East Carolina University
Marshall
Pirates Drop 5-4 Extra-Inning Contest to Marshall
February 12, 2015 | Softball
GREENVILLE, N.C. - The East Carolina softball team took an early 2-0 lead, but Marshall tallied two runs in the seventh to force extra innings before plating two in the top of the ninth to win the game, 5-4, in nine innings Thursday night the Pirate Clash opener.
Marshall's (6-0) starting pitcher, right-hander Jordan Dixon (6-0), notched her sixth win of the year and registered 16 strikeouts in 9.0 innings of work. Caroline Umphlett (1-2) came on in relief for East Carolina (5-2) and suffered the loss after surrendering two runs on one hit with one walk and two strikeouts.
ECU got off to a strong start as freshman right-hander Ashley Cruise struck out the side to begin the game. Cruised turned in 6.2 innings of work allowing three runs (two earned) on 10 hits with a career-high eight strikeouts.
Cruise received early run support from her offense in the bottom of the first as junior shortstop Casey Alcorn laced a two-run double to left-center field plating Mary-Sloan Bradford and Nicole Cheek who reached base on a single and walk, respectively. The Pirates' 2-0 advantage marked the first time that Marshall trailed an opponent this season.
The Thundering Herd got on the board in the top of the fifth after Kylie Howard, who reached on an error, came around to score on Kaelynn Greene's single to short. With the bases loaded and one out, Cruise pitched herself out of a jam as she struck out Elicia D'Orazio and got Shaelynn Braxton to end the inning on a ground out to short preserving the Pirates' lead.
Alcorn struck again in the bottom of the frame as she belted her second home run of the year, a solo shot to left to give East Carolina back its 2-run lead. She finished the game with three hits in four at-bats, with three RBIs and a run scored.
The Pirates took a 3-1 advantage into the top of the seventh inning, but were unable to get out of the frame without allowing a pair of runs to score. With one out, Morgan Zerkle drew a walk and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt before scoring on a triple in the left-center gap off the bat of D'Orazio. Braxton singled to left to score D'Orazio, tying the game and forcing ECU to make a pitching change. Umphlett came on in relief and recorded the final out of the frame, but the damage had been done.
East Carolina was unable to score in the bottom of the frame, as Dixon retired the Pirates in order. She struck out the side in the bottom of the eighth as the game moved into the ninth still tied at three.
In the top of the ninth, Marshall broke the 3-3 tie scoring two runs on an RBI-single from Zerkle who later came around to score on an ECU throwing error.
The Pirates managed to score in the bottom of the inning on an RBI-single to right-center off the bat of redshirt senior catcher Abby Wynne. However, ECU was unable to muster another run as Dixon retired Alcorn to end the game.
"When you start off great and you get the opposing team down, you have to capitalize off of it," Interim head coach Steve Jaecks said. "We didn't do that. Leading 3-1 going into the seventh, you have to be able to shut them down. This team is better than 16 strikeouts and if you don't put the ball in play, you are not going to win in college softball. That is something we are going to learn from. We just have to move forward."
East Carolina looks to bounce back on day two of the Pirate Clash when it takes on Bucknell at 3 p.m. Live stats and video will be available on ECUPirates.com.
