East Carolina Set to Host Pirate Clash Thursday
February 11, 2015 | Softball
Feb. 11, 2015
Digging In
After posting a 5-1 record and winning the Pirate Classic during the season-opening weekend, East Carolina returns to the ECU Softball Stadium to host the Pirate Clash beginning Thursday, February 12 and concluding Saturday, February 14. The Pirates welcome former Conference USA foe Marshall, along with East Tennessee State, Bucknell and Towson for the nine-game tournament. The Pirates will open the Clash against the Thundering Herd on Thursday, February 12 at 5 p.m. The following day, ECU will face Bucknell at 3 p.m., before taking on East Tennessee State at 5:30 p.m. East Carolina will wrap up the weekend tournament against Towson on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
The Series vs. Marshall
East Carolina and Marshall, who were once conference opponents in C-USA, will meet for the 36th time in program history. The Thundering Herd holds a slight edge over the Pirates in the all-time series, 18-17. The last time the two teams faced off was May 9, 2014 in the Conference USA Tournament semifinal game. In that contest, the Pirates erased a six-run deficit, but were unable to complete the comeback as the Herd won, 8-7, in eight innings. East Carolina will be looking to even the score against Marshall as the Thundering Herd has ended the Pirates' season for the past three years.
The Series vs. Bucknell
The Pirates and the Bison will square off for the sixth time in program history when they meet Friday, February 13 at 3 p.m. The meeting marks the first since 1995. ECU owns a 3-2 advantage in the all-time series. 20 years ago, the Pirates and Bison split a doubleheader as East Carolina defeated Bucknell, 7-1, in the first game and the Bison edged the Pirates, 4-2, in eight innings in the night cap.
The Series vs. East Tennessee State
ECU and East Tennessee State are meeting for just the second time in program history and for the first time in 10 years. The Pirates hold a 1-0 lead in the all-time series after shutting out the Bucs, 3-0, on March 12, 2005 at the Winthrop Invitational in Rock Hill, S.C. ETSU will be looking for its first-ever win over East Carolina on Friday.
The Series vs. Towson
East Carolina and Towson face off for the 16th time in program history and the Pirates own a commanding 14-1 lead in the all-time series. The last time the two teams met was in 2013 at the Pirate Classic in Greenville, N.C., where ECU routed the Tigers, 10-2. Towson's only win over East Carolina came in 2007 when the Tigers held off the Pirates to win, 1-0, at the Pirate Classic.
About the Pirates
East Carolina opened the 2015 season with a 5-1 showing at the Pirate Classic where ECU defeated Oakland (twice), Delaware State, Longwood and South Carolina to win the tournament. ECU's only loss came to the Gamecocks on day two of the Classic. With a strong performance to start the season, the Pirates head into week two receiving votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 poll. Over the weekend, the Pirates were led by freshman right-hander Ashley Cruise who made two appearances and collected a pair of wins. Cruise made her collegiate debut in relief against Longwood and pitched 3.1 innings while allowing just one hit, one walk and fanning two to earn the victory. The following day, Cruise put together a career-effort in her first collegiate start against South Carolina in the final game of the tournament. In that contest, she shut down the Gamecocks after tossing a complete-game shutout for her second win in as many days. Her efforts earned her the Most Valuable Pitcher honor. In addition to Cruise's solid performances, the Pirates received a strong showing from freshman left fielder Mary-Sloan Bradford. The Windermere, Fla., native collected MVP honors after finishing the weekend with a .333 batting average (5-for-15), eight runs, two RBIs, a double, a triple and a home run, to go along with a .733 slugging percentage and a .545 on-base percentage. Bradford was an instrumental part of the Pirates' 1-0 victory over the Gamecocks as she recorded a triple and later came around to score the only run of the game. ECU's offense was on-point at the Pirate Classic as sophomore first baseman Ali Ramirez led the squad with a .500 batting average (7-for-14) while driving in nine runs and scoring twice. She posted a double and a triple as well as collected a .714 slugging percentage and a team-best .632 on-base percentage to earn an all-tournament team selection. Along with Cruise, Bradford and Ramirez, the Pirates also had junior shortstop Casey Alcorn, junior center fielder Meredith Mitchell and redshirt senior catcher Abby Wynne named to the all-tournament team. Alcorn finished the weekend hitting .316 with four runs, four RBIs and one home run, while Mitchell posted a .375 batting average with four runs scored, two RBIs and four stolen bases on as many attempts, and Wynne registered a .267 clip while scoring six runs and driving in three.
