Feb. 26, 2010

Gameday Central | Pirate Classic Tournament Page
Complete Game Notes In PDF Form

GREENVILLE, N.C. - Following a nine-game road trip to begin the 2010 season, the East Carolina softball team opens its home portion of the schedule with the Pirate Classic. ECU takes on Delaware (1-3) at 3:00 p.m. Friday, Towson (1-1) at 2:00 p.m. Saturday and Morehead State (1-3) immediately after. The hosts close the tournament against Penn State (6-3) at 11:00 a.m. Sunday.

The Pirates Against The Blue Hens ...
East Carolina holds a 16-4 advantage in the series with Delaware. The teams met at least once a year from 2006-08 and were scheduled to play each other at last season's Pirate Classic, but the game was canceled due to rain.

ECU's last loss to the Blue Hens occurred March 14, 2006, in Newark. Delaware jumped out to a 3-0 advantage after two innings and held on for a 3-1 triumph as the game was called due to darkness after five-and-a-half innings.

In the last meeting, March 1, 2008, Brooke Swann pitched the first no-hitter of her career in leading ECU to a 10-0 win. The Blue Hens were also shut out in 2007 and during the last three innings of the 2006 game, making it 15 innings since they have scored a run against the Pirates.

Moving On Up ...
Junior Toni Paisley pitched in all five of the Pirates' games last weekend, striking out 35 batters in 25.1 innings. Those 35 fanned hitters increased her career total to 590, good for ninth in Conference USA history. She is the only active pitcher to be ranked in the top 10.

... And Mowing Them Down
Against Kansas Saturday night, Paisley allowed a leadoff single to Alex Jones in the bottom of the first inning and then struck out the next eight batters. Jones broke the string by fouling out to freshman catcher Kai Clark with two outs in the bottom of the third. It was Paisley's third consecutive start, and 23rd of her career, in which she posted double-digit strikeouts.

Freshman Adjustment Period? Not Here ...
Clark was the Pirates' leading hitter last weekend at the Lipton Invitational as she posted a team-best .500 batting average. Against Marshall, she picked up her first career multiple-RBI game as she drove in two with a single to center field during ECU's four-run fifth inning.

In the first contest with No. 3 Florida, her four walks were the most for a Pirate player in a game since Kate Manuse drew four free passes against Marshall March 6, 2005. She also drove in the Pirates' only run against Kansas Saturday night. Clark extended her hitting streak to four games when she had one of East Carolina's two base knocks against the third-ranked Gators Sunday afternoon. She leads the Pirates with five runs batted in and a .556 on-base percentage.

Getting Sum(ner) Hits ...
After a relatively slow start to the 2010 campaign in which she totaled three hits in four games at the USF Wilson-DeMarini Tournament (2/13-14), senior Charina Sumner picked up the pace at last weekend's Lipton Invitational. Sumner led the team with seven hits, including three against Kansas Saturday night.

Last weekend's seven hits gave her 181 in her career, putting her 10th on the ECU all-time list.