Cougars unable to get clutch
hits in game one
The string of clutch hits never came for the Lady Cougars. With only three hits off East Carolina’s Ace, the Pirates held the Cougars at bay.
We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day at the University of Houston Campus. Game conditions were fabulous, sunny with blue skies at 75 degrees.
Red shirt junior pitcher Toni Paisley struck out 8 batters, guiding the East Carolina Pirates (31-15, 10-4 in C-USA) to a 1-0 win over the Houston Cougars Saturday evening in the first game of two played at Cougar Softball Stadium. That snapped a six game losing streak in Houston.
Paisley (22-8) went the distance without walking a batter while picking up her sixth shutout of the season.
The Pirates supported their pitcher early, scoring the only run of the game in the first inning. Marina Gusman-Brown led off the top of first inning with a scorching single that ricocheted off Bailey Watts’s glove into left field. Then she stole second and advance to third on a throwing error by Cougars Catcher Melissa Gregson. Christina Merrida infield single scored Brown, giving East Carolina a 1-0 lead.
In the bottom of the first Ashleigh Jones single to left field before Paisley settled in striking out the next three batters to end the first.
Bailey Watts (11-9) took the lost, surrendering four hits, striking out eleven, walked seven and hit three batters.
East Carolina’s great defense complimented Paisley pitching performance. Allowing the Cougars grounders and pop ups.
Game 2, Cougars get even
Melissa Gregson led Houston (25-22, 9-10 C-USA) to a 4-3 victory on Saturday evening with three RBI’s as Amanda Crabtree (10-10) got the win for the Cougars striking out five and walking two.
Despite hitting three home runs in game two East Carolina didn’t have enough to pull out the win.
Faith Sutton (9-7) took the lost for the Pirates yielding five hits two of which went for home runs in four innings of work.