Pirates Host Syracuse for Three-Game Series Beginning Saturday

South Orange, N.J. – After winning its fourth consecutive BIG EAST series, the Seton Hall softball team is set to host a non-conference series against old BIG EAST foe Syracuse this weekend at Mike Sheppard Sr. Field. The three-game set kicks off with a doubleheader on Saturday at 12 p.m. followed by the series finale on Sunday also at noon. All three games can be seen on the Pirate Sports Network on FloSoftball.

LAST TIME OUT
The Pirates took two out of three last weekend at home against Providence in the start of an 11-game homestand. The bats broke out in each of The Hall's wins, led by Katey Brennan (Yardley, Pa.) and Kelsey Carr (Ridgewood, N.Y.) each leading the team by batting .500 on the weekend. Taylor Hill (Little Falls, N.J.) collected four hits on the weekend to push her batting average in BIG EAST play up to .400.

SCOUTING SYRACUSE (18-17, 4-11 ACC)
The Orange, who were selected 10th in the ACC Preseason Poll, enter the weekend with an 18-17 overall record. Syracuse bounced back from being swept by Clemson last weekend by winning both games of its doubleheader against Colgate on Wednesday. Angel Jasso leads the team with a .351 batting average, while Taylor Posner poses the biggest run producing threat with a team-leading 10 homers and 35 RBI. Lindey Hendrix and Madison Knight lead the pitching staff with ERA's of 2.27 and 2.58, respectively.

NEWS & NOTES

Seton Hall and Syracuse will go head-to-head for the first time since 2013, and this marks the Orange's first trip to South Orange since 2011.
Seton Hall's last win over Syracuse was a 16-15 victory on April 20, 2013. The Pirates' 16 runs scored that day still stand as their most runs scored in a BIG EAST game.
The 2013 series served as a turnaround for the Pirates that season. Entering that series, Seton Hall had struggled to a 2-9 mark in conference play. Starting with the Syracuse series, the Pirates won six of their final nine league games to lock up their first BIG EAST Tournament berth since 2009.
Taylor Hill picked up her 150^th career hit last week, and also became just the fifth in program history to surpass the 40 double mark. Hill's .359 career batting average sits as the second-highest in program history.
After setting the single-season mark for runs scored last season, Hill is on pace to break the record again in 2024. Hill enters the weekend with 33 runs scored through 32 games this season. For context, during last season's record-breaking season, Hill had scored just 20 runs through her first 32 games of the season.
Katey Brennan was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week for the second time this season on Monday. She batted .500 over the weekend against Providence and collected three doubles and two RBI.
Kelsey Carr was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday, marking the third straight week in which she has been honored by the conference. Carr batted .500 over the weekend with two doubles and four runs scored while posting a 2-0 record with a 1.75 ERA in the circle.
Over the last 15 games, the Pirates have posted a 12-3 record after starting the season 6-11. During this recent stretch, seven players have batted over .300, led by Lela Allen posting a .415 clip over her last 12. The pitching trio of Sydney Babik, Kelsey Carr and Kyra Kreuscher have combined for an ERA of 2.79.
The Pirates have won 44 consecutive games when scoring six or more runs. Their last loss in such a game came on April 9, 2022 in an 8-7 loss to DePaul.
Brennan hit her first career home run on March 10 at Villanova. Hitting in the middle of the order in all 20 games so far this season, the freshman sports a .317 batting average and 15 RBI, both of which rank in the top-three on the team.
Caye's walk-off home run against UIC on March 2 was the first non-run rule walk-off home run for the Pirates since Baylee Allender hit one against Georgetown on April 6, 2019.
For Caye, it was her first home run since April 16, 2022 against Georgetown.
Kyra Kreuscher was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Feb. 26 after her strong outing on Saturday against New Mexico State. The sophomore pitched all seven innings, allowing just five hits and two runs to pick up her second win of the season.
Taylor Hill was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Feb. 19 after going .500 (6-for-12) at the plate with three doubles, four runs scored and two RBI in the season's opening weekend at FAU.
The Pirates were picked to finish third in the BIG EAST preseason poll, behind second-place UConn and first-place Villanova. Seton Hall finished in third place in last year's standings.
Seton Hall will be tasked with replacing some key producers from last year's squad. Centerfielder and last year's team leader in batting average Abby Wingo, second baseman Ashly Colonnetta, and left fielder Marisa Pla have all graduated along with reserves Grace Dawson, Ally Taylor and Jordan Tressler. Pitcher Shelby Smith, who was named the Most Outstanding Player of the BIG EAST Tournament, transferred to Houston. Catcher Regan Rand has also transferred to Division-II Indiana (Pa.).
The Hall welcome in a pair of freshmen to the 2024 squad. Outfielder Katey Brennan and pitcher Karissa Dupuis will both look to be key contributors in South Orange this upcoming season.
Seton Hall will face a tough non-conference slate in 2024, including matchups against three teams that won NCAA regional games last season an six opponents who won at least 34 games. Included in that bunch are dates with Grand Canyon, who pulled off a shocker last season against No. 2 UCLA, as well as a rematch of the Austin Regional elimination game against Texas State.
The Pirates will face off against opponents from three of the power conferences this season: ACC (Louisville, Syracuse), Big 10 (Michigan) and PAC-12 (Arizona State).
Head Coach Angie Churchill coached against her alma mater in Michigan last weekend for the first time in her career. Churchill was a four-year member of the Wolverines softball team from 2001-04, winning three Big Ten titles and reaching the College World Series three times.
The Pirates earned several All-BIG EAST awards. Kelsey Carr was named BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year, Abby Wingo was named Defensive Player of the Year, and the coaching staff led by Angie Churchill was named BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year. Carr, Wingo and Shelby Smith were all named to the All-BIG EAST First Team, with Carr being a unanimous selection.
Carr is the first Pirate pitcher to be named BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year. The junior led the league in ERA (1.82), reaching that number after 61.2 innings of work. Carr only allowed more than two earned runs in a start just twice during BIG EAST play.
Carr was one of just two players in the country last season to finish with a sub-2.00 ERA, hit 10+ home runs and drive in 50+ runs (Valerie Cagle, Clemson).
Wingo was the first Pirate recipient of the Defensive Player of the Year award. The senior had a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage in 31 chances in center field. Wingo had the third-highest number of chances among BIG EAST outfielders and had the most chances among center fielders in the league.
Abby Wingo set new single-season records in base hits (71) and longest hitting streak (19 games) last season. Her .397 average led the club, and she only failed to collect a base-hit in consecutive games twice all year.
Seton Hall's 18 BIG EAST victories last season were a new program record, and the team's 42 wins rank as the second-most in program history (46, 2004).
Seton Hall's win over Villanova on Day Two of the BIG EAST Tournament was its 40^th win of the season, reaching that plateau for just the second time in program history. Entering the year, Seton Hall had not won 30 games in a season since 2005.
The Pirates finished with an overall record above .500 for the first time since 2006, when they finished 29-27.