runs batted in and Fieldhouse three as the Pirates led 6-2 after five innings and held on for the victory.
In 2012, New Mexico State is 15-10 with four players batting over .350. Senior Tiare Jennings is the main run producer with 28 runs batted in and six home runs. In the circle, five Aggies have thrown at least four innings with Alex Newman recording the majority of the starts. She is 8-6 with a 3.11 earned run average. Celisa Walker (4-2) is second on the staff in wins and ERA (3.43).
Topping 2011 Just Four Weeks In
In the last 13 games, Fieldhouse has recorded six multiple-hit games and has seven this season. As a freshman last year, she recorded five multiple-hit contests.
In the last 13 games, Fieldhouse leads the Pirates with a .372 batting average, 16 hits and 20 total bases. She is also second on the squad with seven runs scored.
Just One Hit For You
Freshman Sarah Christian threw the first shutout of her career Tuesday against Cal State Fullerton. She allowed just a fourth-inning single back to the circle by Adriana Martinez and faced only three batters over the minimum. Cal State Fullerton did not hit a ball out of the infield or record a fly out or pop out during the game.
In the two all-time meetings against the Titans, they have totaled just two hits as Paisley also one-hit Fullerton on March 13, 2010.
Limited Blankings, Both Ways
In 2011 East Carolina's two-person pitching staff of senior All-America Toni Paisley and junior Faith Sutton combined to toss 21 shutouts. This season, with a pair of freshmen in Courtney Smith and Christian handling the pitching duties, East Carolina blanked its first opponent of the campaign Tuesday at Cal State Fullerton.
On the other hand, through 20 games last season, the Pirates had been shut out three times and were blanked 11 times during the campaign. This year, ECU has been held off the scoreboard just once, by then-No. 21 Louisville on Feb. 17.
Finding Success On A New Side
After a three-game absence from the starting lineup, sophomore shortstop Chelsea Kaluhiokalani-Glackin returned to the starting role last weekend at the DeMarini Invitational and played errorless defense while recording a team third-best two hits and second-best two runs. She continued the hot streak at the plate Tuesday at Fullerton, matching her career high with two hits and adding two runs scored and a stolen base.
The Waianae, Hawai'i, product has recorded her last four hits from the left side of the plate. She hit exclusively from the right side as a freshman, but has been swinging from both sides in 2012. Five of Kaluhiokalani-Glackin's six hits this season are from the left side of the plate.
Adjusting To What's Being Thrown
ECU's offense has taken advantage of multiple at-bats against the same pitcher, posting a generally higher batting average in the second half of games than in the opening half. The Pirates are hitting .233, .171 and .269 in the first three innings, but the averages jump to .301, .238 and .265 in the next three frames.
In Need Of A Delivery
A key reason for the Pirates' last eight losses has been a lack of production with runners in scoring position. During last weekend's DeMarini Invitational, East Carolina hit just .133 (four-of-30) with runners in scoring position.
This season, in the team's eight wins, the squad has a .330 average with runners in scoring position. During the 12 setbacks, the squad is batting only .231 with a runner on second or third.
That's More Like It
Coming off a three-error performance against North Dakota State on Feb. 26, the Pirates have tallied just four miscues in their last seven games. East Carolina's .960 fielding percentage entering the weekend was good for the second-best mark among Conference USA programs.
Interestingly, the Pirates have committed 1.5 errors during their eight wins, but are faring better in losses, booting the ball 1.1 times per setback.
