Pirates Begin Preseason Prep For 2019 Campaign

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GREENVILLE, N.C. – Under the watch of fourth-year head coach Courtney Oliver, the ECU softball team officially began workouts for the 2019 season Thursday under damp but mild conditions in Greenville.

While the ECU Softball Stadium playing surface is receiving a complete makeover, the Pirates will utilize the turf field inside the Cliff Moore Practice Facility as well as other venues around the community.

ECU compiled a 23-32 overall mark and 8-13 record in American Athletic Conference play last year. The Pirates took on the nation's 34th-toughest schedule during which 35 of 55 contests were against teams ranked in the top 100 of the NCAA ratings percentage index.

A healthy number of players return to the roster this season, including ECU's top four hitters from 2018. In all, the Pirates welcome back 12 position players and two pitchers while adding six newcomers.

Pirates To Watch

Sophomore pitcher Erin Poepping was named to the 2018 AAC All-Rookie Team after pacing ECU in earned run average (3.26), wins (13), complete games (9) and strikeouts (95). She ranked seventh in the league in wins and looking strikeouts (35) as well as eighth in innings pitched (165.1) and strikeouts.
Redshirt junior infielder Tate McClellan was second on the squad in batting average (.278) and home runs (10) while leading the team in slugging percentage (.553), RBI (34), doubles (12) and total bases (84). She also tied for third in the American Conference in doubles and home runs and was fourth in slugging percentage.
Redshirt junior utility player Rachel McCollum, a transfer student-athlete from Campbell University, earned a pair of Big South Conference First Team honors with the Camels as well as 2018 National Fastpitch Coaches Association Third-Team All-Southeast Region accolades and 2017 Big South All-Freshman Team laurels. She ranked in the top 30 nationally in five offensive categories during the 2018 campaign - seventh in total bases (143), eighth in home runs (19), 15th in doubles (18), 18th in slugging (.808) and 29th in RBI (56). McCollum also paced the Big South Conference in runs scored (51), was second in home runs, total bases and slugging, third in doubles, RBI and on-base percentage (.469), fourth in batting average (.384) and fifth in hits (68).

Things To Note

Oliver hired three new members of the coaching staff over the summer in Ellie Cooper (assistant coach), Maggie Hawkins (director of operations) and Kelsey Bryan (graduate assistant). Cooper helped Florida State win its first-ever national title in 2018 as a graduate assistant coach. Hawkins and Bryan played collegiately at NC State and UNCW respectively.
ECU was quite a young squad in 2018. Of the 550 starts, 330 (60 percent) were by freshman or sophomores. Additionally, 12 of the 19 players on the roster were underclassmen - including a large seven-member freshman class.
The Pirates collected 13 wins over teams ranked in the top 100 of the NCAA ratings percentage index last season. ECU defeated No. 24 JMU (twice), No. 33 Wichita State, No. 40 Houston, No. 46 USF (twice), No. 50 Ohio, No. 57 Longwood, No. 58 FIU, No. 82 NC State, No. 83 Memphis and No. 86 Towson (twice). The Pirates also represented the only team in the American Athletic Conference to hand regular season champion USF a series loss in league play, winning two of three from the Bulls in Greenville.
In three seasons under Oliver, ECU's RPI ranking has increased. The Pirates were 148th in 2016, 120th in 2017 and 99th in 2018. ECU's top-100 finish in 2018 was the first time that has occurred since 2014.

The Pirates' season-opening doubleheader is set for Feb. 8 when it faces Youngstown State and Miami (Ohio) on the first day of the Spartan Classic on the campus of the University of South Carolina Upstate.

Players Mentioned

Tate McClellan

Rachel McCollum

Erin Poepping

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