Quality Opponents
This season East Carolina softball will face several quality opponents throughout a competitive schedule. The slate features a number of teams which rank in the top 50 in RPI as well as nine opponents which appeared in the 2014 NCAA Regionals. The Pirates' conference schedule is just as demanding as four (UCF, Houston, Tulsa, USF) of the seven American Athletic Conference schools saw action in the NCAA Regionals a year ago.
Cruise Control
Freshman right-handed pitcher Ashley Cruise made two appearances and collected a pair of wins in her first weekend as a Pirate. The Kingston, N.Y., native made her collegiate debut in relief against Longwood (2/7) and pitched 3.1 innings while allowing just one hit, one walk and fanning two to earn the victory. The following day, Cruise put together a career-effort in her first collegiate start against South Carolina (2/8) in the final game of the tournament. In that contest, she shut down the Gamecocks after tossing a complete-game shutout for her second win in as many days. In 7.0 innings of work, Cruise surrendered four hits, three walks and struck out two. Her efforts earned her the Most Valuable Pitcher of the tournament honor.
Casey at the Bat
Junior shortstop Casey Alcorn had a solid opening weekend for East Carolina. She lauched the Pirates' first home run of the season, a two-run shot, in the bottom of the sixth inning against Oakland (2/6) to help lead ECU to a 7-3 victory in the season opener. Alcorn also drove in the game-winning run versus Longwood (2/7) to lead East Carolina to a 4-3 eight-inning win. The Hummelstown, Pa., native laced an RBI-single to right in the bottom of the eighth to drive in Nicole Cheek who started the inning on second base due to the international tie-breaker rule.
Hot Start for Ramirez
After seeing action in just five games last year, sophomore Ali Ramirez earned the start at first base and is off to a hot start. The product out of Pittsburg, Calif., owns a team-leading .500 clip (7-for-14) and drove in a team-best nine runs while scoring two in the opening weekend. She tallied seven hits, including a double and a triple, and four walks for an on-base percentage of .632, which also leads the squad. Ramirez's .714 slugging percentage is good for second on the team, just behind Mary-Sloan Bradford's (.733). Ramirez had a career-day to open the tournament as she finished the first day going 4-for-4 with a slugging percentage of 1.750 and a perfect on-base percentage. During the first day, Ramirez drove in three runs in each game to lead the Pirates to a 7-3 win over Oakland and a 10-0 victory over Delaware State.
Noteworthy Start for Newcomers
Several newcomers made a name for themselves during the first weekend of the 2015 season. Most notably, freshman right-hander Ashley Cruise kicked off her collegiate debut with a strong relief appearance in which she pitched 3.1 scoreless innings to collect the win. The following day, the product of Kingston, N.Y., hurled seven shutout innings against South Carolina to collect her second win in as many days after allowing just four hits while striking out two. Additionally, Mary-Sloan Bradford, a freshman left fielder from Windermere, Fla., finished the weekend hitting .333 (5-for-15) as she totaled 11 bases, seven walks, eight runs and two RBIs. Bradford was also responsible for scoring the eventual game-winning run against South Carolina in the Pirates' 1-0 victory. Lastly, junior right fielder Nicole Cheek, who came to East Carolina after playing two years at Marist, also turned in a positive effort over the weekend. The Simi Valley, Calif., native concluded the weekend with a .333 (7-for-21) clip after recording seven RBIs, four runs, a double and a home run. Cheek scored the game-winning run in the eighth inning of the Pirates' 4-3 victory over Longwood.
All-Tournament Honors
The Pirates had a successful opening tournament as ECU saw six players receive Pirate Classic All-Tournament Team honors. After winning the tournament, freshmen Ashley Cruise and Mary-Sloan Bradford were named Most Valuable Pitcher and Most Valuable Player, respectively. Additionally, sophomore Ali Ramirez, juniors Casey Alcorn and Meredith Mitchell, along with redshirt senior Abby Wynne were also named to the Pirate Classic All-Tournament Team.
