Gameday: ECU Entertains Youngstown State Wednesday Evening

Game 21: Youngstown State
Date \\\ Time	March 1, 2017 \\\ 5:00 p.m.
Coverage	Live Stats \\\ Live Video
Location	Greenville, N.C. (ECU Softball Stadium)
Official Web Sites	East Carolina \| Youngstown State
2017 Statistics	East Carolina \| Youngstown State
Social Media	@ECUSoftball \| East Carolina Softball (Instagram) \| @ECUScoreboard (in-game updates) \| #ECUndaunted

GREENVILLE, N.C. – After a successful trip to California, the East Carolina softball team returns home Wednesday evening for a single non-conference contest against Youngstown State. First pitch at the ECU Softball Stadium is scheduled for 5 p.m.

The Pirates (12-8) went 4-1 at the Louisville Slugger Invitational last weekend on the campus of the University of the Pacific, picking up three run-rule victories along the way. East Carolina downed Portland State 14-2 and 18-4 in five innings while also taking two from Seton Hall by 8-0 (five innings) and 15-14 margins. Junior infielder Karlie Smith put the exclamation point on the win in the tournament finale, clubbing a three-run walkoff home run to left field to complete a five-run ECU rally in the bottom of the seventh inning.

The Pirate offense exploded over the weekend, hitting .369 and out-scoring its opponents 55-27 in the five games. East Carolina also pounded out 15 home runs.

Redshirt junior catcher Alex Mycek had a weekend for the ages, earning not only American Athletic Conference Player of the Week honors, but also Louisville Slugger/NFCA National Player of the Week recognition. Mycek was a one-woman wrecking crew - launching six home runs, knocking in 14 and slugging an astronomical 2.308. Reaching base safely in all six contests, she hit .769 (10-for-13) with eight extra-base hits (6 HR, 2 2B), seven runs scored, six walks and an .850 on-base percentage. As of Tuesday, Mycek ranks first in the AAC in slugging percentage (1.064), on base percentage (.547), home runs (9) and total bases (50). On a national scale, she is fourth in home runs, ninth in home runs per game (0.45) and slugging percentage and 14th in RBI (22).

Thanks to the offensive outburst in the Golden State, East Carolina currently leads the league in slugging percentage (.533), on base percentage (.403), runs scored (132), hits (149), RBI (117), doubles (32), home runs (28), total bases (269) and walks drawn (84).

On a national scale, the Purple and Gold is sixth in home runs per game, 17th in slugging percentage, 19th in scoring and 31st in doubles per game.

Scouting Youngstown State
The Penguins enter their Tuesday doubleheader at Presbyterian with a 2-12 overall record. As a team, YSU is batting .208 with a slugging percentage of .307 and a .275 on base mark. Hannah Lucas leads the way for the offense with a .313 batting average while Maddie Lusk paces the pitching staff with a 1-5 record and 4.16 earned run average.

The Series
East Carolina and Youngstown State have met just once on the softball diamond. The Pirates picked up an 8-4 victory back on Feb. 20, 1998 at the Triangle Classic in Raleigh, N.C.

Up Next
ECU faces a daunting task this weekend, traveling to Harrisonburg, Va., for the JMU Invitational. The Pirates will take on current No. 13/14 James Madison as well as Atlantic Coast Conference member Pittsburgh, who is receiving votes in both major top 25 polls this week.

Gameday: ECU Entertains Youngstown State Wednesday Evening

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Players Mentioned

Alex Mycek

Karlie Smith

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