Gameday: East Carolina Hosts Pirate Clash To Open 10-Game Homestand

Games 6-10: Pirate Clash
Tournament Dates	Feb. 17-19, 2017
Tournament Schedule (ECU Games)	Feb. 17 vs. Bryant \\\ 4:30 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Live Video Feb. 17 vs. Saint Francis \\\ 6:45 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Live Video Feb. 18 vs. Bryant \\\ 2:00 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Live Video Feb. 18 vs. Fordham \\\ 6:45 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Live Video Feb. 19 vs. Cleveland State \\\ 2:00 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Live Video
Location	Greenville, N.C. (ECU Softball Stadium)
Official Web Sites	East Carolina \| Bryant \| Cleveland State \| Fordham \| Saint Francis
Full Tourney Schedule	Pirate Clash Tournament Schedule (PDF)
2017 Statistics	East Carolina \| Bryant \| Cleveland State \| Fordham \| Saint Francis
Social Media	@ECUSoftball \| East Carolina Softball (Instagram) \| @ECUScoreboard (in-game updates) \| #ECUndaunted

GREENVILLE, N.C. – The East Carolina softball team begins a 10-game homestand this weekend, welcoming Bryant, Cleveland State, Fordham and Saint Francis (Pa.) to the ECU Softball Stadium for the Pirate Clash. The teams will play 12 games total during the event, beginning with a matchup between the Rams and Bulldogs at noon Friday.

The Purple and Gold opened its 2017 campaign last weekend at the Red and Black Showcase hosted by the University of Georgia, ending up with a 1-4 record. ECU split a pair of games with Winthrop and fell to Syracuse before dropping a pair of matchups with the No. 10 Bulldogs to end the tournament.

Redshirt freshman infielder Tate McClellan hit .455 in the five games, starting every contest at third base. She notched her first collegiate home run against the Eagles in the 14-6 victory on the way to American Athletic Conference Weekly Honor Roll recognition. Senior outfielder Kacie Oshiro also enjoyed a productive weekend, hitting .389 (7-for-18) with six runs scored, two doubles, a triple, two walks and three RBI. A quartet of Pirates made their collegiate debuts in Olivia Narron, Logan Wood, Kendra Ziemba and Megan Mills. Wood started two games as the designated player, recording two hits and a run scored.

In last year's Pirate Clash, East Carolina defeated UMass, won two of three against Bucknell and split a pair of matchups with the Red Flash.

Scouting Bryant
The Bulldogs are set to open their season this weekend after compiling a 12-36 record in 2016. Bryant returns a number of key pieces to the lineup, including two-time captain junior Rachel Monroe and 2015 Northeast Conference Most Improved Player Taylor Burger. Last season, Monroe recorded 21 hits, four doubles, one homerun, eight RBI and 12 runs while Burger totaled 30 hits, including seven doubles, one triple, three homeruns and a team-high 15 RBI to go along with a .250 batting average. Shayne Lolito is in her fourth season as head coach of the Bulldog program.

Last Meeting: East Carolina 1, Bryant 0 (Feb. 26, 2016 at Orlando, Fla.)

Looking At Cleveland State
The Vikings opened their campaign last weekend by posting a 1-3 mark in the CSU Dome Tournament. Cleveland State fell to Bowling Green and Canisius Saturday before rebounding to defeat Canisius and falling to Niagara Sunday. Junior Mackenzie Joecken led the Vikings at the plate and in the circle. She hit .308 (4-13) with a pair of RBI and also posted a 2.69 ERA in two appearances in the circle. Joecken earned the win in the 5-4 victory over Canisius in eight innings, firing a complete game. She also went 3-for-4 at the plate in that contest. Becky Norris is in her fourth season as head coach of the Vikings.

Last Meeting: Sunday marks the first encounter between East Carolina and Cleveland State.

