Easter Series at St. John's
3/27/2013 12:00:00 AM | Softball
SOFTBALL HEADS OVER TO ST. JOHN’S FOR EASTER BIG EAST SERIES
Seton Hall returns to action for a three-game series over Easter Break at St. John’s University on Thursday and Saturday, March 28 and 30, at Red Storm Field in Queens, N.Y. The two teams will play a doubleheader on Thursday starting at 12 p.m., before completing the three-game set on Saturday at 12 p.m. St. John’s leads the all-time series between the two programs, 38-20, and while the two teams did play one another in 2012, it was not during BIG EAST play. Seton Hall picked up a 7-6 win in nine innings over St. John’s last season in a tournament at Longwood University, snapping a three-game win streak in the series for the Red Storm. Over the past eight meetings the teams have split, 4-4.
LAST TIME OUT
The Pirates lost three games to the University of Notre Dame in its opening BIG EAST series last weekend in South Orange. While Seton Hall had difficulty cooling off the Irish’s hot bats, the Pirates performed well at the plate. Junior Maria DeLuca had a pair of doubles in the opening game of the series and three different players hit home runs over the weekend including sophomore Sara Haefeli, the first of her career, Danielle DeStaso, her team-leading third of the year, and senior Brittany Hammer, a two-run shot that was her second homer of the year.
WHO TO WATCH
SETON HALL: Senior Brittany Hammer carries the hottest bat for Seton Hall into the weekend, after going 3-for-6 with a home run and a double in the series with Notre Dame. The Pirates will also rely on leadoff Yasmin Harrell to reach base and move into scoring position. She had one steal last week and leads the Pirates with nine stolen bases in 2013.
ST. JOHN’S: Junior Jackie Reed had a monster series for St. John’s at Pittsburgh last weekend, going 6-for-9 with two home runs while ranking third in the BIG EAST with a .421 average. Senior Chrissy Montez has reached base safely in 19-straight games and is tied for sixth in the conference with 33 hits.
SCOUTING ST. JOHN’S
St. John’s opened the BIG EAST season with a three-game series at Pittsburgh last weekend, winning the first game 5-3, before falling in the next two to fall to 1-2 in the young conference season. The Red Storm have stolen 18 bases, led by Yvonne Rericha’s eight steals. Chrissy Montez and Erin Burner lead the offense with six homers apiece while Ashley Beza has the most victories at pitcher (five) but Tori Free boasts the lowest ERA on the team, a mark of 3.22.
FUTURE SCHEDULE
Seton Hall continues its five-game BIG EAST road trip with a midweek doubleheader at DePaul on Wednesday, April 3, in Chicago, Ill. After that the Pirates return home to face Marist in a doubleheader on Saturday, April 6, at 12 p.m.
SENDING IT DEEP
Seton Hall combined to hit three home runs in its BIG EAST opening series with Notre Dame on March 23-24, hitting one in each game. Freshman Sara Haefeli recorded a solo homer in game one, the first home run of her career, and sophomore Danielle DeStaso hit her team-leading third home run in game two. Senior Brittany Hammer made it three-straight games with a SHU home run, sending a two-run shot over the wall in game three.
DOUBLE DELUCA
Junior Maria DeLuca leads Seton Hall with six doubles, and she recorded back-to-back two-base hits in the first game of the series against Notre Dame on March 23. Her two doubles in conference games ranks fifth in the BIG EAST heading into this weekend’s action.
SUPER SHELDON
Sophomore outfielder Colltey Sheldon turned in a remarkable performance on the first day of the San Diego Classic on Friday, March 15. Against Texas Tech she hit the first home run of her career which came in the form of a grand slam and she followed that up with a three-hit, four RBI performance with two doubles in a 6-5 win over Miami (Ohio). In the two games she hit 5-for-9 with eight RBI and three extra base hits.
GOING THE EXTRA MILE
Seton Hall picked up its first extra-inning victory of the season with its come from behind 6-5 win over Miami (Ohio) in nine innings on March 15. After both teams scored one run in the eighth, sophomore Colltey Sheldon came up with a two-RBI double in the top of the ninth to propel the Pirates to a victory in their longest game of the season.
HAEFELI ON A ROLL
Sophomore right fielder Sara Haefeli has had a hot bat at the plate as of late. She has hit safely in 13 of her last 17 games and hit the first home run of her career against Notre Dame on March 23. She has appeared in 23 games, making 20 starts, and is hitting .279.
HARRELL NAMED TO BIG EAST HONOR ROLL
Freshman center fielder Yasmin Harrell was named to the BIG EAST Conference Weekly Honor Roll on March 11. It is the first time in her career Harrell received the conference honor. Harrell hit .600 (9-for-15) to help Seton Hall post a 4-1 record over the second week of its Spring Break trip. She also stole four bases and hit safely in four games, with four multi-hit performances. Harrell ranks fourth on the team with a .308 average and leads the Pirates with nine stolen bases.
#WINNING
Sophomore Danielle DeStaso leads Seton Hall with eight wins so far this season and has already eclipsed her freshman season win total of six games last year. DeStaso ranks first on the team with a 3.37 earned run average and 83 strikeouts.
CLOSING IT OUT
So far this season Seton Hall has done a good job a preserving leads late in a game. The Pirates are 9-1 when they lead through six innings with the only exception coming in a 5-2 loss to Delaware on Feb. 22, where the Blue Hens scored four runs in the top of the seventh.
SPEEDY FRESHMAN
Freshman center fielder Yasmin Harrell has already shown a knack for swiping bases. So far this season she leads the team and ranks sixth in the BIG EAST with nine steals and she has only been caught stealing twice.
CLOSING IN ON THE TOP 10
Senior shortstop Brittany Hammer has jumped into the top-10 in school history in career batting average and career doubles. She is hitting .306 for her career, which ranks 10th all-time. With 23 career doubles she sits in a tie for 10th place in program history with Jen O’Connor and Leah Menichetti.
