Softball Finishes Tulsa Series On Sunday
March 17, 2012 | Softball
March 17, 2012
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| East Carolina Game 27: Tulsa Sunday, March 18 | 1:00 p.m. ET Tulsa, Okla. (Collins Family Softball Complex) |
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GREENVILLE, N.C. - East Carolina (10-16, 0-2 C-USA) finishes its first Conference USA series of the season Sunday at Tulsa (18-6, 4-1 C-USA) with a 1:00 p.m. ET contest. The Pirates are trying to avoid being swept in a C-USA opening series for the first time since Houston took all three in 2004.
Saturday, ECU dropped a 5-2 decision in 10 innings and a 13-4 game in five frames. In the opener, East Carolina went behind 1-0 and 2-1 before tying the game at 2-2 in the top of the sixth, only to lose on a walk-off three-run home run by Skylar Swanson. The Pirates jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second contest, but the Golden Hurricane scored 12 runs in the bottom of the second inning to claim the win. Pirate senior Suzanne Riggs drove in all four runs during the second contest with a two-run double and two-run home run. Riggs enters Sunday's game tied for fifth in Conference USA with five long balls.
Christian Approaching Double-Digit Wins
East Carolina won three games last week with freshman pitcher Sarah Christian recording the victory in all three triumphs. Christian now owns an 8-8 mark for the year and is tied for the Conference USA lead in wins. The Greenville native's eight wins are the most by a rookie pitcher since Toni Paisley's freshman-record 21 victories in 2007.
If Christian is victorious in two more games during the campaign she will become just the 12th freshman pitcher to reach double-digit wins in Pirate program history. Only five rookie hurlers have registered 13 or more wins in their debut seasons at ECU.
Not Many, But Together
Tuesday in a 4-2 loss at North Carolina, Christian allowed only five hits, three in the second inning and two in the sixth. Unfortunately for the Pirates, the Tar Heels grouped the hits together with a double followed by a home run, accounting for all four UNC runs.
Christian retired North Carolina in order in the other four frames, good for the most one-two-three innings in a game of her career.
Pirates Are Stealing
East Carolina enters Sunday's contest with 46 stolen bases, the third most in Conference USA. With the latest set of NCAA rankings, through March 11 games, the Pirates stood 21st nationally with 1.96 swipes per game.
In 11 contests this season, the Pirates have swiped two or more bases. At the current rate, ECU would end the campaign with 94 steals, its most since 176 in 2004. During 2011, East Carolina swiped 55 bases and had 16 games with two or more steals.
Assists On The Rise
With freshman pitchers Christian and Courtney Smith tallying just 60 strikeouts, fewest in the league, the Pirate defense has had to work with a lot of balls in play. East Carolina leads Conference USA with 269 assists. ECU is averaging 10.3 helpers per game a year after totaling only 326 assists and an average of 5.2 per game.
Sophomore second baseman Kristi Oshiro leads C-USA with 90 assists, 17 more than Houston third baseman Holly Anderson. Oshiro was also the East Carolina leader in assists last year, with 82 for the entire season. Former Pirate Christine Sheridan holds the league single-season assists record with 248 in 2004.
A Double Play Machine
With the increase in balls in play, East Carolina's number of double plays has also risen. With two turned last weekend at the Diamond Devil Invitational, the Pirates are second in Conference USA with 10 double plays. According to this week's NCAA rankings, through March 11 games, the Pirates check in 39th nationally with 0.43 double plays per contest.
The 10 DPs are already one more than ECU converted during the entire 2011 campaign. The program has not turned more than 15 double plays in a season since 33 in 2008.
Taking Two At A Time
Junior Cicely Lopez leads the Pirates with four doubles this season. Entering the campaign, she had hit just one, at USF on Feb 13, 2010, in her first career start.
Her two-base hits have also come against some of the top pitchers the Pirates have faced -- hitting one off Virginia's Melanie Mitchell, North Dakota State's Whitney Johnson and No. 11 Stanford's Teagan Gerhart.
Outhitting The Opponent = A Win
One surefire way East Carolina has found to win games this year is by outhitting opponents. Eight times this season ECU has recorded more hits than the foe and won all eight games. Since the start of the 2009 campaign, the Pirates are 198-18 (.917 winning percentage) when tallying more hits than the competition.
On the other hand, in the 18 contests East Carolina has been outhit or tied in hits, the team has gone 2-16 with only back-to-back wins against Hofstra (outhit 10-6) and SIU Edwardsville (outhit 12-6) on Feb. 20 and 24.
Behind? We Can Come Back
East Carolina fell behind Valparaiso 2-0 last Sunday morning, but came back to win 5-3. It was the Pirates' second victory this season when the foe scored first as ECU also topped UNCG after trailing 1-0.
The two wins when the opponent scored first already equal last year's total. During the 2010 and 2011 seasons, the Pirates recorded just five triumphs when the foe was the first on the scoreboard.
