March 17, 2011

East Carolina Games 30-31: Marshall
Date	Saturday, March 19
Times	1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. ET
Location	Huntington, W.Va. (Dot Hicks Field)
Game Notes	East Carolina | Marshall
Statistics	East Carolina | Marshall
Internet Coverage	Game 1 Gametracker |  Game 1 Watch Live Game 2 Gametracker |  Game 2 Watch Live Listen Live | Live Chat
Mobile Connect	Live Chat for Mobile Devices
Pirate Softball Central	Gameday Central | Roster  Interactive Guide Conference USA Softball | NCAA Softball

GREENVILLE, N.C. - East Carolina returns to Conference USA action this weekend with a three-game series at Marshall (10-13, 0-3 C-USA). The Pirates (21-8, 1-2 C-USA) dropped two of three to Memphis in last weekend's league-opening series while the Thundering Herd was swept at Tulsa. ECU got back on the winning track Tuesday with a doubleheader sweep of Charleston Southern, shutting out the Buccaneers 4-0 and 3-0.

Tuesday against Charleston Southern, senior Toni Paisley threw the fifth no-hitter of her career and junior Faith Sutton followed with a three-hit shutout. Paisley's fifth no-hitter is the third most in Conference USA history. For the ECU offense in the first game, four players drove in runs and four scored. During the second contest, freshmen Jordan Lewis and Jasmine Robbins each had two hits.

The Pirates Against The Thundering Herd
Marshall leads the all-time series with East Carolina 11-9. The Thundering Herd claimed six of the first nine meetings, but the Pirates have won five of the last eight.

During the last series in Huntington, ECU took two of three. In the opener, Marshall's Rachael Sofie hit a walk-off solo home run in the seventh after the Pirates had forced a 1-1 tie in the top of the inning. Game two had East Carolina use a five-run fourth to cruise to an 8-3 victory as Jessica Johnson drove in four. The finale featured another game-changing inning as ECU trailed 1-0 until scoring three in the fifth to win 3-1. Cristen Aona had the deciding hit as she plated two with a single to left field.

A year ago, the teams split four meetings. The Thundering Herd won 8-7 in nine innings at the Lipton Invitational in Gainesville, Fla., Feb. 19. East Carolina trailed 7-1 in the fifth before tying it in the seventh. Marshall won on a bases-loaded walk to Marcena Bertoldo in the bottom of the ninth. In the three-game series in Greenville, ECU won the opener 4-3 as Marina Gusman-Brown hit a game-tying two-run home run with two outs in the bottom of the seventh and Kaui Tom had a sacrifice fly in the ninth to bring home the deciding run. Marshall hit two home runs and Alysia Hively drove in three during the Thundering Herd's 10-6 victory in game two. In the finale, Gusman-Brown and Tom combined to drive in seven runs as ECU rolled to a 10-0 win.

1-2 In C-USA: We've Been Here Before
East Carolina opened the Conference USA season last weekend dropping two-of-three games to Memphis. Since joining the league in 2002, East Carolina has an opening-weekend record of 15-15. A closer look at the Pirates' starts and finishes in C-USA.

Paisley No-Hits Charleston Southern
Paisley threw the fifth no-hitter of her career Tuesday in game one against Charleston Southern. She struck out 13, issued one walk and hit a batter. She retired the last 13 batters faced. The five no-hitters by Paisley are the third most in Conference USA history, two behind DePaul's Lindsay Chouinard (2000-03).

It was Paisley's first no-hitter in almost exactly two years as her last occurred March 14, 2009, at Southern Miss.

A Sign Of Things To Come?
In Paisley's career, her four previous no-hitters came in pairs. In 2009 and 2010, she threw a perfect game and followed it with a no-hitter later that week.

Career Win No. 101
Paisley's Tuesday victory against Charleston Southern was the 101st of her career. She is just the second East Carolina or Conference USA pitcher to reach the 100-win plateau. The Lakewood, Calif., native trails Jenny Parsons (1990-93/102) by one victory for the all-time program record and Chouinard (108) by seven for the C-USA mark.

.444 And Going Strong
Senior Sissy Jimenez started the C-USA season with four hits in nine at bats during the three-game series versus Memphis. She was the only Pirate with more than one base knock over the weekend and tallied ECU's lone hit in the Sunday contest. During the 2010 C-USA season, Jimenez batted .265 with 13 hits.

That's More Like It
Junior Suzanne Riggs and Lewis, two of ECU's top run producers, went a combined 2-14 last weekend against Memphis. Tuesday versus Charleston Southern, the duo was 5-8 and Lewis had the game-winning RBI in the nightcap.

A Strong Pitching Start
Paisley and Sutton combined to allow just four runs, 10 hits and two walks against Memphis over 21 innings last weekend. The duo posted a 1.33 earned run average as the Tigers hit just .141 against the two.

A year ago, Paisley and Sutton threw 146.2 innings in C-USA action and surrendered 86 hits, an average of 4.1 base knocks per contest. The pair combined for a 1.15 ERA in league competition during the 2010 campaign.

A Double Blanking
Tuesday against Charleston Southern, Paisley no-hit the Buccaneers in her game-one shutout. Sutton then toed the rubber during the second contest and blanked CSU on three hits. It was the second time this year and 11th in the last two seasons that Paisley and Sutton have both thrown a shutout in a doubleheader. The duo threw double blankings nine times in 2010, all from March 13 to the end of the year.

A Shaky Start, But A Strong Second Showing
During ECU's opening weekend of Conference USA action, the team batted .154 and scored five runs in the three games. Those are very close to the numbers the Pirates posted during their initial five games of the season at the Red & Black Showcase (.150 BA, three runs in five games).

Despite the rocky start, East Carolina bounced back after the season-opening weekend to post a .306 batting average and score 24 runs over five games at the next tournament, the Pirate Classic. In its next C-USA series, the Pirates face Marshall and its pitching staff, which has a cumulative earned run average of 4.72.