Gameday: ECU Opens American Athletic Conference Slate At Memphis

Games 30-32: at Memphis
Schedule	March 22: at Memphis \\\ 6:00 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Watch March 23: at Memphis \\\ 3:00 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Watch March 22: at Memphis \\\ Noon \\\ Live Stats \\\ Watch
Venue	T igers Softball Complex (275)
Game Notes	ECU \| Memphis
Social Media	@ECUSoftball (Twitter) \\\ Instagram \\\ Facebook

GREENVILLE, N.C. – East Carolina begins its American Athletic Conference slate this weekend, traveling to Memphis for a three-game series March 22-24 at the Tigers Softball Complex.

The Pirates won four of five games at the George Mason Invitational March 15-17, defeating Sacred Heart, Cornell (twice) and the host Patriots. ECU outscored the tournament field 34-7, hit .312 as a team and clubbed five home runs while the pitching staff limited opposing batters to a .213 average, recorded 33 strikeouts against 10 walks and posted a 1.04 earned run average.

Collectively, ECU is batting .303 with six players hitting .300 or better. Ashleigh Inae paces the unit with a .389 batting average, 35 hits and 31 runs scored. Tyler King is batting .381 with a team-high 40 hits and 14 stolen bases. The Pirates have rapped out 37 doubles, four triples and 20 home runs with Tate McClellan and Rachel McCollum boasting seven and six long balls respectively. McCollum leads the AAC and is ranked 11th nationally in RBI (34).

In the circle, Erin Poepping is 11-7 with a 2.11 earned run average and 95 strikeouts against 32 walks. She has also tossed 12 complete games in 22 appearances with one complete-game shutout. Whitney Sanford was 4-0 with a 1.38 ERA at the George Mason Invitational, earning a spot on the AAC Weekly Honor Roll.

Last season, ECU hosted Memphis in a three-game AAC series. The Tigers took two of the three matchups. The teams played a doubleheader on a Friday during which Memphis won 2-1 in eight innings and 10-1 before the Pirates responded with a 4-1 win in the series finale Sunday.

About Memphis
Memphis enters league play with a 15-13 overall record after falling to No. 14 Oklahoma State by a 5-2 score Monday at home. The Tigers are hitting .263 as a team, compiling 190 hits, 36 doubles, nine triples, 17 home runs and 36 stolen bases. Baylee Smith has been the offensive catalyst for the squad thus far, batting .384 with 28 hits, seven doubles, three triples, four home runs and 20 RBI. Delaney Smith has swiped a team-best 13 bags while Regan Hadley paces the side with 21 RBI. In the circle, the Memphis pitching staff sports a 3.01 earned run average with 137 strikeouts against 106 walks in 186 innings of work. Bayleigh Wisher is 6-1 with a 2.72 ERA and 32 strikeouts. Mariah Nichols leads the unit in innings pitched (76.2), games started (12) and strikeouts (58). Opposing teams are hitting .236 against the Tigers. Memphis is 10-4 at home thus far in 2019.

The Memphis Series
East Carolina leads the series with Memphis 23-13 and is 11-6 in contests played in the Bluff City. The Tigers have had the better of the Pirates since ECU joined the American Athletic Conference, winning seven of the 12 encounters.

ECU At A Glance
Record - 18-11 (.621) // AAC Record (Standing) - 0-0 (N/A) // Last 5 Games - 4-1 (.800) // Last 10 Games - 5-5 (.500) // Last 15 Games - 8-7 (.533) // ECU will play the 195th game of the Courtney Oliver era when it opens the series at Memphis Friday. // ECU's all-time record stands at 1,427-854-5 in its 34th season of competition.

Up Next
The Pirates return to Greenville next Wednesday, March 27, for a non-conference matchup against the University of North Carolina. First pitch at the ECU Softball Stadium is scheduled for 5 p.m.

Gameday: ECU Opens American Athletic Conference Slate At Memphis

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ashleigh Inae

Tyler King

Tate McClellan

Rachel McCollum

Erin Poepping

Whitney Sanford

Footer