Seton Hall University
Utah
Hall Falls Twice in Spring Break Opener in Clearwater
3/7/2014 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 7, 2014
CLEARWATER, FLA. - The Seton Hall University softball team kicked off its Spring Break trip to Clearwater, Fla., on Friday afternoon with a pair of games at the USF Under Armour Showcase. The Pirates fell to Tennessee Chattanooga, 7-1, and Utah, 4-0.
Senior Maria DeLuca (Cedar Grove, N.J.) went 2-for-3 against Chattanooga with a double in the third inning, while junior Danielle DeStaso (Congers, N.Y.) hit a solo home run in the loss. Destaso continued her hot day at the plate with two more base hits Friday evening against Utah, with sophomore Yasmin Harrell (Cheektowaga, N.Y.) also tallying a pair of hits against the Utes.
Chattanooga 7, Seton Hall 1
The Pirates fell behind after the first couple of innings, facing a 4-0 deficit heading into the bottom of the second. Harrell tried to get the offense off to a strong start with a single in the bottom of the first, but she was thrown out attempting to steal second, just the second time she has failed on a stolen base attempt on nine attempts in 2014.
DeLuca was stranded on third in the second inning, leading off the frame with a double down the left field line before advancing on a Colltey Sheldon (Peoria, Ariz.) groundout, but the next two SHU batters were unable to bring her home.
In the bottom of the fifth DeStaso cut the Pirates' deficit down to four with one swing of the bat, smacking a leadoff solo home run to make it 4-1, her second long ball of the season. But Chattanooga pulled away in the next half inning, plating three on an Anyssa Robles base clearing double to center field to make it 7-1.
Junior Casey Moses (Lower Burrell, Pa.) threw all seven innings for Seton Hall and struck out four, but fell to 1-5 on the year. Junior Whitney Jones (Skowhegan, Maine) also recorded a base hit single for SHU.
Utah 4, Seton Hall 0
Seton Hall struggled to string hits together against Utah in the second game of the day. The Pirates tallied seven base hits in the game and had two multi-hit innings but it failed to lead to runs.
Utah struck with a pair of scores in the bottom of the second, which led to SHU's first strong inning. The action started with two outs in the top of the third. Sophomore Faith Laudano (Islip, N.Y.) walked and advanced to second on a Harrell base hit to left. The bases were loaded for the Pirates as sophomore Jackie DiPietro (Horsham, Pa.) came up with the second single of the frame.
The bases were juiced for senior Meredith Henze (Elkton, Md.), but the third baseman with five homers on the year flew out to second to end the threat.
The Pirates threatened again in the fourth. DeStaso hit a one out single up the middle and freshman Valerie Suto (Mercerville, N.J.) pinch ran for her at first. It was runners on the corners following junior Sara Haefeli's (Montclair, N.J.) double to right center but neither run would score as Suto was picked off at third and freshman Chelsea Caynon (Litchfield, N.H.) struck out to end the inning.
Harrell went 2-for-3 against Utah, as did DeStaso. Freshman Lauren Fischer (Robbinsville, N.J.) threw all six innings for Seton Hall, giving up four earned runs on eight hits with three strikeouts to fall to 1-3 on the year.
Seton Hall will return to action on Saturday, March 8, for two more games down in Clearwater. The Pirates face Quinnipiac at 1:30 p.m., followed by Central Michigan at 4 p.m.
