Gameday: ECU Visits Duke Tuesday In Non-Conference Finale

Game 47: at Duke
Information	April 23 at Duke \\\ 5:00 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Video
Venue	Duke Softball Stadium
Social Media	@ECUSoftball (Twitter) \\\ Instagram \\\ Facebook

GREENVILLE, N.C. – The East Carolina softball team plays its final non-conference game of the 2019 season Tuesday evening, making the trip across the state to Durham for a matchup with Duke. First pitch is slated for 5 p.m. at the Duke Softball Stadium.

ECU dropped two of three games in an American Athletic Conference series at Wichita State over Easter Weekend, picking up its lone win in the set by a 3-2 count Friday. The Pirates lost to the Shockers 8-0 (six innings) Thursday and 11-5 Saturday in the rubber game after holding a 4-0 lead in the first inning.

East Carolina is hitting .259 as a club with Rachel McCollum leading the way in batting average (.326), doubles (8), RBI (37), total bases (69) and slugging percentage (.523). Tyler King paces the unit in hits (53) while Ashleigh Inae is tops on the team in runs scored (34). King has also stolen a squad-high 15 bases.

In the circle, Erin Poepping has thrown 195 innings and has struck out 149 batters against 62 walks. She is 14-16 with a 3.27 earned run average and opposing hitters are batting .272 against her. Whitney Sanford is 7-9 with a 4.79 ERA, 42 strikeouts and 89 walks in 103.2 innings pitched.

Glancing at Duke
Duke is 24-27 overall after losing an Atlantic Coast Conference series to NC State two games to one at home last weekend. The Blue Devils are batting .260 with Deja Davis posting team-best marks in batting average (.333), runs scored (30), hits (58) and stolen bases (23). Jameson Kavel is also a key piece of the Duke offense as she is hitting .301 with 30 runs scored, 49 hits and 14 doubles. Brianna Butler has pitched the most innings for the Blue Devils. She is 8-3 with a 2.80 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 107.2 innings while Peyton St. George owns an 8-6 record with a 2.32 ERA and 86 strikeouts in 81.1 frames.

The Duke Series
East Carolina won the first-ever encounter between the programs last season in Greenville, defeating Duke 4-1 on the strength of home runs by Tate McClellan and Alex Mycek. The Blue Devils are in their second season as a program.

Up Next
ECU wraps up its home schedule April 26-28 when it hosts AAC opponent Connecticut.

Gameday: ECU Visits Duke Tuesday In Non-Conference Finale

Players Mentioned

Ashleigh Inae

Tyler King

Tate McClellan

Rachel McCollum

Alex Mycek

Erin Poepping

Whitney Sanford

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