Softball Taken Down Twice at USF
4/2/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
GAME ONE BOX SCORE (.html)
GAME ONE BOX SCORE (.pdf)
GAME TWO BOX SCORE (.html)
GAME TWO BOX SCORE (.pdf)
TAMPA, Fla. - The Seton Hall softball team dropped a pair of games to USF on Friday to fall to 7-16 overall and 0-5 in the BIG EAST. The Pirates fell in game one, 7-0, before being edged, 3-2, in the nightcap.
Senior Ashley Forsyth (Freehold, N.J.) was in control for the first four innings, allowing just three hits, but the Bulls (17-16, 2-0) were able to get on the board in the fifth.
USF put runners on first and second after a single and a walk to start things off. The Bulls tried to push both runners into scoring position, but third baseman Laura Canulli (Naperville, Ill.) got the force at third. After Forsyth fanned the next batter for the second out, Gina Kafalas dropped a single just out of the reach of leftfielder Nalin Bennett (East Syracuse, N.Y.).
Tara Toscano hit a grounder between the first and second basemen. Junior Brittany Schillizzi (Paramus, N.J.) fielded the ball cleanly, but no one was covering first, allowing the first run to cross. Kendall Arnold followed up with a triple that caromed off the wall in right-center to clear the bases, and extend the cushion to, 4-0.
SHU went to the bullpen twice in the sixth inning and both pitchers used struggled with control, allowing three runs on no hits with four walks and an error.
Sophomore Nicole Loewenstein (Joppa, Md.) continued her torrid hitting, going 2-for-3 on the day. Forsyth (4-6) earned the decision, pitching five innings and struck out three.
The Bulls scored in the first inning of game two after Richardson drew a leadoff base on balls, stole second, and came all the way around after an errant throw to second changed directions off the glove and rolled all the way into leftfield.
In the third, Jo Jo Medina took Katie Stilwell (Portage, Wis.) deep for her second homer of the year to push the advantage to 2-0.
Junior Jamie Gates (Emmaus, Pa.) hit her first career home run to leftfield in the fifth inning to cut the deficit in half, 2-1.
USF tacked on an insurance run in the sixth on a pinch-hit single by Lauren Rodriguez. Another Bull tried to score on the play, but Michelle Reed (Wrightstown, N.J.) gunned the runner down with a perfect throw from centerfield to limit the damage.
Sophomore Kristen Kaelin (Parlin, N.J.) made things interesting in the seventh by belting a two-out, pinch-hit solo blast to bring SHU within a run. However, Kristen Gordon entered the game to record the final out, earning the save.
Senior Danielle Zanzalari (Carteret, N.J.), who started the game and re-entered with runners on in the sixth, fell to 1-2 after throwing 2.2 innings, allowing one earned run and three hits.
The Pirates will wrap up their series with USF on Saturday, April 3, at 11:00 a.m. at the USF Softball Stadium.
