DeStaso, DiPietro & DeLuca Named All-BIG EAST
5/6/2014 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 6, 2014
NEW YORK - Seton Hall University landed three players on the 2014 All-BIG EAST softball teams, highlighted by a pair of First-Team All-Conference selections in junior pitcher/designated player Danielle DeStaso (Congers, N.Y.) and sophomore outfielder Jackie DiPietro (Horsham, Pa.) it was announced Tuesday by the league office.
Senior infielder Maria DeLuca (Cedar Grove, N.J.) was the third Pirate to receive All-BIG EAST recognition, landing on the conference's second team.
It marks the second-straight year Seton Hall has seen three student-athletes lauded as All-BIG EAST selections, the first time the program has accomplished that in nearly 10 years, since the 2004 and 2005 BIG EAST Championship seasons.
Additionally, Seton Hall boasts two First-Team All-BIG EAST honorees for only the third time in program history and the first since 2005.
For DeStaso, it is the second-straight season she received all-league accolades after earning second-team recognition a year ago. She was selected in the utility, designated player slot, after starting 44 of Seton Hall's 49 games at either pitcher or designated player.
Her signature versatility was on full display all season as once again she emerged as an offensive and pitching leader for The Hall. DeStaso ranked third on the team with a .302 average, tying for the SHU lead with eight home runs to go along with nine doubles, a team-best 29 RBI's and a .579 slugging percentage.
In the circle, DeStaso finished with a 7-10 record, making 18 starts and 29 appearances. She struck out 88 batters in 108.2 innings pitched and threw a team-best nine complete games. Against BIG EAST competition DeStaso had just a 3.20 earned run average with a 5-6 overall record. Half of her home runs came during the conference season and she slugged .633 in 21 league games.
During the season DeStaso received BIG EAST Softball Weekly Honor Roll accolades on a career-best three separate occasions. She struck out a career-high 15 batters in a complete game shutout victory over Quinnipiac on March 8, and picked up three complete game BIG EAST wins over a four-game span in series against Creighton and St. John's.
As the BIG EAST season progressed, DiPietro emerged as the Pirates' most consistent hitter, finishing the year with a team-leading .338 batting average, nearly an 80 point jump from her freshman campaign.
She ended the season on a six-game hitting streak, the second of its kind this year for the SHU left fielder, and she recorded at least one base hit in 12 of the Pirates' final 13 games of the season.
DiPietro started 44 games in left field and ranked second on the team with 19 runs scored and seven stolen bases, also collected five doubles and 11 RBI's. In conference play she saw he average jump to a team-best .386, while boasting a .426 on-base percentage. DiPietro committed just one error in the field all season and posted a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage in BIG EAST play.
She had a career-best four base hits in a 4-for-5 performance with two runs scored against Butler on April 27, the most base hits in a game for a Seton Hall player this season. DiPietro recorded nine multi-hit games, the third most on the team.
DeLuca started 44 games in the middle infield, seeing time at short and second. She finished the year with a .273 overall average while tallying a team-best 10 doubles while driving in 15. DeLuca saw eight of her 13 extra-base hits come during BIG EAST play, where she slugged .453.
Her 10 doubles tied for the 10th-most for a single season in program history, and she finished her career with 23 two-baggers, which ranks 11th at SHU.
DeLuca was on fire in the series at Villanova last month, smacking three doubles, including two while going 3-for-5 with two runs scores in the Seton Hall win in the series opener. She nearly lifted Seton Hall to a win at BIG EAST regular season champion DePaul on April 6, going 2-for-3 with two RBI's in series finale, a game SHU lost 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh.
In the BIG EAST opening series against Providence, DeLuca had at least one hit in all three games, smacking two doubles with an RBI and a run scored in game three. She drove in a season-best three runs with a late game home run at Rutgers on April 9.
Seton Hall finished the season with a 9-12 record in BIG EAST play and in sixth place in the conference standings, finishing just behind 10-10 Creighton for the last spot in the four-team BIG EAST Championship.
All-BIG EAST First Team^
Becca Changstrom, Creighton, Sr., P
Kirsten Verdun, DePaul, Sr., P*
Erin Burner, St. John's, Jr., C*
Mary Connolly, DePaul, Jr., 1B
Kristin Boros, Butler, Jr., 2B
Liz Dike, Creighton, Jr., SS
Kaitlin Fitzgerald, St. John's, Fr., 3B
Alexis Cantu, Creighton, Sr., P/UT
Danielle DeStaso, Seton Hall, Jr., DP/UT
Kiarra Baldassari, Providence, So., OF
Dylan Christensen, DePaul, Fr., OF
Megan Coronado, DePaul, Sr., OF
Jackie DiPietro, Seton Hall, So., OF
Elyse Graziano, Georgetown, Sr., OF
*unanimous selection
^Due to a three-way tie for All-BIG EAST First Team outfielders, two extra players were added
All-BIG EAST Second Team
Tori Free, St. John's, So., P
Kate Poppe, Villanova, So., P
Staci Bonezek, DePaul, Jr., C
Jackie Reed, St. John's, Sr., 1B
Maria DeLuca, Seton Hall, Sr., 2B
Allie Braden, DePaul, Sr., SS
Blair Lowe, Creighton, Sr., 3B
Megan Hyson, Georgetown, Jr., P/UT
Danielle Deraney, Providence, So., DP/UT
Alexandria Anttila, Georgetown, Sr., OF
Brittany Garcia, St. John's, Fr., OF
Samantha Giovanniello, Georgetown, So., OF
BIG EAST Player of the Year
Mary Connolly, DePaul, Jr., 1B
BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year
Kirsten Verdun, DePaul, Sr., P*
BIG EAST Rookie of the Year
Dylan Christensen, DePaul, Fr., OF
BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year
Head Coach Eugene Lenti and DePaul
*unanimous selection
