Pirates End West Swing At Arizona State
March 08, 2012 | Softball
March 8, 2012
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| East Carolina Games 19-20: Pacific and No. 5 Arizona State Friday, March 9 | 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. ET Tempe, Ariz. (Alberta B. Farrington Stadium) |
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TEMPE, Ariz. - After snapping its six-game losing streak Tuesday at Cal State Fullerton, East Carolina looks to continue its momentum this weekend at the Diamond Devil Invitational, hosted by defending national champion Arizona State. The Pirates open tournament play Friday with a 5:30 p.m. ET contest against Pacific (10-8) before taking on the No. 5 Sun Devils (21-2) at approximately 7:30 p.m. ET.
On Saturday, ECU plays Creighton (8-7) at 1:00 p.m. ET and New Mexico State (13-10) around 5:30 p.m. ET. East Carolina completes the event Sunday at 12:00 p.m. ET against Valparaiso (11-3).
Tuesday against the Titans, the Pirates turned a slim 2-0 lead into a 10-0 victory by scoring eight runs in the seventh inning. Freshman pitcher Sarah Christian threw the first shutout of her career and limited Cal State Fullerton to just one hit over seven innings. The Greenville product had a personal-best four strikeouts during the contest. Offensively, sophomores Jill Jelnick, Chelsea Kaluhiokalani-Glackin and Kristi Oshiro each tallied two hits while classmate Jordan Lewis hit a grand slam. Oshiro and Kaluhiokalani-Glackin also scored two runs each and senior Priscilla Velasquez tallied two runs batted in with a double to right center during the high-scoring seventh.
What The Record Means Through 18 Games
East Carolina has posted an 8-10 mark through 18 contests this season. In 2011, the Pirates had a 13-5 mark. However, ECU has played five games against ranked opponents this year and had faced just two at this point last season.
In 2010, when the initial 18 games of the campaign also featured five contests against ranked foes, the Pirates were an identical 8-10. That year, ECU won its first Conference USA regular season and tournament titles. That campaign was also when pitcher Toni Paisley earned All-America honors and the regular starting lineup featured six seniors. This year's group features two freshman hurlers and seven underclassman starters.
Examining Pacific
Friday's Diamond Devil Invitational opener will be the first-ever meeting between the Pirates and Tigers. Pacific is off to a 10-8 start this season after finishing last year with a 37-19 mark and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. With a 16-5 league record, Pacific earned its first Big West championship and a bid to the Stanford Regional.
For the Tigers in 2012, junior Nikki Armagost paces the pitching staff and offense. In the circle, she is 4-2 with a 2.06 earned run average. At the plate, she leads the team with a .373 batting average, 22 hits and six doubles.
East Carolina Versus Arizona State
The lone meeting between the Pirates and Sun Devils took place at last season's Wilson/DeMarini Invitational, when Arizona State claimed an 11-0 victory March 4. East Carolina's Kristi Oshiro tallied a team-best two hits. The Sun Devils scored six runs in the bottom of the fourth to put the game out of reach. ASU's Dallas Escobedo struck out 10 and ECU's Toni Paisley allowed 12 hits and three walks to the eventual national champion.
Arizona State is making a strong bid to repeat in 2012, as the team is 21-2 and ranked fifth in the country. Escobedo, just a sophomore, is 8-1 with a 2.15 earned run average while senior Hillary Bach is 9-0 with a 0.28 ERA. At the plate, sophomore outfielder Alix Johnson (.576) and senior shortstop Katelyn Boyd (.500) are both batting .500 or better while three others top .435. Boyd also paces ASU with nine home runs and 28 RBI.
ECU In First-Time Meetings
The Pirates will face Pacific and Valparaiso for the first time in program history this weekend. Since 2006, ECU has gone 23-16 when facing teams for the first time. So far this year, East Carolina is 1-1 in such contests, downing SIU Edwardsville 6-5 in 10 innings and falling to North Dakota State 9-8 in eight frames at the Easton Bama Bash. A year ago, the Pirates went 5-3 in first-time contests.
More Games = More Ranked Opponents
The Pirates have played five games against ranked foes this season and dropped all five, falling to No. 21 Louisville 5-0, No. 2 Alabama 4-2 and 9-4, No. 2 California 11-3 and No. 11 Stanford 3-1. The schedule does not get any easier this weekend with a matchup against defending national champion and No. 5 Arizona State.
This season's schedule is shaping up to be one of the most difficult in program history. The Pirates' 2008 campaign featured contests against a record seven ranked squads, but the Pirates are nearly to that total already. After this weekend, ECU's six games against ranked teams are only one fewer than the Pirates played in the regular season the last two years combined.
Playing Good People
East Carolina has played 15 teams this season. Those squads have a combined record of 143-107 (.572 winning percentage.
When looking at only the teams ECU has lost to, those foes are a combined 114-47 (.708 winning percentage), including undefeated Louisville, Alabama and California.
Facing Some Of The Best Hurlers In The Country
Not only have the Pirates faced some of the best teams, but they've also squared off against a few of the nation's top pitchers. Included in the 10 hurlers ECU has lost to are a pair of All-America selections -- Fordham's Jen Mineau and California's Valerie Arioto. Stanford's Teagan Gerhart was also a first-team all-region honoree in 2011.
The combined record of the starting pitchers to have beaten the Pirates is 65-25 (.722 winning percentage). The 10 have a combined earned run average of 2.23.
Home Cooking Does The Body Good
Sophomore Alex Fieldhouse returned home for last weekend's DeMarini Invitational and excelled. The Garden Grove, Calif., native grew up just 10 miles from the Cal State Fullerton campus and was the tournament's leading hitter, batting .615 (eight-for-13), driving in two runs and scoring two more.
Fieldhouse recorded at least one hit in each contest and booked a career-best three against Indiana. With two singles against California, she joined Cal Poly's Nora Sobczak as the only players this season with a two-hit game against Arioto. Fieldhouse is the first to tally two hits and an RBI off Arioto in 2012.
Double Plays Helping Clear The Base Path
East Carolina enters this weekend's action leading Conference USA with eight fielding double plays.