Returning Home
Keli Harrell, East Carolina's all-time saves leader, returned to her alma mater on January 22 as she was hired as an interim assistant coach. Her hiring marks Harrell's second stint on the Pirates' coaching staff as she previously served as a graduate assistant from 2007-10. During that time, she played an integral role in guiding ECU to lead the league in several pitching categories, including earned run average (1.45), strikeouts (467), and wins (44). In her final year on staff, Harrell helped lead East Carolina to its first-ever Conference USA Tournament Championship as the Pirates made an appearance in the NCAA Regionals for just the third time in program history. She looks to bring the same success to the Pirates in 2015.
Notable
• On January 15, head softball coach Beth Keylon-Randolph was granted an extended administrative leave of absence due to personal reasons.
• Sophomore catcher Alex Mycek will redshirt the 2015 season due to an injury.
On Deck
East Carolina hosts its final tournament of the season when it welcomes Seton Hall, Kennesaw State, Lafayette and Virginia Tech to ECU Softball Stadium for the Pirate Invitational. The 13-game tournament begins Friday, February 20 at 10 a.m. with four games being played at approximately 12:30 p.m., 3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Saturday's schedule contains five contests at approximately 9 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 2 p.m., 4:30 p.m., and 7 p.m. The Pirate Invitational concludes Sunday, February 22 with four games slated for 9 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 2 p.m., and 4:30 p.m. East Carolina will play Kennesaw State (3 p.m.) and Lafayette (5:30 p.m.) on Friday, before hosting Virginia Tech (4:30 p.m.) and Seton Hall (7 p.m.) on Saturday and concluding the tournament against Kennesaw State (11:30 a.m.) and Virginia Tech (4:30 p.m.). Live stats will be available of all games on ECUPirates.com.
| Pirate Clash | |
| Dates | Thursday, February 12 - Saturday, February 14 |
| Times | Thursday, February 12 5 p.m. - Marshall at East Carolina Friday, February 13 3 p.m. - Bucknell at East Carolina 5:30 p.m. - East Tennessee State at East Carolina Saturday, February 14 4:30 p.m. - Towson at East Carolina |
| Location | Greenville, N.C. | ECU Softball Stadium |
| Game Notes | East Carolina  | The American |
| Coverage | Pirate Clash Tournament Central (Live Stats Links) |
Digging In
After posting a 5-1 record and winning the Pirate Classic during the season-opening weekend, East Carolina returns to the ECU Softball Stadium to host the Pirate Clash beginning Thursday, February 12 and concluding Saturday, February 14. The Pirates welcome former Conference USA foe Marshall, along with East Tennessee State, Bucknell and Towson for the nine-game tournament. The Pirates will open the Clash against the Thundering Herd on Thursday, February 12 at 5 p.m. The following day, ECU will face Bucknell at 3 p.m., before taking on East Tennessee State at 5:30 p.m. East Carolina will wrap up the weekend tournament against Towson on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
The Series vs. Marshall
East Carolina and Marshall, who were once conference opponents in C-USA, will meet for the 36th time in program history. The Thundering Herd holds a slight edge over the Pirates in the all-time series, 18-17. The last time the two teams faced off was May 9, 2014 in the Conference USA Tournament semifinal game. In that contest, the Pirates erased a six-run deficit, but were unable to complete the comeback as the Herd won, 8-7, in eight innings. East Carolina will be looking to even the score against Marshall as the Thundering Herd has ended the Pirates' season for the past three years.
The Series vs. Bucknell
The Pirates and the Bison will square off for the sixth time in program history when they meet Friday, February 13 at 3 p.m. The meeting marks the first since 1995. ECU owns a 3-2 advantage in the all-time series. 20 years ago, the Pirates and Bison split a doubleheader as East Carolina defeated Bucknell, 7-1, in the first game and the Bison edged the Pirates, 4-2, in eight innings in the night cap.
The Series vs. East Tennessee State
ECU and East Tennessee State are meeting for just the second time in program history and for the first time in 10 years. The Pirates hold a 1-0 lead in the all-time series after shutting out the Bucs, 3-0, on March 12, 2005 at the Winthrop Invitational in Rock Hill, S.C. ETSU will be looking for its first-ever win over East Carolina on Friday.
