By Staff
ECU Sports Information
GREENVILLE — Keli Harrell became the C-USA all-time strikeout leader at the end of the third inning Sunday when she struck out her 859th career batter. Harrell would go on to allow just one run in a 3-1 victory for the Pirates, extending their winning streak to ten games with the sweep of conference opponent UCF.
The Pirates (19-6, 3-0 C-USA) got on the board in the third inning when Jessica Johnson hit her team-leading sixth home run of the season to left-center field that scored Kaui Tom. ECU would add an insurance run in the fourth inning when Beth Nolan hit her first home run of the 2007 season to lead off the inning.
UCF (16-12, 0-3 C-USA) would get its lone run of the game in the sixth inning when Cici Alvarez singled to left field with Ashley Van Ryn at second base. Van Ryn reached first base on a wild pitch on a strikeout and was later sacrificed over to second.
Harrell (10-3) finished the day with nine strikeouts and now has 863 in her illustrious career to go along with 81 wins.
Johnson has already doubled the amount of home runs she compiled during her freshman campaign. ECU has hit 20 home runs in 25 games this season, which is equal to what the 2006 squad totaled in 64 games.
During the long homestand, East Carolina won 13 of 16, including 12 of its last 13. The Pirates will travel to Conway, S.C., to play Coastal Carolina in a single game starting at 3 p.m. today before playing a doubleheader on Tuesday beginning at 1 p.m.