Feb. 12, 2011

East Carolina Game 5: Maryland
Date	Sunday, Feb. 13
Time	11:00 a.m. ET
Location	Athens, Ga. (Jack Turner Softball Stadium)
Game Notes	East Carolina | Maryland
2011 Statistics	East Carolina | Maryland
Internet Coverage	Gametracker | Live Chat  Season-Opening Weekend Preview
Mobile Connect	Live Chat for Mobile Devices
Pirate Softball Central	Gameday Central | Roster  Interactive Guide  Conference USA Softball | NCAA Softball

ATHENS, Ga. - After a 2-2 record through the first two days at the Red & Black Showcase, the East Carolina softball team looks to head back to Greenville with a winning record after Sunday's contest against Atlantic Coast Conference foe Maryland. The Pirates have defeated Lipscomb and Iowa, but fallen to Illinois State and No. 3 Georgia.

The Pirates Against The Terrapins
East Carolina's most frequent opponent of the opening weekend is Maryland, which holds a 6-2 advantage in the all-time series. The Terrapins and Pirates split the first four meetings but Maryland has claimed the last four contests.

In the most recent game, Feb. 16, 2007, at the FAU Dunkin' Donuts Classic, ECU fell 9-1 in six innings. A Jessica Johnson second-inning home run was all the offense the Pirates managed. Toni Paisley started and surrendered six runs, five earned, on six hits in two innings of work.

Shutout Records
Paisley and sophomore Faith Sutton threw 10-straight shutouts to begin last May. UCF's first-inning unearned run in the Conference USA Tournament championship game broke the string. The 10 consecutive blankings set an East Carolina program record, besting the previous mark of five from March 1-7, 1992.

Paisley and Sutton have been nearly as impressive this season. Paisley has thrown two-straight shutouts and in Sutton's last start, at No. 3 Georgia, she allowed just one run on four hits.

And More Zeros
Of the Pirates' 44 wins in 2010, a school-record 33 were shutouts, surpassing the 2007 and 1998 squads' 20. East Carolina did not throw its first shutout until the 11th game of the season, meaning its foes were blanked 63.5 percent of the time for the remainder of the year.

This season, the Pirates did not wait so long to blank an opponent, shutting out Lipscomb and Iowa in the team's two victories.

ECU History Against The Atlantic Sun, Missouri Valley, Big Ten, Southeastern and Atlantic Coast Conferences
After this weekend's action, the Pirates are now 43-12 against the Atlantic Sun, 3-4 facing Missouri Valley teams, 18-35 versus the Big Ten and 6-29 taking on members of the Southeastern Conference.

The Terrapins represent ECU's first Atlantic Coast Conference foe this season. The Pirates are 82-133 against the ACC schools heading into tomorrow's contest.

Captain Clutch Strikes Again
Current junior Suzanne Riggs delivered a pinch-hit, game-winning single in the final inning three times in 2010. She continued her late-game heroics Saturday by driving in the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh against Iowa. With one out against the Hawkeyes, Riggs drove home freshman Kristi Oshiro, who had reached on an error.

A year ago, Riggs plated the winner in the April 14 opener at N.C. State with an eighth-inning hit up the middle, in the April 17 second game against UTEP with a seventh-inning walk-off single to left field and in the May 1 nightcap against Southern Miss with a game-ending hit through the left side in the bottom of the seventh. The game-winners accounted for 37.5 percent of Riggs' hit total last season.