The Series vs. Towson
East Carolina and Towson face off for the 16th time in program history and the Pirates own a commanding 14-1 lead in the all-time series. The last time the two teams met was in 2013 at the Pirate Classic in Greenville, N.C., where ECU routed the Tigers, 10-2. Towson's only win over East Carolina came in 2007 when the Tigers held off the Pirates to win, 1-0, at the Pirate Classic.
About the Pirates
East Carolina opened the 2015 season with a 5-1 showing at the Pirate Classic where ECU defeated Oakland (twice), Delaware State, Longwood and South Carolina to win the tournament. ECU's only loss came to the Gamecocks on day two of the Classic. With a strong performance to start the season, the Pirates head into week two receiving votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 poll. Over the weekend, the Pirates were led by freshman right-hander Ashley Cruise who made two appearances and collected a pair of wins. Cruise made her collegiate debut in relief against Longwood and pitched 3.1 innings while allowing just one hit, one walk and fanning two to earn the victory. The following day, Cruise put together a career-effort in her first collegiate start against South Carolina in the final game of the tournament. In that contest, she shut down the Gamecocks after tossing a complete-game shutout for her second win in as many days. Her efforts earned her the Most Valuable Pitcher honor. In addition to Cruise's solid performances, the Pirates received a strong showing from freshman left fielder Mary-Sloan Bradford. The Windermere, Fla., native collected MVP honors after finishing the weekend with a .333 batting average (5-for-15), eight runs, two RBIs, a double, a triple and a home run, to go along with a .733 slugging percentage and a .545 on-base percentage. Bradford was an instrumental part of the Pirates' 1-0 victory over the Gamecocks as she recorded a triple and later came around to score the only run of the game. ECU's offense was on-point at the Pirate Classic as sophomore first baseman Ali Ramirez led the squad with a .500 batting average (7-for-14) while driving in nine runs and scoring twice. She posted a double and a triple as well as collected a .714 slugging percentage and a team-best .632 on-base percentage to earn an all-tournament team selection. Along with Cruise, Bradford and Ramirez, the Pirates also had junior shortstop Casey Alcorn, junior center fielder Meredith Mitchell and redshirt senior catcher Abby Wynne named to the all-tournament team. Alcorn finished the weekend hitting .316 with four runs, four RBIs and one home run, while Mitchell posted a .375 batting average with four runs scored, two RBIs and four stolen bases on as many attempts, and Wynne registered a .267 clip while scoring six runs and driving in three.
Quality Opponents
This season East Carolina softball will face several quality opponents throughout a competitive schedule. The slate features a number of teams which rank in the top 50 in RPI as well as nine opponents which appeared in the 2014 NCAA Regionals. The Pirates' conference schedule is just as demanding as four (UCF, Houston, Tulsa, USF) of the seven American Athletic Conference schools saw action in the NCAA Regionals a year ago.
Cruise Control
Freshman right-handed pitcher Ashley Cruise made two appearances and collected a pair of wins in her first weekend as a Pirate. The Kingston, N.Y., native made her collegiate debut in relief against Longwood (2/7) and pitched 3.1 innings while allowing just one hit, one walk and fanning two to earn the victory. The following day, Cruise put together a career-effort in her first collegiate start against South Carolina (2/8) in the final game of the tournament. In that contest, she shut down the Gamecocks after tossing a complete-game shutout for her second win in as many days. In 7.0 innings of work, Cruise surrendered four hits, three walks and struck out two. Her efforts earned her the Most Valuable Pitcher of the tournament honor.
Casey at the Bat
Junior shortstop Casey Alcorn had a solid opening weekend for East Carolina. She lauched the Pirates' first home run of the season, a two-run shot, in the bottom of the sixth inning against Oakland (2/6) to help lead ECU to a 7-3 victory in the season opener. Alcorn also drove in the game-winning run versus Longwood (2/7) to lead East Carolina to a 4-3 eight-inning win. The Hummelstown, Pa., native laced an RBI-single to right in the bottom of the eighth to drive in Nicole Cheek who started the inning on second base due to the international tie-breaker rule.
