DeStaso, Walkden Named to Softball Honor Roll
4/27/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
NEW YORK - After leading the Seton Hall softball team to a 5-1 record last week and a series win at Butler over the weekend, senior pitcher/designated player Danielle DeStaso (Congers, N.Y.) and freshman third baseman Alexis Walkden (Cibolo, Texas) were named to the BIG EAST Softball Weekly Honor Roll Monday it was announced by the league office.
All six of Seton Hall's games last week were decided by just one run, with the Pirates winning three-straight non-conference games in walk off fashion, and both DeStaso and Walkden played critical roles for The Hall.
DeStaso started five times, and hit a team-high .462, while also going 2-1 on the mound with a 3.75 earned run average. She had at least one base hit in all five games with a pair of multi-hit games and three home runs. DeStaso slugged 1.231 and also boasted a .562 on-base percentage.
Her offensive highlight for the week came in game one at Butler on Saturday afternoon when she hit a pair of solo home runs, to bring her season tally to a career-best 10, and her four-year total up to 33, good for second all-time at Seton Hall.
In a victory over Drexel on Tuesday afternoon, DeStaso scattered seven hits and failed to allow an earned run in a complete-game victory, striking out three in the process.
Against Butler in the series finale on Sunday afternoon, she threw 6.1 innings, briefly coming out in the bottom of the sixth before reentering in the seventh to close out the win. She gave up just one earned run with five strikeouts to improve to 10-12 on the mound.
Walkden's historic week culminated with her setting a new Seton Hall single-season home run record on Sunday. She hit a homer in each of the three games against the Bulldogs to increase her season total to 20, vaulting past the old SHU record of 18, set by Laura Taylor during the 2002 season.
Walkden not only leads the BIG EAST, but ranks 11th in the nation with 20 home runs this year. Last week, she homered in four different games and drove in 11 runs.
Overall, she hit .381 with a 1.048 slugging percentage, and posted a .455 average in the Butler series win over the weekend. Her two-run homer in the sixth proved to hold up as the game winner in game-one of a Sunday doubleheader, then she capped off a four RBI performance with a two-run shot in the seventh inning of game two, making it 6-2 in a contest the Pirates ultimately won 6-5.
With three conference games remaining, Seton Hall sits at 8-9 in BIG EAST play and third in the league standings, with the top four teams qualifying for the postseason.
After a non-conference tilt with Hofstra on Tuesday afternoon, Seton Hall closes out the regular season with a three-game series against Georgetown this Saturday-Sunday, May 2-3, at Mike Sheppard, Sr. Field in South Orange.
BIG EAST Player of the Week
Mary Connolly - DePaul, P/1B
BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week
Francesca Carrullo - St. John's, P
BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll
Danielle DeStaso - Seton Hall, P/DP
Brittany Garcia - St. John's, OF
Anna O'Gorman - Creighton, INF
Brittney Veler - Providence, OF
Alexis Walkden - Seton Hall, 3B
