Feb. 17, 2012

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East Carolina Game 7: Fordham Saturday, Feb. 18 | 3:00 p.m. ET Greenville, N.C. (ECU Softball Stadium)

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EAST CAROLINA PIRATES Record 4-2 Friday Results L, 5-0 Louisville; W, 2-1 UNCG Game Notes East Carolina Pirate Clash Notes Statistics 2012 Stats FORDHAM RAMS Record 1-1 Friday Results W, 2-1 Virginia; L, 12-7 UNCG Game Notes Fordham Pirate Clash Notes PIRATE SOFTBALL CENTRAL Gameday Central 2012 Pirate Clash 2012 Fact Book 2012 Roster C-USA Softball NCAA Softball

GREENVILLE, N.C. - East Carolina (4-2) will play its seventh game of the young season Saturday afternoon, taking on Fordham (1-1) at approximately 3:00 p.m.

Friday, the Pirates dropped a 5-0 decision to No. 21 Louisville and topped UNCG 2-1. Senior Suzanne Riggs hit a two-run home run in the top of the sixth inning to lift ECU to the victory over the Spartans. It was her second home run in three games and she now leads the Pirates with a .545 batting average and 1.091 slugging percentage.

The Pirates Taking On The Rams
East Carolina holds a 9-2 edge in the Fordham series, but the teams have split the last four meetings. Fordham picked up victories in 2005 and 2008 while the Pirates were victorious a day later in 2008 and in 2009.

When the teams last played, on Feb. 27, 2009, it took 10 innings for ECU to pull off a 2-1 triumph. Jen Mineau and Toni Paisley locked into a pitchers' duel, combining to strike out 17 and allow 11 hits and two walks. Neither team scored until the international tie breaker rules were put in place at the start of the eighth inning. A two-out single by Meghan Shager gave Fordham a brief 1-0 lead, but the Pirates tied it in the bottom of the eighth on a Marina Gusman-Brown RBI single. With Sarah Bibee placed on second to start the bottom of the 10th, Paisley hit a grounder to the third baseman, who overthrew first and allowed Bibee to score the winning run.

The Pirates And The Big East, Southern Conference, Atlantic 10 And Colonial Athletic Association
Following Friday's results against Louisville and UNCG, the Pirates are now 42-42 against current members of the Big East Conference including Louisville, 71-31-1 facing Southern Conference teams such as UNCG, 43-9 squaring off against Fordham and other Atlantic 10 squads and 168-30 versus Hofstra, Sunday's opponent, and Colonial Athletic Association clubs.

Stealing At An Unprecedented Rate
This season, East Carolina has taken a very opportunistic approach on the bases. The Pirates entered the weekend leading Conference USA with 19 stolen bases and are now 20-of-23 on the year.

The Pirates did not swipe a base in the first game of the year, but have averaged 4.0 in the last five contests. A year ago, it took ECU 15 games to reach 20 steals. Through six tilts in 2011, the Pirates had registered 11 swipes.

And Preventing Thefts
On the other hand, opponents are just three-of-eight in steal attempts this season. All three Pirate catchers have thrown out at least one would-be base stealer - sophomore Rebecca Lee has caught two, junior Kai Clark two and sophomore Abby Wynne one.

No Sophomore Slumps Here
East Carolina returned eight of its 10 freshmen from last year's team and all four of its Conference USA All-Freshman Team selections.

The eight sophomores showed no signs of slumping during the opening weekend. Entering Friday's action, the second-year players had accounted for 82.1 percent of the team's runs scored (23-of-28), 80.0 percent of the club's hits (28-of-35) and 72.0 percent of the squad's runs batted in (18-of-25).

The First To Go Deep, Again
Sophomore Jasmine Robbins tallied East Carolina's first home run of the season with a three-run long ball against Canisius last Saturday afternoon. It is the second-straight season Robbins has supplied ECU's initial home run of the campaign. Last year, she homered against St. John's for the Pirates' first of the year and first ever inside the ECU Softball Stadium.

An Offensive Force
After the opening weekend, Robbins was the team leader in hits (six), doubles (two), runs batted in (six) and total bases (11). She also stood third on the squad in slugging percentage (.786) and tied for fourth in runs scored (three).