East Carolina University
IPFW
East Carolina Rolls Past IPFW To Close Under Armour Showcase
March 13, 2016 | Softball
Box Score | East Carolina 5, IPFW 1 
CLEARWATER, Fla. - The East Carolina softball team jumped out to a three-run lead Sunday and cruised to a 5-1 victory over IPFW in its final game of the Under Armour Showcase at the Eddie C. Moore Softball Complex.
The Pirates went 4-1 during the three-day event to improve to 17-11 overall, surpassing last season's win total (16) in the process. The Mastodons fell to 6-18 in defeat.
ECU out-hit IPFW 10-6 and did not commit an error.
Junior RHP Lydia Ritchie tossed her third complete game of the weekend and eighth of the campaign, limiting the Mastodons to just one run on six hits. She also struck out a career-high 13 batters. Elizabeth Snodgrass (0-3) took the loss and remained winless after surrendering three runs on six hits with a walk and two strikeouts.
Senior catcher Kelsi Briggs pounded out three hits in four at bats and scored a run while junior catcher Alex Mycek tallied two base knocks and a run scored of her own as the designated player. Senior outfielder Meredith Mitchell drove in a pair of runs and senior shortstop Casey Alcorn clubbed her third home run of the season. Amber Davis led IPFW with two hits.
How it Happened: East Carolina threatened right away in the top of the first inning as Mitchell drew a leadoff walk and stole second base. Senior outfielder Nicole Cheek was hit by a pitch with two outs and a wild pitch moved the Pirate runners to second and third, but a pop up on the infield would help the Mastodons escape unscathed. IPFW was not so fortunate in the second inning as ECU broke onto the scoreboard with two runs on four hits, including RBI singles from Mitchell and junior outfielder Ciara Ervin. The Mastodons made a pitching change in the third inning, but the new hurler Demitra Burns uncorked two wild pitches with two runners on base to bring in East Carolina's third run of the day. In the bottom of the fourth, IPFW scratched across a run on four hits to break up the shutout. However, the Pirates loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth and Mitchell drew a two-out walk to make it a 4-1 contest. Alcorn provided the exclamation point in the sixth as she drilled a 2-2 pitch over the wall in deep center.
Bits and Pieces: East Carolina won the first-ever meeting between the schools … ECU ended up with a 6-5 record during its 10-day, 11-game road trip … The Pirates improved to 13-6 at neutral sites this season … Ritchie's 10 victories are the most thus far in the American Athletic Conference this season … Ritchie eclipsed the 100-strikeout plateau for the year and sits at 102 currently … East Carolina has hit 18 home runs and limited its opponents to just five … The Pirates are 13-3 when scoring at least five runs in a game … ECU improved to 14-2 when scoring first and 13-1 when out-hitting its opponent.
Up Next: East Carolina heads to Virginia Wednesday for a non-conference doubleheader at Radford. The first game is scheduled for 3 p.m.
