March 5, 2011

East Carolina Games 19-20: Creighton and Northern Iowa
Date	Saturday, March 5
Times	11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. ET
Location	Tempe, Ariz. (Alberta B. Farrington Stadium)
Game Notes	East Carolina
Statistics	East Carolina | Creighton | Northern Iowa
Internet Coverage	Creighton Gametracker Northern Iowa Gametracker Live Chat |  Weekend Preview
Mobile Connect	Live Chat for Mobile Devices
Pirate Softball Central	Gameday Central | Roster  Interactive Guide Conference USA Softball | NCAA Softball

TEMPE, Ariz. - Following a 1-1 showing Friday at the Wilson/DeMarini Invitational, the Pirates return to action Saturday with 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. games against Missouri Valley Conference foes. ECU (13-5) first takes on Creighton (7-5) before finishing the day’s action with Northern Iowa (8-4).

Examining Creighton
The Bluejays enter Saturday’s action with a 7-5 mark after going 1-1 Friday afternoon. A year ago Creighton went 37-23, won the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament’s Columbia Regional before falling to No. 8 Missouri 3-2 and DePaul 3-2 in nine innings.

This year, the Bluejays are led on offense by junior outfielder Christa Ruf’s .324 batting average, 12 hits, five runs scored and 14 RBI. Friday, Ruf drove in all four runs in Creighton’s 4-0 victory over Northern Colorado. Freshman Malloree Grove is just behind Ruf with a .323 mark and 10 hits.

In the circle, freshman Becca Changstrom is anchoring the staff with a 4-2 record and 0.70 earned run average. Junior Kylie Hovinga is 2-1 with a 2.25 ERA.

The Scoop On The Panthers
Northern Iowa owns an 8-4 record after opening the season 5-0 at the Ramada UNI-Dome Classic. Last season, the Panthers went 28-25 with a 13-12 mark in Missouri Valley action.

Sophomore catcher Samantha Reimer has the highest batting average among those who have played more than five games at .471. Junior outfielder Hannah Borschel has a .459 average and team-best 17 hits. Junior shortstop Mackenzie Daigh’s 11 RBI are tied for the top spot with classmate Courtney Dunker while junior Whitney Plein and Borschel have scored eight runs.

In the circle, freshman and 2009-10 Gatorade Iowa Softball Player-of-the-Year Jamie Fisher is 4-1 with a 2.25 ERA. Redshirt junior Melissa Tillett has gone 2-0 with a 1.94 earned run average while junior Jaye Hutcheson is 2-2 with a 2.85 ERA.

Riggs Still Rolling Along
During her first season of extensive playing time, junior Suzanne Riggs has become the Pirates’ offensive centerpiece. She continued her torrid start to the campaign last week posting team-best marks in batting average (.563), hits (9), runs batted in (9), home runs (2), triples (2) and slugging percentage (1.188). Riggs had at least one hit and run scored in each of last week’s five games and drove in at least one run in all but one contest.

Friday, Riggs cooled off slightly with a 1-7 showing during the two games, but the one hit was a solo home run against New Mexico State that put the Pirates ahead 5-2.

For the season, the Greenville product is batting .357 with 20 hits, 16 runs batted in, nine scored and four stolen bases.

Scoring Runs, Lots Of Them
Freshman Kristi Oshiro scored a team-best 15 runs during the Pirates’ recent homestand. She tied for second on the squad with 14 hits and led ECU with 11 walks during the 11 games. Oshiro also scored 60.0 percent of the time she was on base.

Friday, Oshiro added to her run collection scoring once against New Mexico State.

Watch Out The Third Time Through
The more East Carolina batters see of a pitcher, the more success they have. This season, the Pirates have posted a .292 batting average in the first inning, a .215 mark in the second, a .219 average in the third and a .243 BA in the fourth.

By the third time through the order, though, the averages increase dramatically. In the fifth inning, ECU is hitting .351 and the Pirates are up to .390 in the sixth frame. Coincidently, the Pirates’ highest scoring innings are the fifth (18) and sixth (13).

Balls In Play Mean Lots Of Hits
East Carolina has struck out 115 times this season but has still posted a .284 team batting average. When looking at the Pirates’ average on just balls put in play (excluding strikeouts and home runs), the team’s average rises to .368. On the other hand, opponents are hitting a cumulative .195 with just a .282 mark on balls in play.

For ECU, freshman Rebecca Lee is batting .524 on balls in play, classmate Oshiro is at .435 and freshman Jordan Lewis has a .429 average in those situations.

Good Things Come In Threes
The Pirates have already hit eight triples this season after smacking 12 all last season. Entering this weekend’s action, the eight three-base hits led Conference USA as only UCF (7) had hit more than four this year.

Freshmen Jill Jelnick and Abby Wynne, along with Riggs are tied for the East Carolina and C-USA lead with two triples each.