Gameday: Softball Begins 10-Game Homestand Hosting 2018 Pirate Clash

Games 6-10: Pirate Clash
Schedule	Feb. 16: vs. Towson \\\ 3 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Watch (Free) Feb. 16: vs. Saint Joseph's \\\ 5:30 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Watch (Free) Feb. 17: vs. Saint Joseph's \\\ 12:30 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Watch (Free) Feb. 17: vs. UMBC \\\ 5:30 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Watch (Free) Feb. 18: vs. Towson \\\ 11:30 a.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ W atch (Free)
Stadium	ECU Softball Stadium
Tournament Central	Pirate Clash Tournament Central
Social Media	@ECUSoftball (Twitter) \\\ Instagram \\\ Facebook \\\ @ECUScoreboard (In-Game Updates) \\\ #ECUndaunted

Weekly Release No. 2 (PDF)

GREENVILLE, N.C. – The ECU softball team makes its home debut this weekend, welcoming Saint Joseph's, Towson and UMBC to the ECU Softball Stadium for the Pirate Clash. The event features 10 games over three days. The Purple and Gold will play 10-straight games at home before heading to Hawai'i for another 10 contests.

The Pirates opened up the 2018 season last weekend at the Felsberg Invitational in Miami, winning two of five games against a tough field that featured two 2017 regional teams in South Carolina and host FIU as well as preseason league favorites Hofstra and St. John's. Facing some stout pitching, ECU hit .153 as a team but eventually put six runs on the board on six hits in the comeback victory over the Panthers in the tournament finale.

A pair of freshmen pitchers in Erin Poepping and Whitney Sanford started every game for the Pirates over the weekend and did some encouraging things as Poepping tossed a complete game shutout in the season opener against St. John's and Sanford kept the South Carolina offense in check allowing just four hits. The duo combined for 18 strikeouts against eight walks in a combined 31 innings pitched.

In last year's Pirate Clash, ECU went 4-1 with wins over Bryant (twice), Fordham and Cleveland State while falling to Saint Francis (Pa.) in a tight 1-0 decision.

Scouting Saint Joseph's
Saint Joseph's is slated to open its 2018 campaign this weekend in Greenville. Last season, the Hawks compiled a 25-28 overall record and a 12-7 mark in Atlantic 10 Conference play - good for a third-place finish in the league standings. SJU returns its top four hitters from a squad that notched a .262 team batting average as well as 64 doubles, four triples, 24 home runs and 69 stolen bases. Then sophomore Amanda Kulp batted .357 and then freshman Caela Abadie hit a team-high seven home runs. As for the pitching staff, the Hawks ended up with a 2.60 team earned run average with 230 strikeouts against 136 walks. Ashley Ventura posted a team-best 2.03 ERA and a 15-13 overall record with 134 strikeouts and 68 walks in 197.0 innings pitched as a sophomore. Saint Joseph's is slotted fourth in the Atlantic 10 preseason coaches poll.

Talking Towson
Towson opened its 2018 season last weekend at the Wingate by Windham Invitational hosted by Charleston Southern University, going 3-1 with wins over North Dakota (9-6) and North Carolina A&T (6-4 and 19-3) as well as a loss to the host Buccaneers (15-4). The Tigers are hitting .407 as a team during the young campaign while the pitching staff sports a 9.39 ERA. Madison Wilson paced the team with a .667 batting average (10-for-15) and scored six runs as well as driving in four. Megan Detjer owns a team-low 4.91 ERA with three walks and two strikeouts in 11 innings of work. Of the eight teams in the Colonial Athletic Association, Towson is tabbed to finish in a tie for sixth place by the conference's head coaches according to the preseason poll.