Hot Start for Ramirez
After seeing action in just five games last year, sophomore Ali Ramirez earned the start at first base and is off to a hot start. The product out of Pittsburg, Calif., owns a team-leading .500 clip (7-for-14) and drove in a team-best nine runs while scoring two in the opening weekend. She tallied seven hits, including a double and a triple, and four walks for an on-base percentage of .632, which also leads the squad. Ramirez's .714 slugging percentage is good for second on the team, just behind Mary-Sloan Bradford's (.733). Ramirez had a career-day to open the tournament as she finished the first day going 4-for-4 with a slugging percentage of 1.750 and a perfect on-base percentage. During the first day, Ramirez drove in three runs in each game to lead the Pirates to a 7-3 win over Oakland and a 10-0 victory over Delaware State.
Noteworthy Start for Newcomers
Several newcomers made a name for themselves during the first weekend of the 2015 season. Most notably, freshman right-hander Ashley Cruise kicked off her collegiate debut with a strong relief appearance in which she pitched 3.1 scoreless innings to collect the win. The following day, the product of Kingston, N.Y., hurled seven shutout innings against South Carolina to collect her second win in as many days after allowing just four hits while striking out two. Additionally, Mary-Sloan Bradford, a freshman left fielder from Windermere, Fla., finished the weekend hitting .333 (5-for-15) as she totaled 11 bases, seven walks, eight runs and two RBIs. Bradford was also responsible for scoring the eventual game-winning run against South Carolina in the Pirates' 1-0 victory. Lastly, junior right fielder Nicole Cheek, who came to East Carolina after playing two years at Marist, also turned in a positive effort over the weekend. The Simi Valley, Calif., native concluded the weekend with a .333 (7-for-21) clip after recording seven RBIs, four runs, a double and a home run. Cheek scored the game-winning run in the eighth inning of the Pirates' 4-3 victory over Longwood.
All-Tournament Honors
The Pirates had a successful opening tournament as ECU saw six players receive Pirate Classic All-Tournament Team honors. After winning the tournament, freshmen Ashley Cruise and Mary-Sloan Bradford were named Most Valuable Pitcher and Most Valuable Player, respectively. Additionally, sophomore Ali Ramirez, juniors Casey Alcorn and Meredith Mitchell, along with redshirt senior Abby Wynne were also named to the Pirate Classic All-Tournament Team.
Returning Home
Keli Harrell, East Carolina's all-time saves leader, returned to her alma mater on January 22 as she was hired as an interim assistant coach. Her hiring marks Harrell's second stint on the Pirates' coaching staff as she previously served as a graduate assistant from 2007-10. During that time, she played an integral role in guiding ECU to lead the league in several pitching categories, including earned run average (1.45), strikeouts (467), and wins (44). In her final year on staff, Harrell helped lead East Carolina to its first-ever Conference USA Tournament Championship as the Pirates made an appearance in the NCAA Regionals for just the third time in program history. She looks to bring the same success to the Pirates in 2015.
Notable
• On January 15, head softball coach Beth Keylon-Randolph was granted an extended administrative leave of absence due to personal reasons.
• Sophomore catcher Alex Mycek will redshirt the 2015 season due to an injury.
On Deck
East Carolina hosts its final tournament of the season when it welcomes Seton Hall, Kennesaw State, Lafayette and Virginia Tech to ECU Softball Stadium for the Pirate Invitational. The 13-game tournament begins Friday, February 20 at 10 a.m. with four games being played at approximately 12:30 p.m., 3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Saturday's schedule contains five contests at approximately 9 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 2 p.m., 4:30 p.m., and 7 p.m. The Pirate Invitational concludes Sunday, February 22 with four games slated for 9 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 2 p.m., and 4:30 p.m. East Carolina will play Kennesaw State (3 p.m.) and Lafayette (5:30 p.m.) on Friday, before hosting Virginia Tech (4:30 p.m.) and Seton Hall (7 p.m.) on Saturday and concluding the tournament against Kennesaw State (11:30 a.m.) and Virginia Tech (4:30 p.m.). Live stats will be available of all games on ECUPirates.com.
Players Mentioned
Infield
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
UTIL
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
Outfield
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
1B
/ Softball
Catcher/Outfield
/ SoftballECU Softball vs Campbell
Tuesday, April 15
ECU Softball vs Memphis
Saturday, April 05
ECU Softball vs Boston College
Sunday, February 23
ECU Softball vs Canisius
Saturday, February 22
