Spring Break
Softball blanks UCF to top C-USA
Hart Holloman
Issue date: 3/31/09 Section: Sports
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The Pirates (24-9, 9-3) sit atop the conference standings 2 1/2 games ahead of Tulsa (but tied on percentage points) while UCF (16-20, 2-7) falls into a tie with Memphis at the bottom of the standings.
ECU began its weekend domination by posting identical 3-0 wins in Saturday's doubleheader and capped it off with a 5-0 victory in Sunday's finale. Toni Paisley recorded all three wins in the pitching circle, improving to 18-4 on the season. She also reached 43 wins for her career, tying her for seventh on the all-time list at ECU.
Paisley and second-starter Brooke Swann, who pitched the first 5 2/3 innings of the second game on Saturday, combined to surrender only eight hits over the entire weekend to the Knights.
In addition to recording 10 strikeouts in her 15 1/3 innings of work this weekend, Paisley did not record a single wild pitch, compared to a combined five by UCF hurlers, an important stat considering ECU scored all three runs of the second game on Saturday off wild pitches.
At the plate, the Pirates were less than stellar, as they found a way to manufacture runs when they needed them. Senior Jessica Johnson led the team with five hits and three RBI and added two runs.
In addition to Johnson's production, senior Angel Barrella added four hits, an RBI and a run. Junior Christina Merrida put up three hits and two runs while junior Charina Sumner recorded two hits and two runs.
Paisley got it done at the dish as well, helping her own cause by banging out three hits and two RBI while scoring a run over the three-game set. Flashing the depth of their bench, five other Pirates also recorded hits during the series.
After the game Sunday, head coach Tracey Kee talked about the series.
"Obviously, any time you can win in this conference it feels great," said Kee. "To be able to sweep at home, that was our goal going into the weekend. But I think coming off the UAB sweep last weekend that our kids played with a lot of energy and I feel really positive about it."
She also praised her team for its overall performance as well as the result.
"Over the last eight games, I've been very pleased with the way the team has played," she said. "I feel like we've been getting some timely hitting and our pitching has been phenomenal."
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