Softball Takes Two at Marist

GAME ONE BOX SCORE (.html)

GAME ONE BOX SCORE (.pdf)

GAME TWO BOX SCORE (.html)

GAME TWO BOX SCORE (.pdf)

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. The Seton Hall softball team snapped a four-game skid by topping Marist, 5-1, in game one of a double-header. The Pirates (17-19-1) finished the sweep with a 9-5 victory in the night-cap.

Sophomore Michelle Reed (Wrightstown, N.J.) stole three bases on the day, and tied the school’s single-season record with her 22^nd swipe of the season.

Melissa Giordano hit a leadoff homer off Kim Schweitzer (Syracuse, N.Y.) in game one to give the Red Foxes an early 1-0 advantage. Marist recorded back-to-back singles, but Schweitzer regrouped and got out of the threat with a fly out and a ground out.

Senior Kealan Waldron (Oak Park, Ill.) started the fourth inning with a great at-bat, working the count full and fouling off several tough pitches. On the 10^th pitch of the duel, Waldron went yard over the leftfield wall to tie the score. The long ball was also the Pirates first hit of the game.

Senior Shannon Pease (Binghamton, N.Y.) and freshman Nicole Loewenstein (Joppa, Md.) drew back-to-back walks and both moved into scoring position after a ground out. Reed brought in Pease after she registered a base-hit off the third baseman’s glove to give Seton Hall a 2-1 lead.

In the fifth inning, Brittany Schillizzi (Paramus, N.J.) started things off with a single up the middle, and came around after an opposite field blast from Kristen Kaelin (Parlin, N.J.). Two walks and a base-hit by Pease loaded the bases, and a wild pitch scored Christie Jensen (West Windsor, N.J.) to extend the advantage to 5-1.

Schweitzer settled in after the first inning and allowed just one hit over the final six innings and fanned four on the day. The win brings her record up to 10-8 on the season.

Reed went 2-for-5 with a steal, and Schillizzi was 2-for-4 from the plate.

The Pirates got started quickly in the first inning of game two. Reed slapped a single to right, and Nalin Bennett (East Syracuse, N.Y.) reached after the Red Foxes pitcher and first baseman bumped into each other on a sacrifice attempt. Schillizzi drove in Reed with a single through the left side to open the scoring.

Both runners moved into scoring position on the throw home on the previous play, and Bennett scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-0.

Lindsay Kinel tied the score in the bottom of the second inning with a two-run home run. Two hits and an intentional walk loaded the bases with just one out, and a sacrifice fly put Marist ahead, 3-2, and the other two runners moved into scoring position. Junior Ashley Forsyth (Freehold, N.J.) got out of the jam with a groundout to keep it a one-run game.

Seton Hall regained the lead in the fourth inning without mustering a hit in the inning. Loewenstein reached on a walk, and Jensen pinch-ran and stole second base. Reed hit a roller to third, but the third baseman did not field the ball cleanly and the Pirates put runners on the corners.

After Reed swiped second, Bennett hit another grounder to the Red Foxes third baseman, who booted the ball again, allowing Jensen to score. With runners on the corners, Bennett took off for second with the intention of getting caught in a run-down. The Marist catcher threw to catch Bennett, and Reed scored easily putting the Hall on top, 4-3.

The Red Foxes tied the game after Giordano singled on a hard hit ball back to Forsyth, stole second and scored on an RBI single by Jessica Green.

In the sixth, Pease earned a base on balls and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Senior Amanda Winn (Manahawkin, N.J.) plated the go ahead runner with a double to left center that was just out of the reach of the diving centerfielder.

Senior Leah Menichetti (Jessup, Pa.) singled to leftfield, and Jeanette Ragucci (Glen Gardner, N.J.) scored after the catcher missed the relay throw, adding an insurance run. With Menichetti on third after the error, Reed found a hole on the left side of the infield extending the margin to, 7-4.

Reed stole her 22^nd base of the season, tying the school’s single-season record, and scored on another RBI single by Schillizzi to push the advantage to five.

Marist put a run on the board in the seventh, but Forsyth closed the door, improving her record to 6-8 on the year.

Schillizzi went 3-for-4, while Reed, Winn, and Waldron each had two hits.

Seton Hall is back in action on Saturday, April 11 at Providence for a double-header slated to begin at noon.