Homestanding Softball Hosts Pirate Invitational This Weekend

Games 11-14: Pirate Invitational
Tournament Dates	Feb. 24-26, 2017
Tournament Schedule (ECU Games)	Feb. 24 vs. Virginia \\\ 6:30 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Live Video Feb. 25 vs. Virginia \\\ 2:00 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Live Video Feb. 25 vs. Virginia Tech \\\ 6:30 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Live Video Feb. 26 vs. Coppin State \\\ 2:00 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Live Video
Location	Greenville, N.C. (ECU Softball Stadium)
Official Web Sites	East Carolina \| Coppin State \| Seton Hall \| Virginia \| Virginia Tech
Full Tourney Schedule	Pirate Invitational Tournament Schedule (PDF)
2017 Statistics	East Carolina \| Coppin State \| Seton Hall \| Virginia \| Virginia Tech
Social Media	@ECUSoftball \| East Carolina Softball (Instagram) \| @ECUScoreboard (in-game updates) \| #ECUndaunted

GREENVILLE, N.C. – Having won three straight and four of its last five, the East Carolina softball team continues a 10-game homestand this weekend welcoming Coppin State, Seton Hall, Virginia and Virginia Tech to the ECU Softball Stadium for the three-day Pirate Invitational. The Hokies and visiting Pirates will kick off the tournament Friday at 11 a.m.

The Pirates will not face off against Seton Hall but will take on the Cavaliers twice as well as the Hokies and Eagles once each.

East Carolina enters the weekend with a 5-5 overall record after winning four of five games at the Pirate Clash – a tournament that opened its home schedule. ECU knocked off Bryant twice, Cleveland State and Fordham while falling to Saint Francis. A walkoff double by senior outfielder Kacie Oshiro provided the winning tally against the Rams who received votes in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 poll last week.

Senior RHP Lydia Ritchie is the reigning American Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week after compiling a 2-1 record and 1.07 earned run average over three appearances in 19.2 innings pitched. She surrendered just three earned runs and recorded 10 strikeouts while tossing two complete games. Classmate and outfielder Ciara Ervin earned AAC Weekly Honor Roll recognition as she hit .429 and reached base safely in all five games of the Pirate Clash. Ervin went 3-for-4 with a run scored and two RBIs in the 9-5 win over Bryant.

Scouting Virginia
The Cavaliers (5-6) were participants in the Charleston Southern Buccaneer Invitational last weekend and split four games. Virginia defeated ETSU twice before falling to UNCW and Charleston Southern. UVA then traveled to Elon for a doubleheader and lost the first game 6-4 before rebounding to post a 7-5 victory in game two. Olivia Gott (.478) and Allison Davis (.436) lead the Cavaliers in batting average and have each clubbed four home runs. As a team, UVA has notched 17 home while Erika Osherow holds a 3-3 record in nine appearances.

Last Meeting: East Carolina 9, Virginia 1 (Six Innings) (Feb. 12, 2016 at Tempe, Ariz.)

Looking At Virginia Tech
The Hokies (5-3) make their way to Greenville off of a 2-2 weekend at the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, beating Iowa twice while losing a pair of matchups with Penn State. Aysha Richardson leads Virginia Tech with a .364 average while Olivia Lattin is hitting .320 with a home run and four RBI. In the circle, Taylor Barnes holds a 1.50 ERA in five appearances and Carrie Eberle has made three starts - boasting a 3-1 record and 2.42 ERA.

Last Meeting: Virginia Tech 4, East Carolina 3 (Feb. 22, 2015 at Greenville, N.C.)

About Coppin State
The Eagles (1-7) most recently took part in the Lions Classic hosted by Southeastern Louisiana, dropping five contests in Hammond, La. Cayla Brown leads CSU with a .438 average and four RBI. Coppin State's lone victory occurred in its season opener when the Eagles knocked off Southern University by a 10-5 margin.

Last Meeting: East Carolina 13, Coppin State 1 (Feb. 25, 2005 at Wilmington, N.C.)

Pirate Power
East Carolina has made its hits count thus far this season as 30 of its 63 hits have gone for extra bases. The Pirates lead the American Conference in doubles (18) while ranking second in runs scored (51), on base percentage (.373), RBI (46), home runs (11) and total bases (116). Nationally, ECU is 33rd in both doubles per game and home runs per game.

Two-Way Threat
Junior infielder Meredith Burroughs has made an instant impact on the Pirate offense since joining the team from NC State. She ranked 31st nationally in total home runs (3) while placing second in saves with two. Burroughs collected a pair of saves against Bryant at the Pirate Clash.

A Leader Among Our Peers
East Carolina has racked up 1,365 victories in 32-plus 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.

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 welcomes another ACC foe, North Carolina, to the ECU Softball Stadium Wednesday, March 1, for a single non-conference contest. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m.

Homestanding Softball Hosts Pirate Invitational This Weekend

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Players Mentioned

Meredith Burroughs

Ciara Ervin

Kacie Oshiro

Lydia Ritchie

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