The Seton Hall softball team was swept in a doubleheader by in-state opponent Monmouth, 4-0 in game one and 11-1 in game two, on Wednesday at Ivy Hill Park.The Pirates managed just four hits in each of the two games, with the second game being cut short due to the Hawks 10 run lead after five innings.In game two, sophomore catcher Kristen Kaelin recorded the lone RBI for the Hall, when in the fifth inning she hit a single up the middle scoring junior outfielder Michelle Reed from third base.In the first game, though the Pirates still could not hit, their defense decided the outcome of the game.The Hall committed five errors in the game, resulting in three runs. Senior pitcher Ashley Forsyth allowed just one earned run on six hits in 6.2 innings of work.The Pirates will head back on the road this weekend playing a doubleheader against in-state rival St. Peter's Thursday before resuming Big East play with a three game series against metro-area rival St. John's. The Pirates return to the road where they have yet to pick up a win in a non-tournament game. Their most recent road experience came last weekend where they were swept at the hands of the University of South Florida Bulls. In the three games in Tampa, the Hall managed only two total runs, both of which came in the second game of Friday's doubleheader, which ended in a 3-2 loss. The team dropped the first game 7-0 and Saturday's series finale 8-0 in five innings. Thursday's doubleheader against St. Peter's could be exactly what the Pirates need to turn around their woes away from Ivy Hill Park as the Peahens come into the back-to-back games with a lowly 1-15 on the year and in those 16 games the team has only been only able to muster 21 runs. The Peahens have only one everyday player batting above a .280 clip-freshman first baseman/center fielder Stephanie Gilronian. On the other side of the field, Seton Hall has four players batting above .280 and three players well above .300. Sophomore catcher Nicole Loewenstein leads the way for the Pirates with a .373 batting average and .484 on-base percentage. St. Peter's is currently on a 14 game losing streak and are 0-2 at Jaroschak Field, the Peahens' home field, this season.After Thursday's doubleheader, Seton Hall will return to Big East play with a three-game series against St. John's. The Red Storm will be finishing a 10-game road swing of their own when they welcome the Pirates to Queens on Saturday. Unlike St. Peter's, St. John's has not had trouble with offense as the Red Storm boast seven players batting .267 or better. Leading the way is junior catcher Kacee Cox, who was recently named to the Big East Weekly Honor Roll for the third time this season. Cox is second in the Big East in both batting average and on-base percentage at .448 and .515 respectively. She also is in the top six in the Big East in five other offensivecategories including hits, RBIs and home runs. St. John's as a team is hitting .295, good enough for second in the Big East Conference. Where the Red Storm has struggled has been from the mound; the team owns a league worst 6.06 ERA. No member of the Red Storm has a sub-five ERA and the team allowed 11 runs in a recent three-game series against Connecticut. The Pirates have had their struggles on the mound as well, posting a 5.95 ERA, placing them just above the Red Storm for fifteenth in the Big East. The action starts Thursday against St. Peter's in Jersey City. Game-time for the front end of the doubleheader is set for 3 p.m. Zachary Cziryak can be reached at zachary.cziryak@student.shu.edu.
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