Softball Falls to Louisville Twice
4/2/2011 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)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Seton Hall softball team lost to Louisville, 7-2 and 10-2 in five innings, in the first two games of a three-game set. The Pirates (12-18, 0-5) will finish the series at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow morning.
Maggie Ruckenbrod put the Cardinals (25-10, 4-2) on top, 1-0, in the second inning of game one with a double to centerfield to bring in Chelsea Bemis. Ruckenbrod struck again in the third with an RBI single and Krsitin Austin followed with a base-hit to make it 3-0.
After Louisville put three on the board in the bottom of the fourth, SHU tried to put together a rally in the top of the fifth. Senior Brittany Schillizzi (Paramus, N.J.) and sophomore Brooke Tull (Greenood, Del.) started things off with back-to-back singles. Freshman Meredith Henze (Elkton, Md.) delivered the big hit, a single to left-center field to bring in both runs.
However, the Cardinals added an insurance run in the fifth and the Pirates could not recover.
Tull fell to 2-4 after throwing four innings, allowing six runs on six hits. Caralisa Connell earned the win, striking out eight batters.
Henze was 2-for-3 from the dish to lead the offensive attack.
In game two, it was SHU who struck first in the first inning. A Maria DeLuca (Cedar Grove, N.J.) walk set the table for a double off the wall by Kristen Kaelin (Parlin, N.J.) in left-center, giving the Pirates a 1-0 edge.
Louisville answered right back in the bottom of the frame after the Cardinals put runners on first and second base. Colby Wherry dropped down a sac bunt attempt to push both runners in scoring position, which she did successfully. After the out, Katie Keller took a wide turn around third, drawing a throw from Kaelin, who overthrew the base and allowed the tying run to score.
Keller had the big blow for Louisville in the second with a two-run single as the Cards put five runs on the board to extend the margin to 6-1.
Senior Michelle Reed (Wrightstown, N.J.) pulled SHU within four after scoring on a wild pitch, but the Louisville bats plated four runs in the bottom of the fifth to put the game away.
Freshman Jen Metzger (Pine Hill, N.J.) took the defeat (5-4), allowing eight earned runs on 13 hits. Connell went the distance for Louisville in game two as well and improved to 12-4.
Kaelin's hit was the 99th of her career and will become the second Pirate player to join the 100-hit club this season after Nalin Bennett (East Syracuse, N.Y.) accomplished the feat earlier this season.
