Carr, Wingo Power Pirates Past Villanova, 9-1

Sunday, April 30

South Orange, NJ

10 AM

Seton Hall University

36-15, 0

Villanova

32-20, 0

Villanova

Seton Hall

4/30/2023 1:58:00 PM | Softball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

South Orange, N.J. – Kelsey Carr (Ridgewood, N.Y.) and Abby Wingo (Portland, Ore.) each drove in three runs and Sydney Babik (Gilbert, Ariz.) held Villanova's offense to just three hits as the Pirates took down the Wildcats in Sunday's series finale, 9-1, in five innings.

With the win, the Pirates improve to 16-5 in conference play, their most wins ever in a BIG EAST season. Seton Hall will control its own destiny to secure at least a share of the BIG EAST regular season title next weekend.

How it Happened
After cutting down what would have been the game's first run on a play at the plate in the top of the first, the Pirate bats got right to work in the bottom half. Lela Allen (Phoenix, Ariz.) lined the first pitch she saw off the right field wall for a double, and was later brought home on a Carr double to give the Pirates the early lead.

Villanova would bounce back in the second, tying the game on a sacrifice fly to make it a 1-1 game. Later on in the third inning, the Pirates responded with three runs of their own to pull away for good. Taylor Hill (Little Falls, N.J.) knocked home a run on a fielder's choice to give The Hall a 2-1 advantage. Next, Carr stepped up and crushed an 0-2 pitch long over the left field fence for her 11^th home run of the year.

𝙈𝙊𝙊𝙉𝙎𝙃𝙊𝙏.

Kelsey Carr crushes her 11th home run of the season deep over the wall in left to push our lead up to 4-1!#HALLin🔵⚪ pic.twitter.com/n0KmYmO3KO
— Seton Hall Softball (@SHUSoftball) April 30, 2023

Seton Hall went back to work at the plate in the fourth. With runners at the corners, Allen grounded out to score Andrea Perez (Corona, Calif.) from third to make it a 5-1 lead. After back-to-back walks, Wingo laced a two-run single to left field to widen the lead to 7-1. After a rain delay of approximately 45 minutes, the Pirates came right back out and scored again on a bases loaded walk from Hannah Alexander (Wrightstown, N.J.).

Babik came back out and retired the side in order in the fifth, setting her offense up to secure a run rule win in the bottom half. With the bases loaded and two down in the frame, Wingo watched a 3-2 pitch tail outside of the zone to force home the game-winning run from third.

Notes & Numbers

Carr's 11 home runs this season are the most by a Pirate since Lauren Fischer, who also hit 11 back in 2017.
Wingo's two hits on the day extend her hitting streak to 19 straight games. She now has reached base in 34 consecutive games, 33 of which she has at least one base hit in.
Wingo's season hits total now sits at 63, just one shy of tying the program record held by Katie Pierce and Valerie Suto.
Babik allowed just one run and three hits across her five innings of work, improving her record to 11-3 on the season.
Hill went hitless on the day, but drew two walks and scored two runs.
Ashly Colonnetta (Cypress, Texas) went 2-for-2 with a walk and three runs scored.

What's Next
The Pirates wrap up the regular season next weekend at home when they host Butler for a three-game set beginning Friday at 2 p.m.