ECU Treks To Texas Tech For Jeannine McHaney Memorial Classic

Games 26-28: Jeannine McHaney Memorial Classic
Tournament Dates	March 18-19
Tournament Schedule	March 18 vs. Saint Francis (Pa.) \\\ 2:30 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Live Video March 18 at Texas Tech \\\ 5:00 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Live Video March 19 vs. Saint Francis (Pa.) \\\ 10:30 a.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Live Video
Location	Lubbock, Texas (Rocky Johnson Field)
Official Web Sites	East Carolina \| Saint Francis (Pa.) \| Texas Tech
Tournament Central	Tournament Central
2017 Statistics	East Carolina \| Saint Francis (Pa.) \| Texas Tech
Social Media	@ECUSoftball \| East Carolina Softball (Instagram) \| @ECUScoreboard (in-game updates) \| #ECUndaunted

GREENVILLE, N.C. – East Carolina concludes the non-conference tournament portion of its schedule this weekend as the Pirates make the trip to Lubbock, Texas for the Jeannine McHaney Memorial Classic hosted by Texas Tech University at Rocky Johnson Field. The Pirates will face off against Saint Francis (Pa.) twice and the host Red Raiders once over the two-day span.

ECU (14-11) met some stiff competition last weekend in Greenville, battling then No. 13 James Madison and Pittsburgh in a pair of two-game sets. The Pirates dropped both contests to the nationally-ranked Dukes while splitting with the Panthers who were receiving votes in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 poll.

East Carolina is led offensively by redshirt junior catcher Alex Mycek who paces the squad in batting average (.377), home runs (9), walks (18), slugging percentage (.902) and on base percentage (.519). At the conference level, she ranks first in slugging percentage, on base percentage and home runs (9). Additionally, senior outfielders Ciara Ervin and Kacie Oshiro lead the American Athletic Conference in runs scored (23) while Oshiro also tops the circuit in doubles (7) along with junior infielder Karlie Smith. Rounding out the individual league rankings, Ervin leads the way in walks drawn (19).

As a team, ECU is hitting .281 with a slugging percentage of .500 and a .386 on base mark. The Pirates rank first among AAC squads in slugging percentage, runs scored (150), RBI (135), doubles (37), home runs (33), total bases (319), walks drawn (103) and sacrifice flies (8). East Carolina is also the best defensive team in the league statistically, having committed just 21 errors for a .969 fielding percentage.

In terms of the pitching staff, senior RHP Lydia Ritchie holds an 8-5 record and 3.04 earned runs average in 73.2 innings of work. She has tossed seven complete games and struck out 52 batters.

About Saint Francis
The Red Flash enters the weekend on quite a roll, having won nine-straight games to improve its overall record to 21-8. As a result, Saint Francis is receiving a vote in this week's USA Today/NFCA Top 25 poll. Cheyenne McKee leads the offense with a .433 batting average while Jordan Seneca has clubbed team-high 12 home runs. The Red Flash boast three pitchers with sub-3.00 ERAs and the trio has combined to strike out 131 batters. Abby Trahan owns a 10-3 record with a 2.31 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 78.2 innings pitched.

Last Meeting: Saint Francis 1, East Carolina 0 (Feb. 17, 2017 at Greenville, N.C.)

Looking at Texas Tech
The Red Raiders are 13-11 overall but lost two of three at the Tulsa Invitational last weekend. Texas Tech defeated Wichita State 4-3 while falling to Montana 8-5 and the Golden Hurricane 7-0. Devon Thomey boasts a team-high .359 batting average to go along with Jessica Hartwell's 10 doubles, four home runs and 20 RBI. In the circle, Kassidy Scott is 6-6 with 2.67 ERA.

Last Meeting: This is the first meeting between East Carolina and Texas Tech on the softball diamond.

Up Next
The Pirates will host a pair of in-state opponents next week, welcoming Campbell and Elon to the ECU Softball Stadium Tuesday (5 p.m.) and Wednesday (4 p.m.) respectively.

ECU Treks To Texas Tech For Jeannine McHaney Memorial Classic

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Players Mentioned

Ciara Ervin

Alex Mycek

Kacie Oshiro

Lydia Ritchie

Karlie Smith

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