Pirates Host DePaul This Weekend to Wrap Up Regular Season

South Orange, N.J. – The Pirates return to Mike Sheppard Sr. Field this weekend to conclude the regular season with a three-game series against DePaul.

LAST TIME OUT
The Hall wrapped up a BIG EAST Tournament berth by taking two of three at St. John's last weekend in Queens. Kelsey Carr capped off her terrific week in the circle by allowing three hits and one run in the 4-1 win on Friday, helping solidify her as the BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week. On Saturday, Lela Allen had a huge game with three hits and four RBI in an 8-3 comeback win.

SCOUTING DEPAUL (8-32, 3-18 BIG EAST)
The Blue Demons were selected to finish in fourth place in the BIG EAST standings at the start of the season, however they enter the final weekend of play with a 3-18 mark in league play. Despite that, DePaul's lineup features one of the strongest bats in the conference in Brooke Johnson, who enters the weekend with a .350 average and 10 home runs.

NEWS & NOTES

Kelsey Carr's no-hitter on April 23 was the 22^nd in program history and was nearly one year to the day of the last no-no thrown by a Pirate (Shelby Smith on April 22, 2023 at Providence).
Carr also picked up her 100^th career base hit last week, doing so by hitting an RBI single in game one of Wednesday's doubleheader at Army.
Taylor is closing in on breaking the single-season record for runs scored for the second consecutive season. Hill has crossed the plate 45 times so far in 2024, nearing her mark of 48 runs set last season. Hill's 1.00 runs per game is tops in the BIG EAST and 36^th in the country.
Olivia Gilbert was named BIG EAST Player of the Week on April 22 after batting .571 (4-for-7) with a home run and four RBI against UConn. Gilbert went a perfect 2-for-2 in each of the first two games of the series, including a three-RBI showing in the 5-0 win on Friday.
Carr was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll after allowing just two earned runs over 14 innings of work over the weekend against the Huskies.
Kyra Kreuscher was named BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week for the first time in her career on April 15. The sophomore worked nine scoreless innings last weekend against Syracuse and allowed just two hits.
Taylor Hill picked up her 150^th career hit earlier this season and also became just the fifth in program history to surpass the 40 double mark. Hill's .352 career batting average sits as the second-highest in program history.
The Pirates have won at least 10 BIG EAST games in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2004-2005.
Katey Brennan has been named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week twice so far this season. Her .321 batting average and 28 RBI both rank second on the team.
The Pirates have won 47 of their last 48 games when scoring six or more runs.
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.
The Pirates earned several All-BIG EAST awards at the conclusion of the 2023 season. 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.