Gameday: Softball Set For American Athletic Conference Series At USF

Games 40-42: at USF
Series Dates	April 7-9, 2017
Location	Tampa, Fla. (USF Softball Stadium)
Official Web Sites	East Carolina \| USF
Coverage	Live Stats
2017 Statistics	East Carolina \| USF
Social Media	@ECUSoftball \| East Carolina Softball (Instagram) \| @ECUScoreboard (in-game updates) \| #ECUndaunted

GREENVILLE, N.C. – The East Carolina softball team will play its third American Athletic Conference series of the season this weekend, traveling to USF for a three-game set at the USF Softball Stadium.

The Pirates and Bulls will kick off the weekend Friday at 4 p.m. before continuing the series Saturday at 4 p.m. and wrapping up things Sunday at 11:30 a.m.

ECU picked up a 5-0 non-conference home victory over Big South foe Radford Wednesday. The teams attempted to play a doubleheader, but the second game was called in the bottom of the fifth inning with the Highlanders leading 6-0 due to a heavy downpour that made conditions unplayable.

East Carolina is hitting .265 as a team with a .462 slugging percentage and a .368 on base mark. The Pirates currently lead the AAC in slugging percentage, runs scored (203), RBI (184), doubles (48), home runs (47) and walks drawn (142). The Purple and Gold has certainly used the long ball to its advantage this season, currently holding the fourth-highest home run total in the nation.

Senior outfielder Ali Ramirez leads the team with a .333 batting average while junior infielder Meredith Burroughs is close behind at .330. Burroughs paces the squad in hits (36), home runs (11), RBI (35), total bases (76) and sacrifice flies (4).

In terms of pitching, senior RHP Lydia Ritchie is 11-7 with a 2.83 earned run average. She has stuck out 85 batters against 53 walks and opposing teams are batting .254 against her. Ritchie was sensational against Radford, allowing just one hit in her third complete-game shutout of the season.

USF is 1-4 in AAC play and 21-19 overall following a series split at UConn last weekend. Astin Donovan paces the Bulls' offensive efforts with a .337 batting average while Sam Worrell has hit a team-high six home runs and owns a .500 slugging percentage. Cheyenne Eggens boasts a 2.03 ERA to lead the pitching staff. USF leads the series 17-9 and swept the Pirates in Greenville last season.

RPI Check
East Carolina checks in at 113 in the latest release of the NCAA ratings percentage index. The Bulls are ranked 63 this week.

Up Next
ECU returns home Tuesday for a non-conference matchup against N.C. Central. First pitch at the ECU Softball Stadium is slated for 6 p.m.

Gameday: Softball Set For American Athletic Conference Series At USF

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Players Mentioned

Meredith Burroughs

Ali Ramirez

Lydia Ritchie

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