East Carolina University
Saint Francis (PA)
Softball Posts Another Split On Day Two Of Pirate Clash
February 20, 2016 | Softball
East Carolina 8, Bucknell 3 
| St. Francis 7, East Carolina 2
GREENVILLE, N.C. - The East Carolina softball team produced its second split in as many days Saturday, defeating Bucknell 8-3 in the afternoon before dropping a 7-2 decision to St. Francis (Pa.) in the final game of the second day of the Pirate Clash at the ECU Softball Stadium.
UMass picked up its first two wins of the season earlier Saturday, downing the Bison 3-2 and the Red Flash 3-0.
In the Bucknell contest, sophomore outfielder Sloan Bradford and junior second baseman Megan Quick tallied a pair of hits while Bradford notched four RBI off of a grand slam and senior outfielder Meredith Mitchell drew four walks. Senior catcher Kelsi Briggs also scored a pair of runs. Meghan Kovac led the way offensively for the Bison with a two-hit performance.
Freshman RHP Mary Williams recorded her second victory of the weekend to improve to 2-1 overall as she tossed 4.2 innings, allowing three runs on five hits with three walks and three strikeouts. Lara Bean suffered the loss for Bucknell and dropped to 0-1. She gave up six runs (all earned) on five hits to go along with six walks and three strikeouts.
Mitchell and junior outfielder Ciara Ervin posted a pair of hits each against St. Francis and scored a run apiece. Hayley Norton had quite the offensive day for the Red Flash, producing two hits, two runs scored and three RBI.
Sophomore RHP Ashley Cruise fell to 2-3 overall as she surrendered five runs on five hits with a walk in two innings of work. Alexis Bower threw a complete game to improve her record to 1-0, allowing just two runs and scattering six hits in addition to her six walks and seven strikeouts.
How it Happened (Game 1): The Pirates had a great chance to produce some early damage against the Bison, loading the bases in the bottom of the first with one out thanks to a pair of walks that sandwiched a single by senior shortstop Casey Alcorn. However, a pair of strikeouts would leave the bases full and the game scoreless after an inning. Bucknell put up a threat of its own in the top of the third as a walk and a single followed by a wild pitch put the runners in scoring position. Williams induced a grounder, however, that she fielded with aplomb to terminate the threat. ECU finally broke the game open in the bottom of the fourth and did so with a two-out rally. With junior infielder Ali Ramirez on first, Briggs singled through the left side to push Ramirez to second. After a looking strikeout, Quick roped a single down the right field line to score pinch runner and junior Kacie Oshiro for the first run of the game. Ervin followed with a sharp grounder up the middle that resulted in a single and a RBI as Briggs executed a nice hook slide to cross the plate safely. Mitchell then walked to load the bases for Bradford who muscled a 3-2 pitch over the wall in left field for a grand slam and her fifth career home run. The Bison responded shortly after in the top of the fifth, plating three runs on two hits. However, East Carolina went right back to work on offense in the home half and put the contest away via a two-run double by Quick that pushed the score to 8-3. ECU limited Bucknell to just one walk over the final two innings to seal the win.
How it Happened (Game 2): Cruise had little trouble with St. Francis in the top of the first and the Pirates took advantage in the bottom of the inning. Mitchell led off with a single through the left side then stole second base. After two quick outs, sophomore third baseman Karlie Smith poked a single over the second baseman's head that allowed Mitchell to score and give ECU a 1-0 advantage. The Red Flash put up a big inning in the top of the second, using four hits to score five runs and jump on top 5-1. The big blow came from the bat of Norton who knocked a three-run triple down the right field line. St. Francis threatened to add to its lead in the top of the third but a potential run-scoring double was erased due to McKenzie Burge contacting the ball out of the batter's box. That would prove the final out of the half inning. Neither side put up much of a threat the rest of the way but combined for three runs in the final frame to provide the final five-run margin.
Bits and Pieces: East Carolina evened the series with Bucknell at four wins apiece and dropped to 2-1 overall against St. Francis … The Pirates improved to 27-12 all-time in the Pirate Clash event and 74-60 at the ECU Softball Stadium … Bradford's grand slam - her fifth career home run, was the first for ECU since Karlie Smith recorded one April 26, 2015 against UConn … Mitchell's four walks were the most in a single game since Abby Wynne's four Feb. 16, 2014 versus Seton Hall … East Carolina is now 4-0 when having a lead after the fourth inning and 4-1 when scoring first in a game … The Pirates were 4-for-9 (.444) against Bucknell with two outs on the board and 7-for-18 (.389) with a runner on base … All eight of ECU's runs versus the Bison occurred with two outs … St. Francis posted six two-out RBI in the nightcap.
Up Next: East Carolina closes the Pirate Clash with a pair of games Sunday. ECU will face Bucknell and St. Francis at 12:30 and 3 p.m., respectively.
