Seton Hall University
St. Bonaventure
Pirates Split in Season Opener
2/8/2013 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Sophomore Danielle DeStaso (Congers, N.Y.) powered the Pirate offense by going 5-for-5 with seven RBI, two doubles and a home run in the victory over the Bonnies. She was also credited with the victory as she faced all but three batters and allowed three runs on seven hits with 10 strikeouts..
In the second game, George Washington's Meghan Rico threw five innings of no hit ball and the Colonials used a seven-run third inning to secure the win.
Seton Hall was facing St. Bonaventure for just the second time in school history and now leads the all-time series, 2-0. It was the first ever meeting between the Pirates and George Washington, but the two squads are schedule to meet twice more this season as Seton Hall heads down to the George Washington Colonial Classic on March 2-3, and then again at the UMBC Dawg Pound Invitational on March 10.
-- Game One --
Seton Hall tallied three hits over the first two innings against St. Bonaventure before finally breaking through with a pair of runs in the third.
Freshman Yasmin Harrell (Cheektowaga, N.Y.) reached by error to start the third and went on to swipe second base and advance to third on a Brittany Hammer (Manheim, Pa.) groundout. DeStaso doubled to left center to bring Harrell across the plate and then freshman Faith Laudano (Islip, N.Y.), who was pinch running for DeStaso, scored on a Maria DeLuca (Cedar Grove, N.J.) double to right just two batters later.
Another big DeStaso base hit in the fourth inning allowed the Pirates to take advantage of a pair of St. Bonaventure fielding errors and stake claim to a 4-0 lead.
Freshman Jackie DiPietro (Horsham, Pa.) and sophomore Sara Haefeli (Montclair, N.J.) both reached on errors by Bonnie third baseman Grace Rooney and the bases were juiced with two outs when DeStaso stepped to the plate, singling to centerfield and scoring Haefeli and Harrell.
St. Bonaventure cut its deficit in half, scoring twice off DeStaso in the bottom half of the fourth before Seton Hall broke the game open with a huge fifth inning where the Pirates scored six runs, belting three home runs during the frame.
Senior Kirby Groves (Yardley, Pa.) and sophomore Whitney Jones (Skowhegan, Maine) knocked back-to-back home runs over the left field wall in what was Groves' fifth career home and the first-career long ball for Jones.
Later in the fifth it who else but DeStaso once again, smacking a two-run blast to centerfield, scoring Harrell from second and providing the Pirates with a commanding 10-2 lead.
Batting leadoff, Harrell finished the game going 3-for-5 with four runs scored. Jones (2-for-3) and senior Cashel Gaffey (East Lyme, Conn.) (2-for-2) also had multi-hit games for the SHU offense.
-- Game Two --
Junior Jen Metzger (Pine Hill, N.J.) was tabbed as the game-two starter against George Washington and did not allow a hit through the first two innings before the Colonials broke the game open in the third.
The first two GW batters of the third reached base and a Victoria Valso triple down the right field line drove home both base runners and gave the Colonials a 2-0 lead.
George Washington went on to record five hits in its big third-inning. Sophomore Casey Moses (Lower Burrell, Pa.) relieved Metzger with one out in the frame and threw the final 2.1 innings of the game for Seton Hall.
Moses allowed just one run on three hits with one strikeout.
Seton Hall returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 9, when it concludes play at the Hampton Inn Campbell Stampede Tournament. The Pirates face Robert Morris on Saturday at 11:20 a.m., and tournament host Campbell at 4 p.m.
