Softball Tripped up by UConn Twice

GAME ONE BOX SCORE (.html)

GAME ONE BOX SCORE (.pdf)

GAME TWO BOX SCORE (.html)

GAME TWO BOX SCORE (.pdf)

 

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. The Seton Hall softball team was swept by Connecticut on Sunday at Ivy Hill Park. The Pirates (10-13, 1-3) put the winning run on base in the seventh inning, but dropped the first game, 4-3, and later fell, 9-2, in game two.

Trailing 4-1 in the seventh, senior Leah Menichetti (Jessup, Pa.) started the late rally with an infield single, and freshman Nicole Loewenstein (Joppa, Md.) drove a two-run shot to centerfield.

Freshman Laura Canulli (Napeville, Ill.) reached on a single through the right side of the infield, and Shannon Pease (Binghamton, N.Y.) pulled a ball to leftfield to put runners on first and second with two outs. However, UConn starter Tricia Sullivan struck out the final two batters to end the game.

Danielle Del Ponte put the Huskies (11-8, 2-2) on top with a two-run homer off of starting pitcher Ashley Forsyth (Freehold, N.J.). A dropped fly ball in centerfield put Amy DeLuca on second base, and DeLuca was able to come around to score after another SHU error at third base to make it, 3-0.

Menichetti delivered a solo-homerun in the bottom half of the inning, but Julie Towers answered in the top of the fifth give UConn a three-run cushion.

Forsyth (4-5) took the loss after pitching four innings, striking out four, and allowing two earned runs on two hits.

A two-run single from DeLuca put the Huskies on top in the first inning of game two, and a solo-shot from Del Ponte pushed the lead to 3-0 after the top of the third.

Pease crushed the first pitch she saw off of pitcher Jessie Stavola over the wall to get Seton Hall on the board in the fourth. Freshman Christina Esposito (Saddle Brook, N.J.) drew a walk, and Michelle Reed (Wrightstown, N.J.) poked a single through the infield to put runners on the corners with one away.

Stavola struck out the next batter to record the second out, but the Pirates were able to pull within one after some smart base-running. Reed took off to steal second, and as the UConn catcher threw to try and catch Reed, Esposito sped home. The Huskie second baseman fired home, and Esposito made an outstanding effort on the slide to avoid the tag to cut the UConn lead to, 3-2.

In the sixth inning, the Huskies put up six runs highlighted by home runs by Julie Towers and Justyne Roy as they went on for the victory.

Junior Danielle Zanzalari (Carteret, N.J.) was the pitcher of record and falls to 1-3 on the season.

Seton Hall will face Georgetown in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, March 25 for a double-header. First-pitch is set for 2:00 p.m.