Gameday: ECU Set To Host UCF For American Athletic Conference Series

Games 34-36: UCF
Schedule	March 29: vs. UCF \\\ 6 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Video March 30: vs. UCF \\\ 2 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Video March 31: vs. UCF \\\ 11 a.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Video
Venue	ECU Softball Stadium (1,000)
Tickets	ECU Athletics Ticket Center
Social Media	@ECUSoftball (Twitter) \\\ Instagram \\\ Facebook

GREENVILLE, N.C. – After opening American Athletic Conference play on the road in Memphis last weekend, the East Carolina softball team plays host to UCF for a three-game series Friday through Sunday at the ECU Softball Stadium.

The Pirates (19-14, 1-2 AAC) lost the series to the Tigers in the Bluff City, winning the opener 5-4 in eight innings before falling in a pair of run-rule decisions Saturday and Sunday. ECU then returned home Wednesday for a non-conference game against North Carolina, dropping the contest 5-0.

Rachel McCollum leads the Pirates offensively with a .391 batting average, eight doubles and 36 RBI. Tyler King is hitting .353 and paces the squad in hits (42) and stolen bases (14). In the circle, Erin Poepping is 12-9 with a 2.60 earned run average and 113 strikeouts against 41 walks in 129.1 innings of work. Collectively, ECU is hitting .292 with 40 doubles, four triples, 20 home runs and 38 stolen bases.

Scouting UCF
UCF (23-9, 3-0 AAC) is the lone unbeaten team in AAC play after one weekend as it swept Connecticut at home a week ago. It was a series dominated by pitching as the teams combined for just eight runs in the three games. The Knights rely heavily on the pitching duo of Alea White and Breanna Vasquez who sport a combined 1.71 earned run average – tops in the league and seventh nationally. The two have teamed up to strike out 172 batters in 202 innings. UCF is hitting .272 as a team with Tamesha Glover leading the way with a .375 batting average, 12 doubles and eight stolen bases. Cindy Ball-Malone is in her first season in charge of the program after spending 2015-18 as the head coach at Boise State.

The UCF Series
The Pirates and Knights have met 40 times on the softball diamond and each team has won 20 of the encounters. UCF swept ECU in Orlando last season by scores of 3-1, 9-3 and 4-3.

ECU At A Glance
Record - 19-14 (.576) // AAC Record (Standing) - 1-2 (T-5th) // Last 5 Games – 2-3 (.400) // Last 10 Games – 5-5 (.500) // Last 15 Games – 7-8 (.467) // ECU will play the 199th game of the Courtney Oliver era when it opens the series against UCF Friday evening. // ECU's all-time record stands at 1,428-857-5 in its 34th season of competition.

Up Next
The Pirates travel to Florida next weekend for a three-game AAC series at USF.

Gameday: ECU Set To Host UCF For American Athletic Conference Series

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Players Mentioned

Tyler King

Rachel McCollum

Erin Poepping

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