A Look At UMBC
UMBC begins its season this weekend after going 22-30 overall and 5-10 in the America East Conference in 2017. The Retrievers hit .280 as a team, led by then freshman Maddie Daigneau who batted .375 with a squad-best 63 hits. Then junior Tori Alexander also turned in a solid batting average at .353, leading the team with 11 doubles. In terms of pitching, UMBC put together a 3.65 team ERA with 181 strikeouts and 110 walks. The Retrievers look to replace their top pitcher from last season in Jessica Holte who turned in a 3.87 ERA with 60 strikeouts and 19 walks in 108.2 innings pitched. Now senior Kim Puccio went 9-9 last year with a 3.03 ERA, 65 strikeouts and 38 walks in 99.1 innings. UMBC was picked to finish sixth of seven teams in this year's preseason America East Conference preseason coaches poll.

The Series
Against Saint Joseph's: 1-0 (Last meeting - ECU 1, St. Joseph's 0 on March 10, 1995)
Against Towson: 14-1 (Last meeting - ECU 10, Towson 2 on Feb. 10, 2013)
Against UMBC: 19-8 (Last meeting - ECU 4, UMBC 0 on May 7, 2011)

What A Start
Freshman pitcher Erin Poepping had a memorable beginning to her collegiate career, tossing a compete game shutout in the Pirates' 4-0 victory over Big East Conference preseason favorite St. John's in the season opener. She scattered six hits, struck out two batters and ended up with no walks. In Poepping's first collegiate weekend, she was 1-1 with a 1.94 ERA and 12 strikeouts against five walks.

Tested
The Pirates certainly tested themselves right off the bat, opening the season against five top-70 RPI clubs from last season at the Felsberg Invitational. ECU faced off against South Carolina (22), FIU (44), Hofstra (66) and St. John's (68), picking up wins over the Red Storm and host Panthers. According to the Massey strength of schedule ratings, the Pirates check in at No. 48 behind only USF (19) and Houston (31) among American Athletic Conference teams.

Bash Sisters
Of ECU's program and American Athletic Conference single-season record 64 home runs last year, seniors Alex Mycek and Meredith Burroughs hit 16 apiece, putting them in a tie for first place in the league and 22nd nationally. Only one other player in the AAC hit at least 10 - the now graduated Shelby Miller from Houston. Mycek owns 19 career home runs, ranking 10th on the program top-10 list.

Defensive Improvement
After posting a .958 fielding percentage in 2016, the Pirates improved dramatically in just one season as they finished the 2017 campaign with a .970 mark that ranked 40th nationally.

Protecting the Fort
ECU notched a winning record at home in 2017, emerging victorious in 17 of 30 games played at the ECU Softball Stadium - including the Purple and Gold's first-ever victory in the American Athletic Conference tournament. Since the facility opened in 2011, the Pirates are 96-82 in home contests.

Reinforcements
In addition to the talent returning to this year's roster, head coach Courtney Oliver has signed the 22nd-ranked recruiting class in the nation that will suit up for the Pirates this spring. Sanford was named a MaxPreps Medium School First Team All-American after finishing her prep career with a 54-8 overall record, 1.12 earned run average and 651 strikeouts in 361.2 innings pitched. Poepping compiled a 14-1 record, 1.18 earned run average and 101 strikeouts over 101 innings pitched during the regular season of her senior campaign. Other members of that highly-touted haul include infielder Ashleigh Inae (top-100 recruit), outfielder Tyler King, outfielder Courtney Layton and catcher Anna Epling.

Debutantes
At the Felsberg Invitational, six of the team's seven freshman made their collegiate debuts (Poepping, Sanford, Inae, King, Layton and Epling).

Up Next: ECU remains at home next weekend for the Pirate Invitational, taking on Ball State, Canisius and Saint Francis (Pa.) in the round-robin event.

Gameday: Softball Begins 10-Game Homestand Hosting 2018 Pirate Clash

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Meredith Burroughs

Anna Epling

Ashleigh Inae

Tyler King

Courtney Layton

Alex Mycek

Erin Poepping

Whitney Sanford

Footer