March 6, 2010

Gameday Central | Complete Game Notes In PDF Form

Honolulu, Hawai’i - The East Carolina softball team continues action at the Bank of Hawai’i Invitational Tournament today with two games beginning at 5:00 p.m. EST. The Pirates play Seattle first before taking on Hawai’i at 9:00 p.m.

Seattle At A Glance ...
Heading into this weekend, the Redhawks had a 1-8 mark but had not played since Feb. 21 at New Mexico. On offense, junior catcher Jessica Amador leads the way with a .333 average and two doubles. Senior outfielder Katie Antich has a .308 average and paces the squad in runs scored with seven. Classmate Lauren Berin has picked up a team-best seven runs batted in.

Sophomore Hannah Klein, senior Kelsey Reynolds and freshman Jessica Ulrich have split time in the pitching circle. Reynolds has the team’s win and has fired two complete games. Klein’s 6.87 earned run average is the lowest on the squad.

Examining Hawai’i ...
Saturday’s contest against the host Rainbow Wahine will be the first in East Carolina program history. Hawai’i (10-6) dropped three of four games at last weekend’s Cathedral City (Calif.) Classic, losing to Oklahoma State, Oregon and No. 2 Arizona but downing UC Davis.

The Rainbow Wahine has been led by redshirt freshman outfielder Kelly Majam’s .489 batting average, 18 runs scored and six home runs. Following closely behind are junior infielder Melissa Gonzalez (.370) and senior first baseman Amanda Tauali’i (.364). Tauali’i’s 15 runs batted in are the most on the squad.

Freshman Kaia Parnaby has gone 5-3 with a 2.37 earned run average to pace the pitching staff. Sophomore Stephanie Ricketts is the other main hurler, going 3-3 with a 3.45 ERA.

First Career Hits ...
Home runs were not the only career firsts accomplished last weekend as senior infielder Nicole Jordan and sophomore outfielder Suzanne Riggs picked up their initial hits for ECU against Delaware Friday afternoon. Jordan led off the top of the fifth with a single up the middle. Four batters later, Riggs singled to center field and tallied her first career RBI in the process.

Thanks For Bringing Me In ...
Coming off a disappointing weekend at the Lipton Invitational in which ECU left 44 runners stranded over the five games, hit just .175 with runners in scoring position and drove in four runners in 14 opportunities with a runner on third and fewer than two outs, the tables turned at the Pirate Classic.

East Carolina finished the four games of its tournament still leaving 25 on base, but batting .400 (16-of-40) with runners in scoring position and converting six-of-11 opportunities (54.5 percent) with a runner on third and fewer than two outs. The Pirates also helped their cause by picking up four hits in six chances with the bases loaded.