BOX SCORE (.html)
LAS VEGAS, Nev. The Seton Hall softball team fell to Marshall, 5-3, to open up play at the Sportco Kickoff Classic on Thursday. The Pirates will face UIC to wrap up the first day of play.
Marshall scored in the bottom half of the inning after Rachael Sofie doubled to start the inning. Starting pitcher Ashley Forsyth (Freehold, N.J.) retired the next two batters, but Caitlin Jackson found a hole through the right side of the infield to put the Herd on the board. Melanie Stoehr took an 0-1 pitch over the centerfield wall to make it a 3-0 contest after one inning.
In the second, Marshall added an insurance run on a lead-off homer by Marcena Bertoldo.
Seton Hall rallied in the third, after back-to-back hits from Brittany Schillizzi (Paramus, N.J.) and Nalin Bennett (East Syracuse, N.Y.) put runners on second and third with one out. The next batter, Leah Menichetti (Jessup, Pa.), drove a double to the gap in left-center to cut the deficit in half, 4-2.
After the Herd tacked on a run in the fourth, the Pirates mounted another rally in the fifth. Freshman Kristen Kaelin (Parlin, N.J.) started the inning with a single and moved to second on an error by the rightfielder. Sophomore Stephanie Bontales (Holmdel, N.J.) came on as a pinch-runner and scored on a base-hit from Bennett to make it, 5-3, going into the bottom of the inning.
Seton Hall put a runner on after a one-out hit from Kaelin in the seventh, but Autumn Mitchell finished off the next two batters to seal the game.
Forsyth took the loss after pitching the first four innings. Junior Danielle Zanzalari (Carteret, N.J.) threw two shutout-innings of relief and did not allow a hit. Menichetti was 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI, and Michelle Reed (Wrightstown, N.J.) swiped two bases.
