ECU Softball Season Begins Friday at Red Desert Classic
February 06, 2014 | Softball
Feb. 6, 2014
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ST. GEORGE, Utah - The East Carolina softball team will begin its 2014 campaign under second-year head coach Beth Keylon-Randolph on Friday, Feb. 7 at the Red Desert Classic when the Pirates take on Grand Canyon University an BYU.
DIGGING IN
East Carolina will look to jumpstart its 2014 season with five games at the Red Desert Classic, Feb. 7-9, in St. George, Utah. ECU will face Grand Canyon, BYU, Utah State, Southern Utah and Nevada over the course of three days. With the exception of BYU, the Pirates will face their other four opponents for the first time ever.
THE RETURN
Entering her second year at the helm of the program, Head Coach Beth Keylon-Randolph's first five games at the Red Desert Classic will be held in the same location where she coached her final game at Chattanooga State and won the 2012 NJCAA National Championship. Senior outfielder Shelby Johnson and junior infielder Andie Johnson played for Keylon-Randolph on that team and enter their first season with East Carolina in 2014.
PIRATES IN SEASON OPENERS
Since the start of the fast-pitch era in 1984, East Carolina is 21-9 in season-openers and have won the first game of the year in two of the last three seasons, including last year's 5-2 victory over Cleveland State. The Pirates are 15-5 in season debuts away from Greenville with the last occurrence coming in 2011 when ECU collected a 1-0 victory over Lipscomb in Athens, Ga.
AGAINST THE OPPOSITION
Grand Canyon: The Pirates have never faced the Antelopes, who will be playing in their game at the NCAA Division I level after reclassifying from Division II.
BYU: The meeting between ECU and Brigham Young will be the fourth all-time, as the Cougars have won all three previous meetings which have taken place at neutral sites. The last two matchups took place at the 2010 NCAA Regional in Austin, Texas where BYU escaped with a 1-0 opening round victory, before eliminating East Carolina two days later.
Utah State: The Pirates and Aggies have never faced off against one another.
Southern Utah: The Pirates and Thunderbirds have never faced off against one another.
Nevada: The Pirates and Wolfpack have never faced off against one another.
SCHEDULE OF QUALITY OPPONENTS AWAITS
ECU will face 16 teams in 2014 whose RPI's ranked among the top 100 at the end of last season, eleven of which were among the top 50 and six coming from within the top 30. South Alabama owned the highest RPI at No. 15 and Utah State had the lowest at No. 248, while the average of the Pirates' scheduled opponents was 103.
SENIOR CLASS LEADS OFFENSE
The Pirates' returning senior class of Alex Fieldhouse, Jill Jelnick, Chelsea Kaluhiokalani-Glackin, Jordan Lewis, Kristi Oshiro and Jasmine Robbins was relied upon for approximately two-thirds of the 2013 team's offense. The six players produced 110 runs (68%), 219 hits (64%), 110 RBI (65%) and 339 total bases (66%) last season.
PIRATES NEAR TOP OF C-USA PRESEASON POLL
East Carolina was picked to finish fourth in Conference USA for the 2014 season according to a preseason vote conducted by the league's coaches. The Pirates were one of just three teams to receive at least one first place vote, behind UAB (7) and Tulsa (5) who were picked to finish first and second, respectively, in the league.
LEWIS-VILLE SLUGGER
Senior first baseman Jordan Lewis has 14-career home runs, which is currently tied for 10th on East Carolina's all-time list. Lewis is just two behind Marina Gusman-Brown, who hit 16 long balls from 2009-10. If Lewis replicates her seven homers from a year ago, she will move herself into the top five on the chart.
OSHIRO A TRIPLE THREAT
Infielder Kristi Oshiro has increased her triples total in each of the last three seasons at ECU. The Mililani, Hawai'i native hit a pair of three-base hits during her freshman campaign in 2011, before posting three as a sophomore in 2012 and five in 2013. Her five triples last season ranked 18th in all of Division I and Oshiro's 10 three-baggers have her locked in a four-way tie for the 10th most in school history.
OSHIRO WALKS IT OUT
Senior second baseman Kristi Oshiro has drawn 83 walks during her career for the Pirates - the sixth-most in program history. Oshiro needs just one base-on-balls to tie Erin St. Ledger (2005-08) and enter the top five on the all-time list.
