On a cloudy afternoon at Mike Shepard, Sr. Field, the Seton Hall Pirates (12-21) fell to in-state rival, Rutgers (21-12) by a score of 12-2 in six innings. After the game head coach Paige Smith expressed great displeasure and frustration with her team’s performance. Smith called her team’s performance, “a day off.” “We cannot continue to take days off especially against a team of Rutgers’ caliber,” Smith said. Rutgers came firing out of the gates and jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning. With RBIs coming from senior outfielder Chandler Howard, and junior Jordan Whitley. The Scarlet Knights’ bats caused an early exit for Seton Hall starting pitcher, freshman Alannah Basile who only retired one batter. Sophomore, New Jersey native, Lauren Fischer, relieved Basile. The Scarlet Knights struck again in the third inning, as senior Jackie Bates smacked a two-run shot over the right field wall to make it a 5-0 game. The Pirates finally cracked the scoreboard in the bottom of fourth inning thanks to Alexis Walkden solo homerun. It was the Texas native’s 16th homerun of the season. Walken was just named to the Big East Softball Weekly Honor Roll for the third time this season on Monday. She currently leads the Big East in homeruns, and her 16th homerun puts her in second place on Seton Hall’s all-time single season homerun record list and is now two away from breaking the school’s record. “Walkden is an elite recruit and we are very fortunate enough to have her in our program,” Smith said. “She has been playing great for us this season.” Ficher looked to be settling in for the Pirates, but the Scarlet Knights’ bats came alive in the top of the fifth. With RBI singles from Melanie Slowinski and Jordan Whitely, and a batter hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, put Rutgers up 8-1. Fischer was unable record an out in the top of the fifth and was relived by senior Casey Moses. Moses was able to retire the side and get the Pirates out of the jam. Moses was unable to contain the red hot Scarlet Knights, surrendering four earned runs in the sixth inning, two of which came off a Chandler Howard homerun to left field. Senior right-handed pitcher, Danielle DeStasco, relieved Moses. To go along with their hitting, Rutgers’ pitchers showed up this afternoon. Starting pitcher and southpaw Alyssa Landrith pitched four innings for the Scarlet Knights, and held the Pirates to just one run. Sophomore Shayla Sweeney closed out the game for Rutgers, allowing just one more run through two innings of work. The Pirates will be back in action on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. At Mike Sheppard, Sr. Field, for double-header as they open up a three game series with Big East rival St. John’s. St. John’s currently sits atop the Big East standings with a perfect 9-0 record. “We are a bounce back team and we are going to have bounce back against St. Johns on Saturday,” Smith said. Matthew Rachek can be reached at matthew.rachek@student.shu.edu
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