April 12, 2011

East Carolina Games 43-44: N.C. State
Date	Wednesday, April 13
Times	4:00 and 6:00 p.m. ET
Location	Greenville, N.C. (ECU Softball Stadium)
Game Notes	East Carolina
Statistics	East Carolina | N.C. State
Internet Coverage	Game 1 Gametracker |  Game 1 Watch Live Game 2 Gametracker |  Game 2 Watch Live Live Chat | N.C. State Preview
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 takes a brief Conference USA break and completes its five-game home stand Wednesday with a 4:00 p.m. doubleheader against rival N.C. State (18-19). The Pirates (29-13) are looking to extend their recent success against in-state foes, having claimed 16 of the last 17 matchups versus North Carolina opponents.

Last weekend against UCF, East Carolina dropped two extra-inning decisions Saturday before responding with a 1-0 win Sunday. In the opener, the Knights scored the game's only run in the 11th. The second game had senior Sissy Jimenez drive in the game-tying run in the bottom of the seventh, but UCF scored in the eighth and held on for a 3-2 victory. Sunday, junior Suzanne Riggs scored in the bottom of the fifth on a throwing error and senior Toni Paisley tied the C-USA career wins total with 108.

The Pirates Against The Wolfpack
N.C. State and East Carolina are locked at 5-5 in the all-time series, which began in 2005. The Pirates lost the first five meetings while being outscored 18-2, but have responded with wins in the last five contests, two in extra innings.

A year ago in Raleigh, ECU claimed a 1-0 victory in eight innings followed by a 7-0 win. In the opener, Riggs' single up the middle with two outs in the top of the eighth plated Charina Sumner, who reached on an infield single. Paisley recorded the win after allowing just four hits and striking out 10. Jimenez powered the offense in the second game, hitting the first two home runs of her career and driving in three runs. Kai Clark also homered to back Faith Sutton's two-hit performance.

In N.C. State's last visit to Greenville, Cristen Aona hit a two-out, two-run, walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh to give ECU a 3-1 victory. The Pirates had taken a 1-0 lead in the fifth on an RBI single by Jessica Johnson, only to have NCSU answer with a run in the sixth when Claudia Cooper singled home Alyssa Ishibashi. Paisley picked up the win after striking out 14 and scattering six hits.

Dominate The State
The Pirates will be looking to continue their recent success against teams from North Carolina as they have won 16 of the last 17 contests against in-state foes, outscoring them 104-14.

East Carolina defeated UNC Greensboro twice and Campbell once near the end of 2009 and went 11-0 versus Campbell, N.C. Central, UNC Greensboro, N.C. State, UNC Wilmington and Elon last season. So far this season, the Pirates have split with UNC Wilmington, winning 8-0 and falling 2-1, and topped Campbell 6-0 Feb. 27.

The Start Of Something Good
Heading into last season's April 14 doubleheader at N.C. State, the Pirates had a 23-14 overall record and a 6-3 mark in Conference USA play. The team was also coming off a 1-2 home weekend against a league foe, including an 11-inning opening game loss. In 2010, ECU downed the Wolfpack twice and went on a roll.

From the doubleheader sweep to the end of the season, East Carolina went 19-4, claimed the first C-USA regular season and tournament titles in program history and advanced to the NCAA Tournament's Austin Regional Championship game.

It was the pitching of Paisley and Sutton that really heated up following the pair of wins. The duo combined to throw 16 shutouts, including 10 consecutive from May 1-14, and post a 0.77 earned run average for the remainder of the year.

One More Win
Paisley won her Sunday start against UCF for the 108th triumph of her career, tying her with DePaul's Lindsay Chouinard (2000-03) for the all-time Conference USA record. Paisley already owns the league's career strikeout mark with 1,144.

And Closing In On Two Other C-USA Records
Paisley could also gain two other Conference USA records this week as she is approaching the all-time marks for innings pitched and appearances. Paisley trails Chouinard for the innings standard by 13, 975.0-944.0. For the appearances record, Paisley is two behind former pitching coach and 2007 teammate Keli Harrell, who had 167 appearances from 2004-07.

A Clutch Appearance Against UCF, Again
Jimenez entered as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the seventh inning of ECU's second game Saturday against UCF. With one out, the Pirates trailing 2-1 and freshman Jill Jelnick standing on third after a triple, Jimenez drove in Jelnick with a game-tying single to right center.

It was the second time in Jimenez's career she tallied a pinch-hit RBI single against the Knights as she also had one March 29, 2009, in the bottom of the fifth inning of the Sunday series finale.

Three Bases For Jelnick
Jelnick's triple in the bottom of the seventh inning during the second game Saturday against UCF was her team-leading third of the season. The total also ties Jelnick for the second most in Conference USA this season.

Taking Two Or Three
After this weekend's double in the UCF series, freshman Chelsea Kaluhiokalani-Glackin raised her season total to five hits with three doubles, one triple and one single.

Turning Two
East Carolina turned a pair of inning-ending double plays against UCF Sunday as Abby McClain lined into one during the first and Marissa Menendez flew into one to close the fourth. It was the first time the Pirates had turned a pair of double plays in the same game since the May 22, 2010, NCAA Austin Regional championship game against BYU.

Gradually Cutting Back
During last weekend's series versus UCF, the Pirates struck out 15 times. East Carolina has slowly decreased its whiff rate as the season has progressed and its freshman-heavy lineup continues to acclimate to the college game. In February, ECU averaged 6.2 strikeouts per game. For March, the average dipped to 5.4 Ks a contest. So far in April, the Pirates are fanning 4.7 times per tilt.