By By KEVIN TRAVIS, Sports Editor
GREENVILLE — Showing that hard work pays off, Nicole Jordan has become an integral part of the East Carolina softball team.
Jordan, a former standout at Jamesville High School, played sparingly last year. It was something new for Jordan, who enjoyed success at the high school and junior college levels. The ECU senior has worked her way into a starting role.
“Our (designated player) position was sort of wide open,” ECU coach Tracey Kee said. “We were rotating hitters trying to find someone who could come through game after game.
“About ten games ago, Nicole really settled in. She worked her tail off at practice and put in some extra time. She’s been clutch.”
Jordan is now hitting at a .231 clip (12 for 52). She has one home run and four doubles among her hits. The senior has scored 12 runs and knocked in seven.
Most of those hits have come in recent times, thanks to some extra time spent after practice.
“I’ve put in some extra work with some of my teammates,” Jordan said. “We’ve been working after practice on our swings. I’ve been working on my hand speed, trying to get my hands quicker.”
That extra work paid off Saturday in ECU’s 1-0 win over Southern Miss. Jordan led off the bottom of the seventh with a double and eventually scored the game-winner.
Getting the chance to play regularly has been wonderful for Jordan. That made Senior Day, held Sunday at the ECU softball stadium, just that much more special.
While there were some emotions, Jordan tried to keep them buried.
“I’m really trying not to think about it right now,” said Jordan, who had an RBI in the team’s 5-0 win over Southern Miss. “We need to win, so I kind of have a wall around that area. In the last game I’m going to let it out.”
Jordan’s parents, Keith and Julie Jordan, walked their daughter onto the field during the special ceremony prior to Sunday’s game.
“They’ve been behind me the best anybody could,” said Jordan, who is majoring in exercise and sports science. “They get to all the games that they can.
“If I need anything, they are there for me.”
After being voted to the all-state team and to the WDN All-Area First Team as a senior with the Jamesville Bullets, Jordan continued to smack the ball with the Pitt Community Bulldogs. Jordan led the National Junior College Athletic Association with a .589 batting average in her freshman season, which is the fifth-best all-time in Division I play. It helped land the slugger onto the First-Team All-Region X Conference.
Her batting average dipped as a sophomore, but Jordan still hit .344 on the year.
She finished her stint at PCC with a .453 batting average, 59 RBIs and 54 stolen bases.
Jordan joined the Pirates after her impressive two-year stint at Pitt. Her first campaign with the Pirates was a frustrating one, as she had just seven pinch-hit appearances and didn’t collect a hit.
That hitless streak was broken in a 15-1 win over Delaware this season, when Jordan laced a single.
The hit helped Jordan break out as she is now accustomed to Division I pitching.
“The pitching is a lot different with the speed and the different movement,” Jordan said. “You have to adjust to the pitching more in the (batter’s) box than you do at the lower levels. (The pitchers) know how to work you.”
Jordan smashed her first home run as a member of the Pirates in a 6-0 win over UCF. The senior came on in a pinch-hitting role and blasted the ball over the fence in the sixth inning.
“I had been on the bench for like three hours,” Jordan said. “It was hot that day and I was tired. All of a sudden (coach Kee) called me up there to hit. I wasn’t thinking about anything. I wasn’t nervous or anything.
“I just went up there, swung (the bat) and it was gone. It made me feel good. It made me feel like I could hit.”
Jordan’s strong play of late has helped the Pirates (34-16, 13-5) take over sole possession of first place in the Conference USA standings.
“It feels really good,” Jordan said. “I want that (championship) ring so bad. That’s all I can think about when we’re playing.”
The Pirates can win the conference title by taking care of Memphis this weekend.
ECU has one final home date, a doubleheader against Elon (33-17) beginning at 5 p.m. Thursday, before concluding the regular season at Memphis.
The C-USA Tournament begins May 13 in Houston.
Jordan is hoping there will be more softball after that in the College World Series, which would wrap up a nice college softball career.
“I’m having a lot of fun,” Jordan said. “I’m really enjoying it.
“I love the girls and the coaches on the team. They’re the best. It’s been fun traveling to Hawaii and Arizona. You couldn’t ask for anything better.”
Except possibly that ring.