East Carolina University
Bowling Green
Pirates Win Twice On Day One Of Under Armour Showcase
March 11, 2016 | Softball
East Carolina 4, Northern Kentucky 3 
| East Carolina 2, Bowling Green 0
CLEARWATER, Fla. - The East Carolina softball team got back on track Friday with a pair of victories on day one of the Under Armour Showcase at the Eddie C. Moore Softball Complex. The Pirates took down Northern Kentucky 4-3 before blanking Bowling Green 2-0.
ECU snapped a three-game skid with the sweep to improve to 15-10 overall with three games left to play on its 10-day, 11-contest road trip. The Norse dropped to 6-13 overall while the Falcons moved to 9-9 after beating North Dakota earlier in the day.
Junior RHP Lydia Ritchie had quite the day in the circle, earning her third save of the campaign in the win over NKU before tossing her fifth complete-game shutout of the season and striking out a career-high 12 batters against BGSU. Ritchie improved to 8-3 overall and is now tied for the American Athletic Conference lead in victories with UCF All-America hurler Shelby Turnier. She is also tied for second nationally in shutouts.
Freshman RHP Mary Williams improved to 3-3 in her rookie campaign, throwing 6.1 innings against Northern Kentucky and allowing three runs (one earned) on six hits with three walks and four strikeouts. Charlie Nolen dropped to 3-6 as she surrendered four runs (three earned) on seven hits with six walks and three strikeouts. Ritchie struck out the only two batters she faced in nine pitches to complete the save.
Senior shortstop Casey Alcorn tallied two hits and a run scored in the day's opening affair while junior second baseman Megan Quick accounted for all four of the Pirates' RBI with a three-run home run and a bases-loaded walk. Nicolette Hayes notched two hits for the Norse and Hayley Curtis scored a pair of runs.
In the Bowling Green contest, five different ECU players recorded a hit while Alcorn and senior outfielder Nicole Cheek drove in a run each. Junior catcher Alex Mycek drew a pair of walks as well. The only Falcon hit of the day was a bunt single to third base by Molly Holliday as Ritchie shut the BGSU lineup down.
East Carolina out-hit its two opponents 12-7 with four of those hits going for extra bases.
How it Happened (Game One): Northern Kentucky threatened in the top of the first, drawing a pair of walks with two outs, but Williams induced a grounder that she took care of herself to escape the jam. After a leadoff triple by senior outfielder Meredith Mitchell in the home half, the Pirates could not push her across as the first frame ended with no score.
A single by junior first baseman Ali Ramirez kick-started the bottom of the second and it would end with a deep three-run home run to left field off the bat of Quick on a 2-2 pitch as ECU jumped out to the early three-run lead. The Norse scratched across a pair of unearned runs in the top of the third to slice the East Carolina advantage to one. However, Quick drew a bases-loaded walk with two outs to make it a 4-2 ballgame after three complete.
NKU menaced once more in the top of the fourth, getting two runners into scoring position with one out, but Williams worked out of trouble with a strikeout and 5-3 groundout. The Pirates looked to add some insurance in the bottom of the sixth after junior outfielder Ciara Ervin and Mitchell reached second and third with one out, but a foul out and fly out to center terminated the threat. Northern Kentucky had one last chance in the top of the seventh, but could only muster one run as Ritchie came on with the tying run at third and finished the job with consecutive strikeouts.
How it Happened (Game Two): As the home team for the second-straight contest, ECU was the first to score via a RBI single by Alcorn that scored Mitchell who singled to lead off and moved to second on a groundout.
Bowling Green put up its only real threat in the top of the third, getting its first two batters on base after a walk and infield single. Ritchie bore down at that point and retired the next three hitters in order to keep the Falcons at bay.
Looking to add to its lead in the bottom of the fourth, East Carolina put together a two-out rally. Mycek started things with a walk before sophomore designated player Sloan Bradford singled to center. Quick then reached on a fielder's choice and the BGSU third baseman committed an error that allowed Mycek to reach third safely and load the bases. A grounder to third would strand the bags full though, sending to contest to the fifth at just a one-run margin.
The Pirates would not be denied with two outs in the fifth, scoring the final run after sophomore third baseman Karlie Smith singled and Cheek drove her home with a double to the wall in right center to extend the ECU lead to 2-0 and provide the final score. Ritchie cruised to the end and wound up retiring the final 15 Bowling Green batters she faced.
Bits and Pieces: East Carolina won its first-ever meeting with Northern Kentucky and improved to 7-3 all-time against BGSU ... ECU needs just one more win to match last season's total ... The Pirates improved to 11-5 in neutral-site contests ... East Carolina upped its season home run total to 16 and has only allowed five by its opponents ... Ritchie threw 105 pitches against the Falcons of which 72 were strikes ... With five shutouts already in 2016, ECU has matched the 2014 squad's output for the entire campaign ... Mitchell extended her streak of reaching base safely to 21 games ... The Pirates are 7-1 in games decided by two runs or less, including a 5-1 record in one-run contests ... East Carolina improved to 8-2 when scoring in the first inning and 12-2 when plating the first run of the game ... ECU out-hit both Northern Kentucky and Bowling Green and is 11-1 when doing so in 2016.
Up Next: East Carolina continues play at the Under Armour Showcase with two games Saturday. The Pirates will face New Mexico State and Southern Illinois at 2 and 4:30 p.m.
