Softball Comes Home With Split of Twinbill at Towson
3/14/2012 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)
TOWSON, Md. - The Seton Hall softball team picked up a 9-5 victory at Towson, before getting clipped 1-0 in the nightcap of a double-header on Tuesday. The Pirates remain at .500 at 10-10 and will come home to Ivy Hill Park this weekend for their Strike Out Cancer Tournament.
The Pirates raced out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning of game one. A leadoff bunt single by Brittany Hammer (Manheim, Pa.) and a double by Laura Canulli (Naperville, Ill.) put runners on second and third for Kristen Kaelin (Parlin, N.J.), who hit a ground ball to third. With the Tigers (10-9) conceding the run, Delanie Dunham threw to wildly to first base to push Kaelin to second. Freshman Danielle DeStaso (Congers, N.Y.) would later deliver the big blow, a three-run homer to push the margin to 4-0.
Towson got one run back in the bottom half of the first, after the Tigers put runners on first and third with no outs. This time SHU was playing the infield deep and allowed Stef Polonia to score on a ground out to second base to prevent a bigger rally. DeStaso closed the inning with a strikeout and lineout to get out of further trouble.
Back-to-back errors by Towson set the table for Kaelin once again, and a single to centerfield plated Whitney Jones (Skohegan, Maine). With runners on the corners, the Pirates ran a squeeze play to score Hammer to extend the lead to 6-1.
Once again, the Tigers put a run on the board in their turn batting. A Dunham walk to start the inning led to a two-out RBI triple by Kelli Lyons to pull Towson within four.
In the fourth, a two-run double by Erika Stasch brought the Tigers within 6-4 and a solo-shot from Andrea Stevenson made it a one-run ballgame.
Seton Hall received a much needed insurance run in the sixth when pinch-runner Colltey Sheldon (Peoria, Ariz.) came in all the way around from first base after a throwing error by Towson.
The Pirates put the finishing touches on the win in the seventh with a two-out rally. Hammer singled and Canulli reached on the Tigers' sixth error of the contest to bring up Kaelin, who singled to rightfield to bring the lead back up to 9-5.
Sophomore Jen Metzger (Pine Hill, N.J.) pitched a perfect final two innings out of the bullpen to earn her third save of the season. DeStaso started the game in the circle, allowing four runs while striking out six in five innings of work to earn the victory and earn her first career win (1-4).
Hammer went 3-for-5 as did Kaelin, who picked up the four RBI.
In game two, Towson's only run came in the first inning after a Polonia leadoff single, a sacrifice to move her into scoring position and came in after a Brianna Jones single.
SHU had opportunities to draw even or do more damage in the fifth and seventh innings, but left five runners on and went home with the split.
Freshman Casey Moses (Lower Burrell, Pa.) was the tough-luck loser, dropping to 1-2 after throwing six innings and surrendering just the one run on four hits with four strikeouts.
