By By KEVIN TRAVIS, Sports Editor
GREENVILLE — Toni Paisley tossed a no-hitter to lead East Carolina past UNC-Greensboro 3-0 to cap off a doubleheader sweep of the Spartans on Thursday.
ECU (24-8) picked up a come-from-behind 2-1 win over UNC-Greensboro (17-18) in the first game. The Pirates have won four straight.
Joyce Roodenburg provided the lone run Paisley would need in the fifth inning. The senior third baseman belted an 0-1 offering from Greensboro starter Amber Harrell over the fence in left field. It was Roodenburg’s second homer of the season.
That was all Paisley (9-2) would need. The freshman, who struck out 11 and walked one, retired the final 15 batters she faced.
Left fielder Stacey Andrews made a nice sliding grab on a shallow ball in the seventh to help preserve the no-hit bid.
The Pirates scored twice in the sixth. Paige Baggett led off with a single and went to second on Beth Nolan’s sacrifice. Two outs later, Erin St. Ledger slapped an RBI-double into right-center field. Vanessa Moreno followed with an RBI-single for a 3-0 lead.
ECU came back from a 1-0 deficit to win the first game. Keli Harrell (13-4) earned the victory on the hill. The senior fanned eight and didn’t walk a batter.
Keli Harrell gave up three hits in the first inning, when the Spartans scored their lone run, and settled down after that.
Charina Sumner led off the fourth inning with her fourth homer of the season to tie the game.
Christina Merrida led off the sixth with a pinch-hit single. She eventually scored the game-winning run on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Jessica Johnson. It gave Johnson her team-leading 26th RBI of the season.
ECU, which is 17-3 at home, plays at Marshall for a three-game Conference USA series beginning Saturday.