East Carolina University
Illinois
ECU Falls To Illinois In Under Armour Invitational Finale
March 06, 2016 | Softball
Box Score | Illinois 11, East Carolina 0 
CLEARWATER, Fla. - Illinois out-hit East Carolina 11-3 Sunday morning to take an 11-0, five-inning victory over the Pirates in the finale of the Under Armour Invitational at the Eddie C. Moore Softball Complex.
Senior shortstop Casey Alcorn, junior second baseman Megan Quick and sophomore first baseman Kerry Butler recorded the ECU (13-9) hits while Carly Thomas paced the Fighting Illini (12-7) with two hits, three runs scored and two RBI.
Junior RHP Lydia Ritchie (7-2) took the loss in the circle after surrendering four runs on four hits with no walks and two strikeouts. Taylor Edwards (2-0) picked up the win, limiting the Pirates to just two hits in four scoreless innings.
Illinois rapped out seven extra base hits and did not commit an error.
How it Happened: Thomas led off the top of the first inning with a home run to dead center field before Alyssa Gunther tripled and scored on an Allie Bauch sacrifice fly. Annie Fleming followed with a RBI single and Ruby Rivera capped the offensive outburst with another sacrifice fly to leave the Fighting Illini with a 4-0 lead. Illinois kept the pressure on at the plate, scoring four more runs on three hits in the bottom of the second to rush out to an 8-0 advantage. East Carolina put up its only real threat of the day in the bottom of the second. Butler roped a one-out double to the wall in right center and moved to third base on a single by Quick. Senior outfielder Meredith Mitchell then worked a two-out walk to load the bases but a strikeout would terminate the threat. The Fighting Illini added three more runs on three hits in the top of the third to account for the final score.
Bits and Pieces: East Carolina lost its fourth-straight encounter with Illinois to fall to 1-4 in the all-time series … Ritchie suffered her first loss since the opening weekend of the season at Arizona State … The leadoff home run was only the fifth allowed by the ECU pitching staff in 2016 … The Pirates were shutout for the second-straight contest, marking the first time that has happened since a 3-0 loss to UCF and 2-0 defeat to UNCW on March 22 and 25 of the 2015 campaign.
Up Next: East Carolina will head south to Miami Tuesday for a non-conference single contest against Florida International. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the FIU Softball Stadium.
