Top-10 Moments of 2013-14: #10 - Wild Walk-Off
7/14/2014 12:00:00 AM | Softball
July 14, 2014
The 2013-14 year was a momentous one for Seton Hall Athletics as the Pirates made their mark in the first year of a revamped BIG EAST Conference.
From the hardwood to the field, the pitch to the pool or on the course, the was no shortage of memorable moments across all 14 varsity athletic programs as Seton Hall student-athletes continued to honor and further the university's proud athletic tradition.
Over the final two weeks of July, SHUPirates.com in conjunction with College Hunks Hauling Junk will reveal its countdown of the Top-10 moments from the year that was.
Our first stop is on the softball field where the Pirates used a surprise power surge to score a thrilling conference victory over visiting Butler.
#10. Wild Walk-Off
For anyone who has been out to Essex County Mike Sheppard Sr. Field over the last two seasons, it is known that there is no quit in Paige Smith's Pirates who play with a dedication that honors the legacy of the Seton Hall Athletics Hall of Famer whose name graces the field.
Never was that more abundantly clear than on a Sunday afternoon this past April, when The Hall twice battled back from behind to top new conference rival Butler in an extra-inning affair that produced a finish for the ages.
After Seton Hall erased a three-run deficit with an opportunistic two-out rally in the home half of the sixth, the two squads remained deadlocked following the first two extra frames. In the tenth, freshman Lauren Fischer (Robbinsville, N.J.) returned to the circle where she had allowed just one run since coming on to halt a Butler surge in the third inning.
Butler managed to scrape across two runs however, building a 6-4 advantage to position themselves within three outs of victory. Eventual All-BIG EAST honoree Jackie DiPietro (Horsham, Pa.) got The Hall started with a single to right field, setting the stage for the Pirates to mount the decisive comeback.
One out later, Fischer was locked in a battle with counterpart Callie Dennison when with the count loaded at 3-2; she stayed with the payoff pitch and launched her first career home run over the wall in right to tie the game at 6-6.
FISCHER HOMERS TO RIGHT!
-- SHU Softball (@SHUSoftball) April 27, 2014 The freshman ties it at 6-6 with a two run bomb on a full count with two outs in the bottom of the 10th!
-- SHU Softball (@SHUSoftball) April 27, 2014 Looking to add to the resurgence, in stepped Fischer's battery mate and fellow underclassman Faith Laudano (Islip, N.Y.). Laudano, who like Fischer entered the day without a collegiate home run to her credit, had taken Dennison to the warning track earlier in the day.
This time, with the game on the line, the sophomore sent a rocket over nearly the same spot on the wall that Fischer's shot had cleared just moments earlier, lifting the Pirates to a breathtaking BIG EAST victory.
Faith Laudano WALKS OFF WITH A SOLO SHOT TO RIGHT CENTER! SETON HALL WINS 7-6!
-- SHU Softball (@SHUSoftball) April 27, 2014 Fischer was the star of the day, logging eight innings of stellar relief to pick up her first-career conference win while supporting her own cause by going 1-for-3 at the dish with two runs scored. Laudano finished 2-for-5 including the walk-off homer while DiPietro added four hits in the victory.
The Pirates continued to assert themselves as a force within the conference, picking up nine BIG EAST victories throughout the season but the dramatic flair with which they dispatched the Bulldogs on that April afternoon was undoubtedly one of the highlights of the year in Seton Hall Athletics.
