April 30, 2010

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GREENVILLE, N.C. - The East Carolina softball team dropped the final two games of last weekend's series at Houston and looks to get back on track in its final home Conference USA series of the season and the last one ever at the ECU Softball Field. The Pirates host Southern Miss (22-22, 6-12 C-USA) in a Saturday doubleheader beginning at 1:00 p.m. and complete the weekend with a 12:00 p.m. Senior Day Sunday contest.

Last weekend, the Pirates defeated Houston 1-0 in game one but dropped the next two by 4-3 and 4-2 scores. A first-inning single from senior Christina Merrida that drove in classmate Marina Gusman-Brown was all East Carolina needed in the opener as junior Toni Paisley threw her sixth-straight shutout. In the second contest, the Pirates hit three solo home runs, but the Cougars' Melissa Gregson drove in three runs to lead them to the win. Sunday, Houston got three hits and three RBI from Reina Gaber. Senior Charina Sumner scored twice for ECU, but it was not enough.

Pirates Against The Golden Eagles ...
Southern Miss holds a 16-11 advantage in the all-time series, which began with a single game in 1985. The teams did not see each other again until 2002, when East Carolina joined Conference USA. Streaks by both teams have defined the series as the Pirates lost 13 of the first 15 meetings, rebounded to take the next eight, but have dropped three of the past four.

Last season in Hattiesburg, Paisley no-hit the Golden Eagles in a 2-1, game-one victory. Gusman-Brown drove in two runs with a double in the top of the first inning to provide the ECU offense. In the second contest, Megan Hill put Southern Miss ahead 2-0 with a two-run single in the third inning before giving the Golden Eagles three more runs in the fifth with a home run to left field. The Pirates scored once in the fourth and twice in the sixth, but could not come back and fell 6-3. ECU held a 1-0 lead in the Sunday finale until the bottom of the sixth, when, with two outs and the bases clear, USM strung three hits together, capped by Ashley Razey's three-run homer.

Paisley Up The Record Books ...
With her eight strikeouts in the shutout victory over Houston Saturday, Paisley continued her ascent up the Conference USA career leaderboards. The eight whiffs gave her 805 in her career, making her one of just six pitchers in league history to surpass 800. After Sunday's four strikeouts, Paisley is fifth all time in whiffs with 809. She trails Pirate alumna, and current pitching coach, Keli Harrell by just 139 for the career record.

The victory was also the 77th of Paisley's career, moving her into a tie for fourth with USF's Leigh Ann Ellis (2003-04) and DePaul's Sarah Martz (2001-04) on the C-USA wins list.

Her Best For Last ...
Since April started, Sumner has been playing some of her best softball. Last month, she led the Pirates in batting average (.316), hits (18) and runs batted in (10). She also scored six runs and stole three bases.

Eight Is Great ...
Merrida drove in the game-winning run with a first-inning single in Saturday's opener at Houston. The run batted in was her eighth of the season, setting a career high for the slap hitter. Merrida has doubled her RBI total from her junior campaign, when she picked up four.

Production From The Top ...
When leading off, East Carolina is reaching base 39.8 percent of the time as a team compared with its opponents' 27.2 mark. Sumner (55) and Gusman-Brown (48) have had the majority of the squad's opportunities in the top spot. Sumner is reaching at a .436 clip while Gusman-Brown is at .458 when leading off.

An Offensive Spark ...
During the Pirates' past 10 contests, junior Sissy Jimenez has been the main offensive power source. She is tied for the team lead in batting average at .333 as she has collected nine hits, including the first three home runs of her career. She also has squad-high marks in runs batted in with four, total bases with 20 and slugging percentage at .741.