Seton Hall University
St. John's
Pirates Lose a Pair to St. John's
4/18/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - The Seton Hall University softball team lost a pair of games to conference leading St. John's University on Saturday, April 18, at Mike Sheppard, Sr. Field. The Red Storm took game one, 8-1, and won game two of the doubleheader, 12-4.
St. John's 8, Seton Hall 1
For the Pirates in game one, it was about missed opportunities, as The Hall would strand nine runners and fail to capitalize on several quality scoring chances.
In the bottom of the first, SHU had two on with no outs, but Tori Free worked around the trouble to end the threat. Two innings later, back-to-back singles from freshman Alexis Walkden (Cibolo, Texas) and senior Sara Haefeli (Montclair, N.J.) resulted in runners at second and third, only Free was able to get Danielle DeStaso (Congers, N.Y.) to line out to center and end the inning.
Two more hits in the fourth still failed to bring a run home. This time Alex Rabbetts (Corona, Calif.) and Noel Lent (Yaphanic, N.Y.) recorded base hits into center, but neither came around to score.
Finally, trailing 5-0 in the bottom of the fifth, Walkden doubled to right, and eventually was driven in by a DeStaso RBI base hit, but that was all the offense the Pirates were able to generate.
St. John's freshman Krystal Puga led off the next half inning with a solo home run to left, the start of a three-run for the Red Storm to put the game out of reach.
Puga went 3-for-4 in game one, driving in two, as did Erin Burner, who recorded a two-run homer back in the fifth.
Walkden also went 3-for-4 at the plate, with Haefeli (2-for-4) and Rabbetts (2-for-4) posing additional multi-hit performances.
DeStaso received the start on the mound and fell to 8-10, allowing five runs in 5.1 innings, with five strikeouts.
St. John's 12, Seton Hall 4 (5 inn.)
The Pirates were able to strike early, plating one in the bottom of the first, before St. John's responded with two in the next half inning. Yasmin Harrel (Cheektowaga, N.Y.), who would go 2-for-3 on the day, reached on a bunt single, and advanced to second on a Francesa Carrullo throwing error on her attempt to catch the speedy SHU leadoff batter at first.
A wild pitch moved her up to third, and senior Whitney Jones (Skowhegan, Maine) drove her home with an RBI-single to left.
Brittany Garcia double to left to start off the SJU half of the second, then Savannah Warren drove in two with a base hit into center, making it 2-1. It was the fourth inning that really saw the Red Storm grab control, as they scored five runs on five hits.
Trailing 9-1, Seton Hall tried to climb back into the game with a strong bottom half of the inning. After Haefeli and DeStaso opened with a single and double, resulting in runners at second and third with no outs, Rabbetts hit a sacrifice fly out to center, and freshman Alannah Basile (Levittown, N.Y.) brought DeStaso home with an RBI base knock to left.
After St. John's went on to recoup both of those runs and add a third in the top of the fifth, the Pirates needed to score twice. Haefeli doubled to center, scoring Jones all the way from first on the play, but the rally ended as DeStaso fouled out to left.
Seton Hall used three pitchers in game two, but Lauren Fischer (Robbinsville, N.J.) started and fell to 7-9 on the year. Jones and Haefeli were both 2-for-3 with an RBI and run scored, and DeStaso recorded a pair of base hits for SHU.
Game three of the series will be played on Sunday, April 19, at Mike Sheppard, Sr. Field. First pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m.
