Seton Hall University
St. John's
Softball Edged by St. John's in Series Finale
4/19/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - The Seton Hall University softball team was edged by the St. John's Red Storm, 4-0, in their series finale on Sunday afternoon at Mike Sheppard, Sr. Field.
In what started out as a pitcher's duel, with the teams combining for just three hits through the first five innings, St. John's broke the game open with two runs in each of the final two frames.
Seton Hall starter Danielle DeStaso (Congers, N.Y.) had been dealing up to the sixth inning. She gave up just one hit through five complete and struck out four batters through the first two innings to keep the Red Storm offensive attack off balance.
It was not until the sixth that St. John's threatened at all, but once Hannah Anderson led off with a double to the gap in right center, the Red Storm gathered some momentum. A fielder's choice grounder to first allowed Anderson to come home for the first run of the game, and Brittany Garcia picked up an RBI base knock later in the frame to make it 2-0.
Seton Hall tried to rally in the bottom of the inning. Yasmin Harrell (Cheektowaga, N.Y.) and Alexis Walkden (Cibolo, Texas) both recorded a base hit to put two on with two outs, but they were stranded along the base paths.
St. John's padded its lead with two more in the seventh, but Lauren Fischer (Robbinsville, N.J.), who relieved DeStaso on the mound during the difficult sixth, was able to regroup and get the final two outs in the air, resulting in the Red Storm leaving the bases loaded with a four-run lead.
DeStaso's second base hit of the game led off the seventh, only SHU never advanced a runner past first during its final at-bat.
Walkden was also 2-for-3, making it two Pirates with multi-hit games. DeStaso fell to 8-11 on the mound, allowing two runs in 5.1 innings with five strikeouts.
Seton Hall returns to action for a non-conference doubleheader against Drexel University Thursday, April 21, at Mike Sheppard, Sr. Field, in South Orange, N.J. First pitch is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
