The Wolfpack is looking to get back on track after dropping its series against rival North Carolina against another in-state rival, the East Carolina Pirates.
The series against ECU began in 2005 and the all-time series record is tied at 5-5. East Carolina has won the last five meetings between the two teams.
ECU will also be anxious to get off the losing side. They lost their last series to Conference USA opponent Central Florida 1-2, but they won the last game of the series in a 1-0 pitching duel.
This next game also has extra implications for ECU senior Toni Paisley. In the Pirates last win against UCF, Paisley tied the Conference USA career wins record with DePaul’s Lindsay Chounard in 2003 at 108 wins. Paisley also leads the country in solo shutouts this season with 13 on the year.
But Paisley isn’t the only ace taking the mound for this series. N.C. State freshman Kayla Cox has also been making waves in the ACC and will be an individual that the Pirates will need to plan for.
Cox is currently 3rd in the ACC in strikeouts at 174 and caught 34 of her strikeout victims looking, which is tied for 5th in the conference. Despite all of these leading stats, Cox is making waves in the most important statistical category with nine wins on the season, which is 10th in the ACC.
Cox will need to bounce back from her lackluster performance against the Tar Heels to be successful in the next rivalry series. She took the mound in the final game of the series and allowed six runs in five full innings, but she also struck out six batters during her stint before being relieved by junior pitcher Morgan Peeler.
With Paisley most likely coming to the mound in the second game, State will need to bring the offensive firepower to the plate. Senior catcher Alyssa Allbritten has been anchoring the Wolfpack offense for the season, ranking 10th in the ACC in bating average at .351 and tied for 8th in hits with 40.
According to Cox, her and the rest of the Pack are excited to play this rivalry game.
“We’re all really excited about the ECU series,” Cox said. “It’s a rivalry game so we’ll all be pumped up and ready to go come gametime.”
According to Allbritten, even a non-conference game will be seen as a pivotal one for the season and getting back on track to finish out the season strong.
“Anytime we can get a good win over an opponent, no matter who it is, will be great for the team,” Allbritten said. “I think we started off great, but we began to regress. But we’re starting to get back to where we were and that’s very important at this point in the season.”
Allbritten was also one State’s most productive player in the previous series against Carolina. She went two for three off of two singles in the second game of the series.
A win for the Wolfpack in this series would serve as a great launching pad as the season is winding down and the Pack looks towards finishing conference play.
