Gameday: Pirates Continue Homestand Hosting Purple-Gold Invitational

Games 12-16 (Purple-Gold Invitational)
Schedule	March 1: vs. Columbia \\\ 3 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Video March 1: vs. Winthrop \\\ 5:30 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Video March 2: vs. Columbia \\\ 3 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Video March 2: vs. Massachusetts \\\ 5:30 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Video March 3: vs. Winthrop \\\ 11:30 a.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Video
Venue	ECU Softball Stadium (1,000)
Game Notes	ECU \| Columbia \| Massachusetts \| Winthrop
Tournament Central	Purple-Gold Invitational Tournament Website
Social Media	@ECUSoftball (Twitter) \\\ Instagram \\\ Facebook

GREENVILLE, N.C. – For the third-straight weekend, the ECU softball team will compete in Greenville when it welcomes Columbia, Massachusetts and Winthrop to the ECU Softball Stadium for the Purple-Gold Invitational. The three-day event is slated to run March 1-3.

Mother Nature wreaked havoc on the Pirates' schedule last weekend, reducing the 10-game Pirate Invitational to just three contests. ECU lost a tight 1-0 pitchers' duel to Boston College Saturday before falling to No. 18 JMU in a hard-fought 3-1 decision Sunday.

The Pirates are currently batting .329 as a team with five hitters checking in at .345 or better. Ashleigh Inae leads the way with a .438 batting average, 12 runs scored and four extra-base hits (three doubles and one triple). Tyler King is hitting .381 and leads the squad in hits (16) and stolen bases (8). In the circle, Erin Poepping holds a 6-2 record with a 1.39 earned run average and 43 strikeouts against nine walks in 45.1 innings pitched. The Pirates own a 2.59 team ERA with 56 strikeouts.

ECU leads the American Athletic Conference in batting average, slugging percentage and on base percentage entering the weekend.

About Columbia
Columbia suited up for the first time in 2019 last weekend, going 2-3 at the FIU Panther Invitational. The Lions defeated Monmouth 10-3 and FIU 3-0 while also falling to Monmouth 4-3, FIU 5-4 and Rutgers 3-2. Through five games, Max Ortega leads Columbia offensively with a .500 batting average (8-for-16) and has driven in four runs. Sommer Grzybek is close behind with a .467 batting average (7-for-15), six runs scored and four home runs. As a unit, the Lions are hitting .264 with two runs scored, a triple and six home runs. In the circle, Madison Canby owns a 1-2 record with a team-best 2.03 earned run average and nine strikeouts against two walks in 20.2 innings pitched. Alexa Pinarski is 1-0 with a 3.62 ERA, three strikeouts and four walks in 9.2 frames. Opposing batters are hitting .279 against the pitching staff. Jennifer Teague is in her fifth season as head coach for the Lion program. She has also coached at Michigan State, The University at Buffalo, Eastern Michigan and the University of Michigan. Columbia was selected third in the preseason Ivy League coaches poll.

Scouting Massachusetts
UMass is off to a 3-7 start to the 2019 campaign, most recently splitting four games at the Georgia Classic in Athens last weekend. The Minutewomen defeated Belmont 7-0 and Bryant 2-1 while also falling to then No. 8 Georgia 8-0 (five innings) and 4-0. UMass is hitting .217 as a team led by Kaitlyn Stavinoha and Erin Stacevicz who are batting .370 and .364 respectively. Stacevicz paces the team with 12 hits while Stavinoha has notched 10 hits, five runs scored, four doubles, two home runs and five RBI. Kiara Oliver has tossed the most innings for the Minutewomen in the circle, checking in with a 1-4 record, 3.68 ERA, 27 strikeouts and nine walks in 32.1 innings pitched. Kenadee Rausch is 2-1 with a 2.39 ERA, 11 strikeouts and five walks in 14.2 innings of work. Opposing batters are hitting .305 off the pitching staff that sports a collective 3.66 ERA. Kristi Stefanoni is in her sixth season as head coach at UMass and has spent 13 seasons in Amherst. The Minutewomen were chosen to defend their Atlantic 10 Conference regular season title after running through the league schedule 21-0 in 2018.

The Book On Winthrop
Winthrop arrives in Greenville with a 7-6 overall record after falling to Charlotte 9-1 in five innings Monday. The Eagles boast a .309 team batting average with Morgan Lowers leading the way with a .465 hitting mark, 11 runs scored, 20 hits, two doubles, three triples, three home runs and 14 RBI. Keliegh Romine has drawn a team-best 12 walks to go along with a .313 batting average and six RBI. Madyson Watson has pitched a squad-high 28 innings and is 2-2 with a 2.25 ERA, 27 strikeouts and 14 walks. The Winthrop pitching staff owns a 6.05 ERA while opposing batters are hitting .309 against the group. Windy Thees is in her first season at the helm of the Eagle softball program. She holds nearly 20 years of coaching experience - including 14 years as a head coach. Thees' road to Rock Hill featured stops at Utah State, Ole Miss, Memphis and Georgia College and State. Winthrop was selected to finish seventh in the Big South Conference preseason coaches poll.

Streak Speak
King carries a seven-game hitting streak into the weekend. She has also reached base safely in all 11 games this season. Rachel McCollum has reached base safely in 10-straight games.

Tough In Defeat
ECU's three losses have come by a combined five runs. The Pirates have fallen to Miami of Ohio and then No. 18 JMU by two runs and Boston College by one run.

Experience Gained
The Pirates were quite the 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.

Quality Wins
The Pirates have started the 2019 season with a trio of wins over teams ranked in the top 100 of the NCAA Ratings Percentage Index last year (No. 61 USC Upstate/No. 86 Towson/No. 100 Saint Francis). During 2018, ECU collected 13 wins over teams ranked in the top 100 of the RPI. The Pirates 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). ECU was also 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.

Speaking Of RPI
In three seasons under head coach Courtney Oliver, the Pirates' RPI ranking has increased. ECU was 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.

ECU At A Glance
Record - 8-3 (.727) // AAC Record (Standing) - 0-0 (N/A) // Last 5 Games - 3-2 (.600) // Last 10 Games - 7-3 (.700) // Last 15 Games - 0-0 (.000) // ECU will play the 177th game of the Courtney Oliver era when it faces Columbia Friday. // ECU's all-time record stands at 1,417-846-5 in its 34th season of competition.

Up Next
ECU finishes off its homestand March 6 with a doubleheader against in-state opponent Campbell. First pitch for game one from the ECU Softball Stadium is scheduled for 3 p.m.

Gameday: Pirates Continue Homestand Hosting Purple-Gold Invitational

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ashleigh Inae

Tyler King

Rachel McCollum

Erin Poepping

Footer