Seton Hall University
St. John's
Pirates Split Doubleheader at St. John's
4/17/2014 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 17, 2014
Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score
QUEENS, N.Y. - Led by junior Danielle DeStaso's (Congers, N.Y.) third complete game victory over the past five days, the Seton Hall University softball team defeated the St. John's Red Storm, 3-2, to earn a BIG EAST doubleheader split on Thursday afternoon at Red Storm Field.
St. John's rode a hot offensive start to a 14-0 victory in game one, scoring six runs in each of the first two innings to pick up the win. Tori Free threw five innings giving up one hit for the Red Storm.
DeStaso allowed two runs while scattering seven hits with four strikeouts to improve her overall record to 6-5 and lower her earned run average to 2.22 in BIG EAST play. The Pirates improved to 6-5 in league play, maintaining a one-game lead over St. John's in the conference standings in what is shaping up to be a tight five-team race for the final three spots in the BIG EAST Tournament.
St. John's really only threatened late in the game as DeStaso was in complete control over the first five innings, retiring eight straight at one point from the end of the second through the fifth. The Red Storm did not see a runner advance to second base prior to Kelsey Moyer taking advantage of a two-base error in the bottom of the fifth, but Seton Hall escaped that inning as senior Maria DeLuca (Cedar Grove, N.J.) leapt in the air to snag a line drive off the bay of Yvonne Rericha to end the inning.
A two-out rally in the bottom of the sixth led to St. John's first score of the game as Kaitlin Fitzgerald drove a base hit to right center to score Jackie Reed. A walk to Brittany Garcia loaded the bases but DeStaso dug in and struck out Monique Landini on three pitches to end the threat.
The Pirates had to sweat out another Red Storm surge in the last of the seventh. Back-to-back singles to start the inning gave St. John's two on with no outs before DeStaso sat down two straight to close in on the win. In a wild final play of the game, Reed singled to center field, where junior Sara Haefeli (Montclair, N.J.) briefly bobbled the ball as Kelsey Moyer scored from second.
Reed tried to be aggressive and take second base but Haefeli recovered to throw a strike to Yasmin Harrell (Cheektowaga, N.Y.) at second base, catching Reed as she slid into the bag to end the game.
At the plate Seton Hall scored one run in each of the first three innings, which proved to be all the offense it would need. Harrell led off the game with a hard hit double to left center and eventually scored on a DeStaso sacrifice fly to deep center field.
In the second, sophomore Jackie DiPietro (Horsham, Pa.) slapped a base hit to left where Garcia committed an error trying to field the ball as it skid across the outfield, allowing her to advance to second. She moved over to third on a Colltey Sheldon (Peoria, Ariz.) groundout to the right side and scored easily as Red Storm started Ashley Beza flung a wild pitch into the backstop.
The third run of the game was not nearly as drawn out with DeStaso blasting a home run to straight away center field with two outs in the third. The homer was her seventh of the season and the 22nd of her career, placing her in a tie with Katie Pierce for third place in program history.
Seton Hall and St. John's will meet for the series final on Saturday, April 19, in Queens, N.Y. First pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m.
