Season Preview: Seven Innings with East Carolina Softball
February 03, 2015 | Softball
GREENVILLE, N.C. - East Carolina prepares to kick off the 2015 softball season Friday, February 6 with the Pirate Classic. The season also marks the Pirates' first year in the American Athletic Conference. During the inaugural season, ECU returns 10 position players, three pitchers and welcomes seven newcomers.
The 1st Inning - Looking Back at 2014
East Carolina wrapped up the 2014 season with a 28-20 overall record and a 14-10 mark in its final year in Conference USA. With 14 league wins, the Pirates secured a spot in the C-USA Tournament marking their 10th straight appearance. During the tournament, ECU went 1-1 with a 5-1 victory over FIU before dropping an 8-7 eight-inning decision to Marshall in the semifinals.
The Pirates concluded the year with four All-Conference USA selections in Kristi Oshiro, Chelsea Kaluhiokalani-Glackin, Shelby Johnson and Abby Wynne as all four were second team selections. Oshiro and Johnson went on to earn 2014 National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Mideast Second Team honors.
As a team, East Carolina batted .302 to record the second highest single-season average in program history. With that mark the 2014 squad became just the second in program history to finish above the .300 threshold. The .302 clip also ranked second in Conference USA and in the top 50 in the nation.
Additionally, the Pirates stole the second-most bases in the league with 93, but were tops in stolen base percentage with 89.4-percent after being caught just 11 times altogether. With swift speed on the base paths, East Carolina averaged 1.94 stolen bases per game to rank in the top 10 in the nation. Johnson led the Pirates with 36 stolen bases on 38 attempts to average 0.75 per contest which ranked her ninth in the NCAA.
During the 2014 campaign, the East Carolina softball program recorded its 1,300th victory in school history which a 9-1 win over Delaware on February 23. The Pirates begin the 2015 season with 1,321 all-time victories.
The 2nd Inning - The 2015 Schedule
The 2015 East Carolina softball schedule includes a total of six tournaments, three of which will be played at ECU Softball Stadium, along with 18 American Athletic Conference games. The competitive schedule features several teams which rank in the top 50 in RPI as well as nine opponents which appeared in the 2014 NCAA Regionals.
ECU opens the season with the Pirate Classic beginning Friday, February 6 and concluding Sunday, February 8. The Pirates will host Oakland, Delaware State, South Carolina and Longwood this weekend in a three-day, 13 game tournament.
Following the Pirate Classic, East Carolina hosts two more tournaments in the Pirate Clash and the Pirate Invitational. The Pirate Clash will take place from Friday, February 13 until Sunday, February 15 and features Bucknell, East Tennessee State, Marshall and Towson. The final home tournament of the year is the Pirate Invitational which is scheduled for Friday, February 20 through Sunday, February 22 and consists of Kennesaw State, Lafayette, Virginia Tech and Seton Hall.
The Pirates' first road swing of the season runs from Friday, February 27 - Sunday, March 1 as ECU heads to Tampa, Fla., for the USF Under Armour Invitational. East Carolina then heads to Honolulu, Hawaii for the Hawaii Spring Fling Tournament followed by the Oklahoma Classic in Norman, Okla.
With the conclusion of tournament action, the Pirates take on Elon in a non-conference contest, before kicking off American Athletic Conference action with UCF on March 21. In league play, East Carolina will host UCF, Tulsa and UConn while playing Memphis, Houston and USF on the road. The Pirates will also see action in several mid-week, non-conference games against UNC Wilmington, N.C. State, James Madison and North Carolina.
The American Athletic Conference Tournament will take place May 7 - 9 in Orlando, Fla., as UCF hosts.
The 3rd Inning - Newcomers
The Pirates welcome seven newcomers to Greenville, N.C., six of which are freshman and one junior transfer in Nicole Cheek.
Cheek comes to East Carolina from Marist where she appeared in 50 games for the Red Foxes starting in 47. She is a utility player who has seen a considerable amount of playing time in the outfield. She tied for ninth at Marist in career home runs with 19, and holds five single-season records. She led the team in RBIs with 52, tied for the team lead in home runs with 15 and came in second in at-bats (184), fourth in runs scored (43) and fifth in hits (64). In her first season at Marist in 2013, she earned First Team All-MAAC honors and was named MAAC Rookie-of-the-Year. She is a graduate of Simi Valley (Calif.) High School where she batted .453 as a senior with 32 RBIs and 30 runs scored.
Joining Cheek in the outfield will be freshman Mary-Sloan Bradford. The Windermere, Fla., native was a four-year letterwinner at West Orange (Fla.) High School where she led her team to the 8A state semifinals with a 25-6 overall record. She was the team leader in nine offensive categories including home runs (8) and RBIs (34).