About Fordham
Fordham has enjoyed a 4-1 start to its season and is receiving votes in this week's USA Today/NFCA Top 25 poll. The Rams picked up a signature victory in its first contest of the year, defeating then No. 21 Baylor by a 1-0 margin at the Hillenbrand Invitational hosted by the University of Arizona. Fordham also recorded wins over Tulsa, Cal State Northridge and Northwestern while taking its lone loss to the then No. 10 and host Wildcats. Lindsay Mayer and Sydney Canessa pace the offensive efforts with identical .333 batting averages as the Rams boast four players hitting at least .308 thus far. Reigning Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Week Lauren Quense is 3-0 overall with a 1.72 earned run average to pace the pitching staff. Bridget Orchard is in her 16th season as head coach at Fordham

Last Meeting: Fordham 5, East Carolina 1 (Feb. 18, 2012 at Greenville, N.C.)

Examining Saint Francis
The Red Flash opened the 2017 campaign not too far away from Greenville as Saint Francis traveled to Buies Creek for the Fairfield Inn and Suites Invitational hosted by Campbell. There, the Red Flash picked up victories in four out of five games defeating the host Camels twice as well as N.C. Central and Maryland Eastern Shore while suffering its lone loss to Campbell. Cheyenne McKee is batting .412 early in the season and is tied for the team lead with seven hits. Ethel Santai and Ketarah Devries sport respective ERAs of 1.14 and 1.40 in a combined 22.1 innings of work in the circle. Jennifer Patrick-Swift is in her sixth season as the Red Flash head coach.

Last Meeting: East Carolina 8, St. Francis 5 (Feb. 21 at Greenville, N.C.)

A Leader Among Our Peers
East Carolina has racked up 1,360 victories in 32 seasons of competition, the most total wins of any school in the American Athletic Conference. Since the 2008 campaign, the Pirates have made four NCAA Regional appearances and have captured two conference tournament titles as well as a regular season championship in Conference USA.

Taking On The Top 25
ECU is slated to match up with three teams ranked in the preseason USA Today/ESPN Coaches Top 25 poll in No. 12 Georgia, No. 14 James Madison and No. 25 USF. Additionally, conference foes UCF and Tulsa are receiving votes.

Challenging The ACC
East Carolina is scheduled to play six members of the Atlantic Coast Conference this season - Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Pittsburgh and NC State. Last year, the Pirates went 2-1 against the league securing wins over Virginia (9-1) and NC State (7-4) while falling to a nationally-ranked Notre Dame side 8-0 in Kissimmee, Fla.

Beating Ranked Foes
In its last American Athletic Conference series of 2016, East Carolina defeated No. 25 UCF 2-1 as Lydia Ritchie tossed a complete game needing just 89 pitches to finish the job. The victory was the first for the Pirates over a ranked opponent since April 12, 2014 when they defeated then No. 15 Tulsa 10-2 in run-rule fashion (five innings).

Nationally-Ranked Recruiting Class
FLOSOFTBALL.com has tabbed East Carolina's recently announced 2017 recruiting class No. 22 in the nation – the first time ECU has boasted a nationally-ranked recruiting class in softball. The group includes infielder Ashleigh Inae (Riverside, Calif./King HS) who is considered the No. 84 prep player in the country. Moreover, four of the six signees are ranked in FLOSOFTBALL's national top 200.

Weiman Picked Up By Racers
First-year graduate assistant coach Emily Weiman, who rates as the most successful pitcher in NC State softball history, signed a free agent deal with the Akron Racers of National Pro Fastpitch in January. She threw two seasons for the Pennsylvania Rebellion before the team ceased operations just recently. Weiman helped the Pirates last year as the team's volunteer assistant coach.

What's Next?
East Carolina continues its 10-game homestand next weekend when it entertains Coppin State, Seton Hall, Virginia and Virginia Tech in the Pirate Invitational.

Gameday: East Carolina Hosts Pirate Clash To Open 10-Game Homestand

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Players Mentioned

Tate McClellan

Megan Mills

Olivia Narron

Kacie Oshiro

Lydia Ritchie

Logan Wood

Kendra Ziemba

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