Seton Hall University
DePaul
Pirates Swept in Doubleheader at DePaul
4/5/2014 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 5, 2014
Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score
CHICAGO, ILL. - The Seton Hall University softball team lost a pair of games in a doubleheader at DePaul University on Saturday afternoon at Cacciatore Stadium, falling 8-0 in game one and 7-2 in game two.
Junior Danielle DeStaso (Congers, N.Y.) went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in game two, and reached base three times on the day. Her home run was the 20th of her career, which propelled her into a tie for fifth place on the Pirates' all-time home run list with Mary Carroll Smith and Kristen Kaelin.
Senior Jen Metzger (Pine Hill, N.J.) started at pitcher for SHU in the second game of the day, fanning four in six innings of work.
DePaul 8, Seton Hall 0
Kirsten Verdun starred for the Blue Demons in game one of the doubleheader, throwing the first no-hitter of her career and the first for DePaul since 2010. DeStaso reached twice for Seton Hall, getting hit by a pitch in the second inning and drawing a two-out walk in the fourth.
With DeStaso reaching to lead off the second the Pirates had their best look at getting the offense on track. After she moved up to second on a Whitney Jones (Skowhegan, Maine) sacrifice, catcher Faith Laudano (Islip, N.Y.) pinch ran at second. Laudano ended up at third with two outs but could not come home as junior Sara Haefeli (Montclair, N.J.) smacked a hard line drive to center fielder, only it was right at Megan Coronado.
DeStaso, who started the game at pitcher, escaped a jam in the first, striking out Dylan Christensen and getting Morgan Maize to ground out to short to end the inning, but those same two DePaul batters would find success in their second at-bats.
With the Blue Demons leading 2-0 with one out in the third, Christensen and Maize hit back-to-back solo home runs to left field to double the DePaul advantage. That signaled the end of the game for DeStaso as junior Casey Moses (Lower Burrell, Pa.) came in to pitch.
Moses strung together three very strong innings for the Pirates, scattering just four hits over her 3.1 innings of action before running into trouble in the sixth. DePaul led 5-0 with two outs in the sixth before a pair of walks and a base hit loaded the bases.
Maize drew another walk, this time bringing a run home to make it 6-0, and freshman Lauren Fischer (Robbinsville, N.J.) came in to pitch, but she hit a batter and issued another walk to end the game.
DePaul 7, Seton Hall 2
In a scoreless game in the top of the third inning Seton Hall put together its first offensive threat but failed to bring any runs across. Haefeli led off with a single to right and swiped second base for her third steal of the season.
The Pirates ended up with runners on second and third with no outs as junior Colltey Sheldon (Peoria, Ariz.) struck out, only to reach on a wild pitch, stealing a vacant second base to place two runners in scoring position with one out. Unfortunately neither would score as sophomore Yasmin Harrell (Cheektowaga, N.Y.) struck out and senior Meredith Henze (Elkton, Md.) flew out to center field to end the inning.
DePaul's offense came to life with five hits in the bottom half of that inning, but heads up defensive plays helped limit the Blue Demons to just two runs in the frame. On a Verdun sacrifice fly to left, Coronado was thrown out by DiPietro attempting to advance to third. The final out cam as Laudano caught Connolly in a rundown between second and third, with Harrell chasing her down for the tag.
Seton Hall broke through for its first run of the game in the top of the fifth, cutting the DePaul lead down to 2-1 and doing so without recording a base hit. Haefeli was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning then DiPietro walked to make it runners at first and second.
Sheldon laid down a sacrifice bunt to place two runners in scoring position and with two outs senior Maria DeLuca (Cedar Grove, N.J.) smacked a hard hit ball to third. The play was ruled an error as it hit off the glove of Maize, and Haefeli came home to score on the play.
That one run margin did not hold as DePaul came back with five runs on four hits in the bottom half of the inning, a rally that came to an end thanks to another strong play from DiPietro, this time as she threw a strike from left field all the way to Laudano at the plate to catch Staci Bonezek trying to score from second on a base hit with two outs.
DeStaso crushed a ball over the fence in right center field to start off the SHU half of the sixth, her fifth of the year and 20th of her career, moving her into fifth place on the Seton Hall all-time home run list. That bomb represented the final runs of the game for either team.
Seton Hall and DePaul will take the field for game three of the series on Sunday, April 6, at Cacciatore Stadium in Chicago, Ill. First pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m. (CT).
