Feb. 12, 2010

Gameday Central
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CLEARWATER, Fla. - After heavy rains canceled Friday's games, the East Carolina softball team will open the 2010 season Saturday. The Pirates play No. 3 Florida at 12 p.m. and host USF at 5 p.m.

ECU finishes the event Sunday against No. 13 Georgia Tech at 9 a.m. and Long Island at 11 a.m.

The Pirates Against The Gators ...
Saturday will be the first meeting between the two programs. The Gators return 10 letterwinners, five position starters and one pitcher from last year’s 63-5 national runner-up team. Florida begins this season ranked No. 3 in the country in the USA Today/NFCA poll and No. 5 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll.

Leading the way in the circle will be junior Stephanie Brombacher, a 2009 Easton First-Team All-American who has never lost in her collegiate career (42-0) and went 22-0 a year ago. A pair of two-time Easton First-Team All-American selections in senior Francesca Enea and junior Aja Paculba return to anchor the outfield and infield, respectively.

East Carolina Versus USF ...
The Pirates resume a rivalry with former Conference USA member USF, which leads the series 12-6. The Bulls held just a 3-2 advantage in the series before both programs were C-USA members. Once in the same league, the Bulls took five of the first six meetings before ECU won three of the past seven contests.

The teams have not met since USF knocked East Carolina out of the 2005 Conference USA Tournament with a 1-0 victory. The Bulls’ Carmela Liwag drove in the game’s only run with a two-out RBI-single in the third. Also in the contest, current ECU pitching coach Keli Harrell became the program’s all-time strikeout leader after fanning Carly Griffin to end the fourth inning.

This season, USF will be led by sophomore outfielder Janine Richardson, a 2009 All-Big East First Team pick, and senior catcher Cat Olnick, a third team selection.

ECU In First-Time Meetings ...
The Pirates will face Florida for the first time Saturday. Since 2006, East Carolina has gone 13-6 in series openers. Last season, East Carolina went 2-0 in initial meetings, defeating Big Ten member Indiana, 8-3, and Big East foe Georgetown, 9-0.

One More To 575 ...
In her 14th year as ECU's head coach, Tracey Kee's first victory of the season will be win No. 575 of her career. Kee's teams have won 40 or more games in five of the past six, and 10 of the past 13, seasons, and have tallied at least 50 in four of her years as head coach. Since East Carolina began fastpitch softball in 1984, the Pirates have recorded 971 victories, with Kee being a part of 892 of those wins as a player, assistant coach and head coach.

Paisley Preseason Conference USA Pitcher-of-the-Year ...
Following a standout year in which she was selected the 2009 Conference USA Co-Female Athlete-of-the-Year, league Pitcher-of-the-Year and Louisville Slugger/NFCA Mideast All-Region Team member, junior Toni Paisley has been named the league's Preseason Pitcher-of-the-Year.

Last season, the Lakewood, Calif., native led C-USA in wins (30), innings pitched (270.2), earned run average (1.22), opponents' batting average (.177), batters struck out (297) and batters struck out looking (92). Nationally, she finished the year ranked seventh in wins, 11th in ERA, 16th in strikeouts, 26th in saves and 30th in shutouts (9).

Two More Preseason All-Conference USA Selections ...
Joining Paisley on this year's Preseason All-C-USA team are seniors Cristen Aona and Christina Merrida.

Aona, a third baseman, drove in a team second-best 31 runs a year ago. Her 43 hits, including a career-high six home runs, put her in a tie for third on the squad. Defensively, she led the Pirates with 107 assists, the seventh-most in Conference USA.

Merrida, a center fielder, finished fourth on the squad with a .281 batting average. From the beginning of April to the end of the season, she was the Pirates' hottest hitter, batting .355 and scoring 11 runs. Merrida also stole 16 bases, one off the team lead.

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