Adam Miller, Assistant Director of Media Relations – East Carolina Athletics
ST. GEORGE, Utah – Alex Fieldhouse hit a pair of two-run home runs and Abby Wynne had a career-high four hits to propel East Carolina over Grand Canyon, 8-4, Friday afternoon the Red Desert Classic.
ECU won its third season-opening game in the last four seasons, and improved to 22-9 overall all-time in those contests.
Fieldhouse finished the game 3-for-3 with a walk, two runs and four RBI and recorded her first multi-home run game of her career. Wynne went 4-for-5, scored three times and also hit a two-run homer.
Sarah Christian pitched 6 1/3 innings to earn the win, allowing just five hits, two walks and three runs while striking out two.
East Carolina (1-0) jumped out to and early 2-0 lead in the top of the first after Shelby Johnson reached on an error and Wynne sent a two-run blast over the left field fence. The long ball was the second of her career and first since Feb. 11, 2012 when she hit a solo shot against Canisius.
Grand Canyon (0-1) pushed across a run in the bottom half of the first, but would go silent offensively for the next four innings, as Christian got into a groove on the rubber.
The Pirates tacked on three more runs in the top of the fifth after Wynne led off with a single and Jordan Lewis laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt. Fieldhouse then belted her first home run of the game to left center, before Casey Alcorn followed up with a back-to-back solo homer over the right-center field wall to make it 5-1.
The Antelopes made a pitching change to start the sixth inning, which led to a Johnson walk and Wynne single to get the offense going. Lewis then placed a perfect bunt out of the reach of the pitcher and moving infielders, as the ball rolled and stopped on second base. Johnson scored and Wynne moved to third on the play, while Lewis stayed on first.
Lewis was caught stealing just a few pitches before Fieldhouse stepped into the batter’ s box again and launched her second two-run shot of the game over the center field wall to make it 8-1.
Grand Canyon hit a two-run homer of its own in the bottom of the sixth, before adding one more in the bottom of the seventh, as the Pirates held on for the victory.
Despite an 0-for-4 day at the plate, Kristi Oshiro drew the 84th walk of her career to move into a tie with Erin St. Ledger for fifth place in program history.
