Surging Pirates Head To Houston For Final AAC Softball Road Series

Games 49-51: at Houston
Series Schedule	April 21 \\\ 6:30 p.m. (EDT) April 22 \\\ 3:00 p.m. (EDT) April 23 \\\ 1:00 p.m. (EDT)
Location	Houston, Texas (Cougar Softball Stadium)
Official Web Sites	East Carolina \| Houston
Coverage	Live Stats \\\ Live Video
2017 Statistics	East Carolina \| Houston
Social Media	@ECUSoftball \| East Carolina Softball (Instagram) \| @ECUScoreboard (in-game updates) \| #ECUndaunted

HOUSTON, Texas. – Riding a six-game winning streak, its longest since 2014, the East Carolina softball team embarks on its final road trip of the regular season this weekend – heading to Houston for a three-game American Athletic Conference series at Cougar Softball Stadium.

Behind a four-home run performance that propelled them to a doubleheader sweep at Longwood Wednesday, the Pirates set a new program single-season record for long balls at 59, surpassing the 2007 squad that hit 58 round trippers. ECU defeated the Lancers in run-rule fashion in game one 8-0 before downing the hosts 7-4 in the nightcap. Longwood led 3-1 going into the fifth inning, but the Purple and Gold scored five runs in the frame to take the lead for good.

With the two victories, East Carolina surpassed its win total from last year (23) and improved its record to 25-23 overall. The Pirates are 5-7 in AAC play after posting its first-ever three-game sweep over a league opponent last weekend at home. ECU bested UConn by scores of 4-0, 4-1 and 2-1.

East Carolina is hitting .264 as a team and leads the American Conference in slugging percentage (.463), runs scored (245), RBI (226), doubles (59), home runs, total bases (558), walks drawn (175) and sacrifice flies (15). On the national scale, the Pirates are tied with Charleston Southern for third in home runs while also ranking sixth in home runs per game (1.23) and 38th in slugging percentage.

Junior infielder Meredith Burroughs leads the ECU offense with a .312 batting average and 40 RBI while senior outfielder Ali Ramirez and redshirt freshman infielder Tate McClellan are both hitting .302. Redshirt junior catcher Alex Mycek and Burroughs boast 15 and 12 home runs respectively, ranking first and second in the conference.

Senior RHP Lydia Ritchie has been on a tear lately in the circle, winning her last five decisions. She is 5-0 with a 0.66 ERA and 31 strikeouts against just five walks in her last 32 innings pitched. Opposing hitters are batting just .188 off of her during the stretch. For the season, Ritchie is 16-10 with a 2.62 ERA and 123 strikeouts.

Houston enters the weekend at 20-20 overall and 5-4 in league play after dropping all three games at current AAC leader Tulsa last weekend. The Cougars are batting .290 collectively while the Houston pitching staff checks in with a 2.73 earned run average. Maya Thomas paces the team with a .422 batting average with Shelby Miller leading the squad with nine home runs and 42 RBI. Savannah Heebner and Trystan Melancon have done most of the pitching for the Cougars and sport respective ERAs of 2.21 and 2.81 with a combined 143 strikeouts in 197.1 innings of work.

ECU won two of three from Houston last season in Greenville, but trails the overall series by a 30-17 count and is 7-19 at the Cougar Softball Stadium.

RPI Check
The Pirates are ranked 125 in the latest release of the NCAA ratings percentage index. Houston checks in at 97 this week.

Up Next
Following this weekend's series, East Carolina wraps up the regular season at home with a three-game set against Tulsa at the ECU Softball Stadium. The Pirates will then take a week off before hosting the American Athletic Conference Softball Championship May 11-13.

Surging Pirates Head To Houston For Final AAC Softball Road Series

Players Mentioned

Meredith Burroughs

Tate McClellan

Alex Mycek

Ali Ramirez

Lydia Ritchie

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