Seton Hall University
Syracuse
Orange Crushed; Softball Sweeps
4/21/2013 12:00:00 AM | Softball
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Seton Hall University softball team swept the Syracuse University Orange in a record setting double header, winning game one 4-1 before holding on to take a wild second game, 16-15, on Saturday afternoon at the Skytop Softball Stadium in Syracuse, N.Y.
The second game of the doubleheader was a record setting offensive explosion for the Pirates. The 16 runs scored were the most ever for Seton Hall in a BIG EAST game and tied the school’s single game record for runs in any game, set against Mount St. Mary’s on March 14, 2009.
The old school record for runs in a BIG EAST contest was 15, accomplished just once in a 15-5 victory over Rutgers on March 23, 1997. It was the most runs scored for the Pirates since a 15-0 win over Central Connecticut State on March 23, 2010.
With the win Seton Hall improves to 4-9 in the BIG EAST, putting the Pirates right back in the mix for a spot in the BIG EAST tournament. It is also the most conference wins for the Pirates since they went 8-14 in the league back in 2010.
-- Game One --
Sophomore Danielle DeStaso (Congers, N.Y.) was in control for Seton Hall nearly from the start and other than a few pitches kept the Orange offense completely at bay.
She allowed just five base runners all game, giving up three hits and just two walks against six strikeouts. One of the three Syracuse hits was a Mary Dombrowski solo home run in the second inning that appeared to just barely clear the wall in left field, but the Orange would not score again.
DeStaso retired 14 of the last 15 batters she faced including a stretch of 11 in a row from the third through the sixth inning before allowing a Julie Wambold single to lead off the seventh.
The three hits allowed tied for the fewest for an SHU foe this season; Dartmouth had just three base hits in a 5-0 Seton Hall win back on March 2. It was also the second BIG EAST shutout of the season for the Pirates, the only other being a 10-0 win at St. John’s on March 28.
Three of Seton Hall’s runs came via the home run and it was DeStaso providing the first spark, smacking a solo home run to right center field with two outs in the top of the first inning, her team-leading seventh bomb of the year.
The Pirates’ offense was back on track in the fourth. Junior Maria DeLuca (Cedar Grove, N.J.) drew a one out walk and made it safely to second when Dombrowski made an infield error, throwing wide of second base on an Alex Rabbetts (Corona, Calif.) grounder.
Sophomore Colltey Sheldon (Peoria, Ariz.) proceeded to rip a single up the middle, scoring DeLuca from second, to give Seton Hall the lead once again, 2-1.
Two innings later Seton Hall tacked two additional runs onto its lead. DeStaso walked with one out and DeLuca hammered a two-run homer to straight-away centerfield to make it 4-1. It was her fourth homer of the season, tying Rabbetts for second place on the team.
Syracuse managed just one base runner the rest of the way as the Pirates closed the door, improving to 12-1 when leading through six innings of action.
-- Game Two --
More than once in the second game it looked as if the Pirates were on the way to winning by a very comfortable margin but Syracuse made a late rally to turn what was at one point a 10-run Seton Hall lead into a one run game. In the end the Pirates would win while setting or tying a number of school records along the way.
Seton Hall batted around in the first, sending all nine batters to the plate and accumulating five runs on five hits to take a 5-0 lead before the Orange even had a chance to hit. Syracuse scored once in the bottom of the inning only to have the Pirates bat around again in the second, tallying six more runs on seven hits in an inning that saw 12 Seton Hall batters step to the plate.
Four different players registered at least one RBI in the top of the first. DeStaso started the scoring by driving in Yasmin Harrell (Cheektowaga, N.Y.), DeLuca singled to left to score senior Brittany Hammer (Manheim, Pa.), Rabbetts doubled to right center, scoring two, and Sheldon hit a sacrifice fly out to right later in the frame to score Rabbetts.
A DeStaso two-run homer to right, her second home run of the day, opened the flood gates for the SHU offense in the second. In the end the six-run inning was capped off by a two-RBI Cashel Gaffey (East Lyme, Conn.) single up the middle. Sophomore Jordan Moses (Lower Burrell, Pa.) also had an RBI base hit earlier in the frame.
Syracuse whittled away at the large SHU lead, scoring twice in the second and two more times in the third to make it 11-5 heading into the fourth where the Pirates came up with four more runs to make the margin 10 for a second time. By the end of the inning the Seton Hall lead would be right back to six, thanks mostly to a three-run Danielle Chitkowski home run in the bottom of the inning.
The squads traded runs again in the fifth. Sophomore Sara Haefeli (Montclair, N.J.) led off the inning with a double to right center and scored on Harrell single to left.
The Pirates still led by six runs with just an inning and a half to play when the game suddenly became very interesting. The Orange scored five times in the last of the sixth, with four of the runs coming off one swing, a Julie Wambold two-out grand slam to center field.
DeStaso ended the inning by getting Morgan Nandin to fly out to center and the Pirates turned a game-ended double play in the seventh as Chitkowski lined out to Hammer at short and she caught Dombrowski at first.
Hammer and DeStaso each recorded three hits in the win. Harrell reached base four times, scored three times and swiped three bases to move into the BIG EAST lead with 25 so far this season, which is just two off the Seton Hall single-season record of 27.
The two teams will meet for game three of the series on Sunday, April 21, at the Skytop Softball Field in Syracuse, N.Y. Game time is scheduled for 12 p.m.
