Seton Hall University
Georgetown
Pirates Keep Postseason Hopes Alive
5/4/2013 12:00:00 AM | Softball
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Seton Hall University softball team was able to keep its postseason hopes alive by earning a split in a doubleheader header at Georgetown, falling in game one, 5-0, before bouncing back to pick up a huge 14-1 victory in game two on Saturday afternoon in Washington, D.C.
As the BIG EAST regular season wraps up the Pirates’ postseason scenarios are more clearly in focus heading into the final day of competition.
In order to qualify for the 2013 BIG EAST Championship Seton Hall would need a win over Georgetown in the regular season finale on Sunday afternoon and the Pirates would also need DePaul to defeat Connecticut and Pittsburgh to beat Rutgers in their season finales on Sunday. All three games are slated to begin at 12 p.m. (ET).
-- Game One --
Seton Hall was unable to generate much offense as the Pirates finished with four hits in the 5-0 setback in the first game of the day.
The Hoyas scored one in the bottom of the first as Megan Hyson drove in Sophia Garqicevich-Almeida with a double down the left field line.
Sophomore Colltey Sheldon (Peoria, Ariz.) smacked a one out double to right in the SHU half of the second to provide the Hall with a chance to even the score, but she was unable to advance past third in the inning.
In a game that did not feature a lot of hitting for either team, the Seton Hall pitching combo of sophomore Danielle DeStaso (Congers, N.Y.) and Casey Moses (Lower Burrell, Pa.) limited Georgetown to just eight hits, the Hoyas’ three runs in the bottom of the third effectively broke the game open.
With one out Alexandria Anttila drove a solo home run out to left and Elyse Graziano provided the other big base hit of the inning, a two-RBI single to right with two outs that brought home Hyson and Hannha Slovacek.
The Pirates saw a handful of other chances to try and cut into the Georgetown lead. After falling behind by four junior Maria DeLuca (Cedar Grove, N.J.) and freshman Alex Rabbetts (Corona, Calif.) dialed up back-to-back base hits with one out in the third, only to be stranded in scoring position.
Senior Brittany Hammer (Manheim, Pa.) led off the sixth with a double to left center, the 28th of her career but again was not able to come all the way around to score.
-- Game Two --
Behind big offensive contributions from DeLuca and DeStaso and a dominant pitching performance from junior Jen Metzger (Pine Hill, N.J.) Seton Hall bounced back to win big on Saturday afternoon. DeLuca finished the game batting 2-for-2 with a grand slam, six RBI and three runs scored, while DeStaso was 3-for-3 with a homer, three RBI and a run scored and Hammer went 4-for-4 with four runs scored.
Metzger yielded just one run on four hits through five innings to completely stymie the Hoyas. She struck out six batters and did not give up an extra-base hit to pick up the victory, her first over a conference foe this year.
Following a tough start to the day offensively Seton Hall was in firm control of game two from the early moments.
Freshman Yasmin Harrell (Cheektowaga, N.Y.), who saw her school record 14-game hitting streak come to an end earlier in the day, led things off with an infield hit and then stole her school record 31st base of the season, eventually scoring on a DeLuca sacrifice fly to left. Hammer was driven in by DeStaso to make it 2-0 through just a half inning.
The Hoyas scored their only run of the game in the bottom of the first only to see Seton Hall erupt for five more runs in the second. Harrell started the scoring with an RBI single to left center field, bringing freshman Jackie DiPietro (Horsham, Pa.) home on the play.
Following another infield hit for Hammer DeLuca stepped to the plate and delivered a grand slam down the left field line to suddenly give the Pirates a six-run cushion, 7-1.
In the fourth Seton Hall tacked on three more runs to its lead, and all of the damage came with two outs. Hammer tripled to left field to start the rally, and scored on DeLuca’s second base hit of the game. That was when DeStaso delivered her team-leading ninth home run of the season, a two-run shot to make it 10-1.
In the fifth Seton Hall was able to bat around, sending 10 hitters to plate, while scoring four runs but registering just one base hit. Slovacek came in to pitch for Georgetown to start the fifth and issued three walks while hitting two batters. The Pirates’ only hit of the inning was a Hammer RBI single to center to score Metzger.
The victory marked the third time this season Seton Hall needed just five innings to close out a BIG EAST foe and it was also the fourth time over the last seven conference games the Pirates have scored in double digits.
