Seton Hall University
St. John's
Pirates Split Doubleheader at STJ
3/29/2013 12:00:00 AM | Softball
QUEENS, N.Y. – The Seton Hall University softball team split a pair of games in a doubleheader at St. John’s University on Thursday afternoon in Queens, N.Y., falling in the first game, 11-3, before bouncing back for a dominating 10-0 win in five innings in game two.
The 10-0 victory in game two was the largest margin of victory for the Pirates this season and the first time this year Seton Hall needed just five innings to wrap up a win.
It was Seton Hall’s first five-inning victory since an 11-3 win over Morgan State on Feb. 19, 2011, and the biggest win for The Hall in more than three years, since it beat Central Connecticut State, 15-0, on March 23, 2010.
Seton Hall and St. John’s have now split the last 10 games in the series but will have a chance to break that tie when they conclude their three game series on Saturday, March 30, in Queens, N.Y., at 12 p.m.
Sophomore Danielle DeStaso (Congers, N.Y.) threw all five innings of game two, yielding just four hits with four strikeouts to pick up her team-leading ninth win of the year.
Junior Maria DeLuca (Cedar Grove, N.J.) went 2-for-3 with three RBI and freshman Yasmin Harrell (Cheektowaga, N.Y.) was 3-for-4 with three runs scored in addition to swiping her team-leading 10th stolen base of the season.
-- Game One --
Seton Hall (11-15, 1-4) was unable to come back from a large early deficit in game one with St. John’s hanging three runs on the board in the first and four more in the second to lead 7-0 through only two innings.
The Pirates snapped the St. John’s offensive run with a score in the top of the fourth. DeStaso recorded a base hit with one out and freshman Faith Laudano (Islip, N.Y.) came in to pinch run for her at second following a Red Storm error on a DeLuca grounder to third.
Another error, this time with two outs by second baseman MacKenna Neuroth, on an Alex Rabbetts (Corona, Calif.) ground ball allowed Laudano to score, unearned.
Seton Hall took advantage of a third Red Storm error and another extended inning in the sixth to score two more runs. Sophomore Casey Moses (Lower Burrell, Pa.) came up with a two-RBI double to right center in the sixth, bringing sophomore Sara Haefeli (Montclair, N.J.) and Rabbetts across the plate.
St. John’s (8-23-1, 2-3) countered with three more scores in the bottom half of the inning to close out the scoring. Freshman Jackie DiPietro (Horsham, Pa.) recorded a multi-hit game for SHU, going 2-for-3 at the plate.
-- Game Two --
The Seton Hall offense wasted no time jump on St. John’s early in game two and with DeStaso in a groove in the pitcher’s circle the Pirate lead only continued to expand as the game wore on.
Fittingly it was also DeStaso that helped provide that early cushion, as she smacked a two-run home run over the fence in center field to give the Pirates a 2-0 lead in the first half inning of play. The homer was her team-leading fourth of the season.
A two out rally and a string of base hits resulted in Seton Hall’s third run. DiPietro singled to right to start the run and advanced to second on a Harrell base hit, setting the table for senior Brittany Hammer (Manheim, Pa.) to bring DiPietro home with an RBI base hit to left center.
The Pirates still led 3-0 heading into the fourth when they exploded for five runs to put the game out of reach. Harrell notched the first RBI single of the inning, scoring sophomore Sam DeMasi (Lockport, Ill.) from third with a base hit.
Harrell moved into scoring position with a stolen base and DeLuca drove both Harrell and DiPietro in with a bases loaded two-RBI single to left center field. Hammer went on to score off a wild pitch and DeLuca finally came home thanks to a Rabbetts sacrifice fly to center.
In addition to Harrell and DeLuca, DiPietro also had a multi-hit game, her second of the day, finishing 2-for-3 with three runs scored. DeStaso allowed just six base runners all game in her dominating win, needing just 91 pitches to shut down the Red Storm.
