Gameday: ECU Begins Busy Week With Bout Against N.C. Central

Game 43: N.C. Central
Date \\\ Time	April 11, 2017 \\\ 6:00 p.m.
Coverage	Live Stats \\\ Live Video
Location	Greenville, N.C. (ECU Softball Stadium)
Official Web Sites	East Carolina \| N.C. Central
2017 Statistics	East Carolina \| N.C. Central
Social Media	@ECUSoftball \| East Carolina Softball (Instagram) \| @ECUScoreboard (in-game updates) \| #ECUndaunted

GREENVILLE, N.C. – The East Carolina softball team plays its final non-conference home game of the season Tuesday evening, hosting in-state opponent N.C. Central for a single contest at the ECU Softball Stadium. The Pirates and Eagles will get things started at 6 p.m. EDT

The Pirates are 19-23 overall after falling in all three games of an American Athletic Conference series at USF over the weekend. The Bulls were victorious by scores of 3-0, 7-6 and 9-7.

East Carolina is hitting .263 as a team with a .457 slugging percentage and a .368 on base mark. The Pirates currently lead the AAC in slugging percentage, runs scored (216), RBI (197), doubles (51), home runs (50), total bases (484) and walks drawn (156). The Purple and Gold has certainly used the long ball to its advantage this season, currently standing fourth nationally in total home runs and sixth in home runs per game (1.19).

Junior infielder Meredith Burroughs leads the team with a .328 batting average while senior outfielder Ali Ramirez and redshirt freshman infielder Tate McClellan check in at .310 and .301 respectively. Burroughs paces the squad in hits (38), RBI (37), total bases (81) and sacrifice flies (4). Redshirt junior catcher Alex Mycek hit two home runs Sunday at USF to improve her team and AAC-leading total to 13.

In terms of pitching, senior RHP Lydia Ritchie is 11-10 with a 3.09 earned run average. She has stuck out 92 batters against 58 walks and opposing teams are batting .262 against her. Ritchie currently ranks eighth on the program career chart for strikeouts with 310.

N.C. Central holds an 8-25 overall record after falling victim to a three-game sweep by Bethune-Cookman at home over the weekend. Collectively, the Eagles are batting .201 with a .290 slugging percentage and .266 on base mark. Miriam Duen paces the squad with a .294 batting average while Dominique Wilson is hitting .289 with four home runs and 16 RBI. Wilson has also worked the most innings in the circle for NCCU, sporting a 4.06 earned run average with 78 strikeouts and 57 walks in 110.1 frames. She has twirled 11 complete games and owns two solo shutouts.

ECU leads the series with N.C. Central 3-0 and has out-scored the Eagles 40-0 in the three meetings. The teams last matched up March 24, 2010 in Durham where the Pirates downed NCCU 17-0.

RPI Check
In the latest release of the NCAA Ratings Percentage Index, the Pirates check in at 123. The Eagles sit at 281 this week.

Up Next
East Carolina will host UConn in a three-game AAC series beginning Thursday at 6 p.m. EDT. The teams are playing a Thursday-Saturday series due to the Easter holiday.

Gameday: ECU Begins Busy Week With Bout Against N.C. Central

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Players Mentioned

Meredith Burroughs

Tate McClellan

Alex Mycek

Ali Ramirez

Lydia Ritchie

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