ECU Looks For Sunday Win In Houston
April 14, 2012 | Softball
April 14, 2012
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| East Carolina Game 42: Houston Sunday, April 15 | 1:00 p.m. ET Houston, Texas (Cougar Softball Stadium) |
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GREENVILLE, N.C. - East Carolina (16-25, 4-10 C-USA) finishes its fifth Conference USA series of the season Sunday against Houston (26-15, 11-3 C-USA) with a 1:00 p.m. ET contest.
Saturday, the Pirates dropped two decisions, falling 13-5 in five innings and 6-2. In the first contest, the Cougars Melissa Gregson drove in three runs and scored four while Jennifer Klinkert went three-for-three with a trio of RBI. ECU sophomore Alex Fieldhouse tallied two hits and a pair of runs batted in to lead the Pirate offense. Houston took the second game with a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the seventh by Jaime Edwards. East Carolina sophomore Jasmine Robbins hit a two-run home run to account for the Pirates' two runs.
Adding To The Win Total
Freshman Sarah Christian earned her 13th win of the season last Saturday in a 4-2 victory over UAB.
In the East Carolina freshman record book, Christian now stands sixth in wins. Toni Paisley holds the rookie record with 21 victories in 2007. Christian's 160.1 innings pitched are also the sixth most in a year by an East Carolina freshman hurler. Jill Rowlands set the mark with 193.0 frames tossed in 1994.
Returning To Form
Last weekend against UAB, Fieldhouse led the Pirates with a .375 batting average and .500 on-base percentage. The sophomore reached base in five-straight plate appearances during the second and third contests and tallied two of ECU's eight hits in game two. Fieldhouse kept it up Saturday at Houston with a three-for-six performance in the doubleheader. In the last four games, she is batting .545 (six-for-11).
Entering the matchups with the Blazers, Fieldhouse had been mired in a four-for-40 slump. Prior to the skid, she had posted the highest batting average of any player at the DeMarini Invitational, hitting .615 during the four games March 3-4, tallied a career-high-matching three hits against Creighton on March 10 and led the Pirates with a .375 batting average following the contest versus the Blue Jays.
Finding It Hard To Stay Out Front
Ten times this season, and four times within the last two weeks, East Carolina has held a lead during a game, only to have the opponent come back and win. In the previous two seasons combined, the Pirates had only let 13 leads slip away to losses.
Among The Nation's Best
East Carolina fourth third in Conference USA with 68 stolen bases. With the latest set of NCAA statistics, through April 8 games, the Pirates check in among the top 20 nationally. An average of 1.74 stolen bases per contest has ECU ranked 19th in the country.
The Pirates also stand among the nation's top 40 in triples per game. ECU has hit nine this season, good for third in C-USA. The 0.23 three-base hits per game were ranked 39th at the Division I level through April 8 contests.
