Flashes' 5-Game Weekend Begins Friday at Pirate Classic
2/16/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Kent State (2-2) heads back to the state of North Carolina this weekend to play five games at the Pirate Classic in Greenville. Friday, the Golden Flashes will take on Virginia and St. John's. The Red Storm and Flashes will play a rematch Saturday, before Kent State battles tournament host East Carolina. Sunday, the Flashes close out their weekend against Hofstra.
Live Stats
Live stats for all tournament games can be viewed on www.ecupirates.com.
The Opposition
Virginia
The Cavaliers went 3-1 at the Campbell Hampton Inn Tournament last weekend with a pair of victories over Drexel. Sophomore Melanie Mitchell tossed a three-hit shutout against the Dragons, fanning eight. Junior Giannina Cipolloni went a combined 5-for-8 against Drexel. Virginia went 34-23 last season, making its first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.
Hofstra
The Pride went 4-1 last weekend at the Seminole Classic, with shutout victories over UNC-Greensboro, St. John's and Florida State. Hofstra piled up 16 runs in its first four innings of the season against Greensboro, while sophomore Olivia Galati tossed a five-inning no-hitter. Galati is 2-1 with a 1.62 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 17.1 innings. In three starts junior Erin Wade is 2-0 with a 0.57 ERA. Galati is also a threat at the plate with a pair of doubles and six runs batted in. Senior Laura Valentino (.385) leads the offense with eight runs batted in and a .579 on-base percentage. Valentino and senior Trisha Dreslinski (.353) each belted home runs last weekend.
St. John's
The Red Storm also participated in the Seminole Classic last weekend, going 2-3 with victories over Florida State and UNC-Greensboro. St. John's is hitting .308 as a team with eight players hitting over .300 with at least three hits. Senior Chelsea Durning (.375) leads the team with six hits, while sophomore Chrissy Montez (.385) has a team best six runs batted in. Junior Kristi Cady (.385) leads the squad with a .556 on-base percentage. In their two victories, the Red Storm has scored a combined 24 runs on 26 hits.
East Carolina
The host Pirates went 2-3 in their opening weekend, with shutout victories over Iowa and Lipscomb. Senior ace Toni Paisley is 2-1 with a pair of shutouts, 35 strikeouts in 20 innings and a 1.05 ERA. Junior outfielder Suzanne Riggs (.308) leads the offense with four hits and a .471 on-base percentage. Riggs delivered a game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the seventh against Iowa last weekend. East Carolina won a Conference USA championship last season under the direction of two-time reigning Conference USA Coach-of-the-Year Tracey Kee. The Pirates went 44-18 last season, with a pair of victories at the NCAA Regional in Austin.
Last Week
Kent State got its offense going early and often last weekend at the Phoenix Leadoff Classic in Elon. The Golden Flashes hit .371 on the weekend, totaling 28 runs on 39 hits over four games. KSU's two victories lasted only five innings each with a 9-1 victory over Youngstown State and an 11-3 pounding of Elon. However, Elon and Youngstown State each earned one-run victories over the Flashes in the same weekend.
Junior shortstop Mary Holt hit home runs in each of her first three games of the season. On the weekend, she hit .385 with six runs batted in. She walked twice, carrying a .467 on-base percentage and a 1.077 slugging percentage. Defensively, Holt helped turn three different double plays.
Senior pitcher Markie Pozzuto earned victories in each of her two appearances. The only run she allowed against Youngstown State came in the fourth inning. Pozzuto did not allow a run against Elon until the fifth inning.
All-Time Series
Kent State holds a 5-3 all-time series lead against St. John's, including a pair of victories last year at the Coastal Carolina Invitational. Lauren Grimes and Beth Cinadr each had two hits in a 6-3 victory. The next day, Cinadr went 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored in an 11-7 victory over the Red Storm and Grimes went 3-for-3 with two walks, a home run, a double, three runs scored and a stolen base.
The Flashes hold a 2-1 all-time series lead against Hofstra, but dropped a 1-0 contest to the Pride at last season's NFCA Leadoff Classic. Grimes and Jess Carmichael had two hits each, but Erin Wade tossed a shutout.
Virginia and Kent State have each won twice in their all-time series. The Flashes took two from the Cavaliers in February of 2005 when the teams last met.
East Carolina holds a 9-2 all-time record against the Flashes, most recently capturing a pair of one-run games against KSU during the opening weekend of the 2008 season.
Newcomers Making Immediate Impact
Three different Kent State freshmen played key roles for the Golden Flashes last weekend. Pitcher Lauren McNeil appeared in three games and carried a 2.62 ERA. McNeil went 6.2 innings in a start against Elon, allowing just one earned run. Alex Marcantonio started four games, playing mainly in left field. She went 6-for-13 (.462) on the weekend with two walks and a double. Abbey Ledford started two games at second base. In just her second college appearance, Ledford went 3-for-3 with two home runs, four RBI and three runs scored.
Blanton: Not Easy to Run on…Or pitch to
Junior catcher Jess Blanton gunned down three runners on stolen base attempts last weekend, while allowing just one steal. Last season, Blanton threw out 11 runners.
In a victory over Elon, Blanton went 3-for-4 with two home runs, four RBI and three runs scored.
Up Next
The Golden Flashes will play five games at the Florida Atlantic Invitational next weekend (Feb. 25-27) in Boca Raton. KSU will take on Florida Atlantic, Connecticut, Maryland, Pittsburgh and an opponent to be determined.
