Softball Splits on Day One of UMBC Dawg Pound Classic
3/11/2012 12:00:00 AM | Softball
BALTIMORE, Md. - The Seton Hall softball team split its first two games of the UMBC Dawg Pound Classic on Saturday. The Pirates (7-9) fell to Niagara, 8-4, and later defeated Coppin State, 4-2.
SHU will play Siena at 11:25 a.m. and UMBC at 3:35 p.m. to wrap up the tournament on Sunday.
Seton Hall 4, Niagara 8
BOX SCORE (.html)
BOX SCORE (.pdf)
Ambur Farmer started the game with a solo home run to give the Eagles a quick 1-0 lead.
SHU answered right back in the bottom of the inning off of a Kristen Kaelin (Parlin, N.J.) RBI single that scored Brittany Hammer (Manheim, Pa.) to draw even, but Niagara put two more runs in the second.
A leadoff walk and a single set the table for Gabe Lustrinelli, who singled down the line to make it 3-1.
In the bottom of the third, doubles by Colltey Sheldon (Peoria, Ariz.) and Laura Canulli (Naperville, Ill.) pulled the Pirates within one.
Once again, the Eagles took the momentum back in the fourth. With two runners on, Becky Zill came through with a two-run single. Jen Hare knocked in the third run of the inning after Seton Hall tried to make a play at the plate, but the throw was not in time and Niagara extended the lead to 6-2.
The Pirates cut their deficit in half in the fifth after Sheldon and Canulli reached base via walk and single, respectively. Kaelin belted a double to centerfield to give SHU new life.
In the sixth, Farmer came up with a runner on and delivered the dagger, a two-run shot to bring the lead back up to four runs and put the game away.
Junior Brooke Tull (Greenwood, Del.) struck out seven batters, but earned the decision (2-1), allowing six runs in 3.1 innings.
Kaelin and Canulli recorded two hits to guide the Pirate offense.
Seton Hall 4, Coppin State 2
BOX SCORE (.html)
BOX SCORE (.pdf)
The scoring opened in the second after Danielle DeStaso (Congers, N.Y.) reached on a dropped fly ball by the centerfielder and scored on a double by Canulli. Canulli later scored after two passed balls to make it, 2-0.
The Pirates put two more on the board in the top of the third after Kaelin and Nicole Loewenstein (Joppa, Md.) reached on an error and a walk. After a sacrifice bunt by DeStaso, Cashel Gaffey (East Lyme, Conn.) drove a double to the gap in right-center, extending the margin to 4-0.
A run by the Eagles in the fourth inning snapped starting pitcher Jen Metzger's (Pine Hill, N.J.) scoreless streak of 22 innings after an RBI single by Coppin State. The Eagles added one more run in the sixth, but did not threaten in the seventh.
Metzger struck out five in seven innings to move to 4-2 on the season.