Another freshman who looks to make an immediate impact for the Pirates is Karlie Smith who is a third baseman and shortstop out of Dagsboro, Del. Smith is a versatile athlete who played softball, field hockey and was on the swimming and diving team at Indian River (Del.) High School. She was a first team all-conference and first team all-state selection after finishing her senior year with a team-leading .426 batting average. She also led the Indians in runs (25), hits (26), RBIs (28) and extra-base hits.
The 4th Inning - Returners
East Carolina returns 10 position players and three pitchers for the 2015 season including redshirt senior catcher Abby Wynne. The Greenville, N.C., native earned Second Team All-Conference USA honors a year ago and was one of seven Pirates named to the NFCA All-America Scholar Athletes team. As a junior, Wynne started in all 48 games for ECU and hit .288 after going 38-for-132 with 31 runs scored, 32 RBIs, nine doubles and five home runs.
Also joining Wynne on the field for 2015 is junior shortstop Casey Alcorn who saw action in 45 games and finished the year with a .271 batting average. She drove in 19 runs, scored 16 and belted seven home runs to rank third on the squad.
Meredith Mitchell, a junior outfielder, started in 22 games and saw action in 36 last year. The product of Dunlap, Tenn., was swift on the base paths as she swiped six of seven stolen bases. Mitchell concluded her sophomore campaign with a .212 clip, nine runs scored, four RBIs and a pair of triples.
In addition to their success on the field, the Pirates also return three pitchers in Sarah Christian, Caroline Umphlett and Lydia Ritchie.
The 5th Inning - Pitching Staff
East Carolina returns a pair of right-handed pitchers in seniors Sarah Christian and Caroline Umphlett. Christian led the Pirates with 39 appearances last season as she went 17-10 with a 2.81 ERA. The Greenville, N.C., native was the team leader in strikeouts with 121 in 181.2 innings of work. She allowed 73 earned runs and 44 walks while holding opponents to .266 hitting.
Umphlett was solid in the circle for the Pirates last season as she made 28 appearances and finished the year with a 10-5 record and a 3.79 ERA. The product of Elizabeth City, N.C., logged 96.0 innings and recorded 52 strikeouts while allowing 59 earned runs and surrendering 87 hits.
Freshman right-handed pitcher Ashley Cruise looks to be a contributor this year as she was a first team all-star as a senior at Kingston (N.Y.) High School. She finished her prep career with 37 victories and 456 strikeouts in 352.0 innings pitched.
Additionally, the Pirates welcome back sophomore right-hander Lydia Ritchie who made seven relief appearances a year ago. She finished her rookie season with a 1-3 record and recorded two starts, while fanning six and allowing 15 earned runs in as many innings pitched.
The 6th Inning - Offense
Although the Pirates lost Shelby Johnson, who led the team with a .381 batting average, to graduation along with Jordan Lewis, the squad's home run leader (11), East Carolina looks to have several hot hitters back in the lineup for the 2015 season. The Pirates return Casey Alcorn who was third on the team with seven home runs as well as Abby Wynne who drove in 32 runs for the third most on the team.
Alcorn finished her sophomore season with a .271 batting average after going 36-for-133. She owned a .451 slugging percentage and a .308 on-base percentage. The junior out of Hummelstown, Pa., contributed 19 RBIs, 16 runs and three doubles while going 2-for-2 on the base paths.
Wynne is coming off of a successful junior year in which she was named to the All-Conference USA Second Team after posting a .288 (38-for-132) batting average. She also added a .485 slugging percentage and a .401 on-base percentage. Wynne added consistent offense to the squad as she drove in 32 RBIs and scored 31 runs. She also added nine doubles, five homers and one triple, while drawing 28 walks to rank second on the team. Wynne stole three bases on three attempts for the Pirates and also recorded a team-best six sacrifice flies.
Junior Meredith Mitchell is a switch hitting outfielder from Dunlap, Tenn. She saw a solid season at the plate while slapping the ball to a .212 batting average. Once on base, Mitchell swiped six bases in seven attempts and came around to score nine times. She legged out a pair of triples and drove in four runs while seeing action in 36 games for ECU.
The 7th Inning - Defense
Defensively, the Pirates return a dependable catcher in Abby Wynne and a reliable shortstop in Casey Alcorn. Wynne was second on the squad with 181 putouts while committing just five errors in 48 games. She boasted a fielding percentage of .976 and gunned down eight runners attempting to steal.
At shortstop, Alcorn paced the middle infield with 61 putouts, a team-leading 113 assists and 11 errors. The Pirates turned a total of eight double plays with Alcorn being a part of four. The lanky junior started in 45 games last season and looks to return as East Carolina's starting shortstop.
Alcorn will team up with redshirt senior second baseman Andie Johnson who started in six games in 2014. In those six games, Johnson recorded 12 putouts with 15 assists and just one error for a fielding percentage of .964. She helped turn one of the Pirates' eight double plays and looks to be a major contributor this season.
