Softball Drops Two Close Affairs Against DePaul
4/28/2012 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)
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - The Seton Hall softball team hung around with DePaul all day, but could not break through and fell twice on Saturday. The Pirates (20-29, 2-16) were edged 3-2 in nine innings in game one, and dropped a 4-2 decision in the nightcap.
Seton Hall will look to turn the page tomorrow when they wrap up the series at 11:00 a.m. Following the contest, the Pirates will honor seniors Laura Canulli (Naperville, Ill.), Kristen Kaelin (Parlin, N.J.), and Nicole Loewenstein (Joppa, Md.) who will be playing their final home game at Mike Sheppard, Sr. Field.
After two scoreless innings in the opener, the Blue Demons' Lynsey Ciezki started the top of the third with a base-hit and advanced all the way to third off of a misplay in the field. Samantha Dodd followed with a single through the right side to give DePaul a 1-0 lead.
The Blue Demons tacked another run in the fourth on the strength of a Paige Peterson solo home run. Peterson started another rally in the sixth with a leadoff single. Bree Brown drew a walk to put runners on first and second, leading to a double-steal try. Catcher Nicole Loewenstein's (Joppa, Md.) throw to third was a tad low and trickled into leftfield to bring in Peterson.
Consecutive hits by Maria DeLuca (Cedar Grove, N.J.) and Kristen Kaelin (Parlin, N.J.) brought the tying run to the plate in the sixth inning. DeLuca scored the first run of the inning on a wild pitch, and Meredith Henze (Elkton, Md.) and Bridget Constantino (Abington, Mass.) each came through with RBI hits to even the score, 3-3.
Starting pitchers Kirsten Verdun and Danielle DeStaso (Congers, N.Y.) continued to deal all the way until the ninth inning when DePaul broke through.
With two outs in the frame, Ciezki hit a blooper to short left-center that fell between three fielders. The ball took a strange hop in the outfield, delaying anyone from picking up the ball and Ciezki moved into scoring position. Dodd took advantage of the gratuitous bounce and brought in the game-winning run with a clean single to centerfield.
DeStaso fell to 5-12 on the year, but pitched a strong nine innings after allowing three earned runs and nine hits to go with three strikeouts.
Constantino went 2-for-3 in the game, and broke up a potential no-hitter in the fifth inning.
Dodd continued to haunt the Pirates in game two, coming through with another RBI hit in the second inning to give her team the early 1-0 cushion.
However, Kaelin erased the deficit by sending a changeup over the fence in rightfield for her seventh long ball of the season.
A sacrifice fly by Brittany Boesel in the fourth gave the Blue Demons the lead once again, but Seton Hall had an answer in the bottom of the fifth.
Freshman Whitney Jones (Skowhegan, Maine) singled and was pushed to second after a sacrifice bunt. Relief pitcher Mary Connolly then issued a walk to Brittany Hammer (Manheim, Pa.), and DeLuca knotted things up for the third time with a hit over the head of the DePaul second baseman to make it 2-2.
DePaul took the lead for good in the top of the seventh off a two-run Verdun home run off of Casey Moses (Lower Burrell, Pa.). However, the Pirates refused to go down without a fight.
Hannah Penna plunked a pair of batters to bring the game-winning run to the plate, but Penna induced a pop up and a ground ball to slam the door.
Moses took the decision (6-9), allowing the two earned runs in 2.1 innings of relief. Jones was the only SHU player with multiple hits, going 2-for-3.
