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Katherine Cahalin/Staff Photographer[/caption]
Alexis Walkden was the hero for the Seton Hall Pirates’ softball team on Thursday hitting the game-winning double in the bottom of the eighth inning to beat the Stony Brook Seawolves by a score of 7-6. The win, the Pirates' third straight walk-off victory, gives the team a 20-24 record on the season.
Lauren Fischer had the start for the Pirates and she put the Pirates in a good position to win. She allowed three runs over six innings of work. The Pirates had a 5-3 lead after the sixth inning when Fischer made her exit. After the game, head coach Paige Smith spoke about Fischer’s performance. “Lauren Fischer was lights out she was keeping the hitters off balance a lot and I was really happy to see her off speed pitch working for her.”
Danielle DeStaso came in to close out the game in the seventh. But after a walk by Chelsea Evans, Bria Green tied the game with one swing of the bat. One batter later, Shayla Giosia took DeStaso deep to give the Seawolves a 6-5 lead. DeStaso was only able to retire one batter in the inning. Lauren Fischer game back on to get the final two outs of the inning.
With the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the seventh, Jackie DiPietro hit a single into left field to knot the game back up at six. Alexis Walkden scored the tying run.
With one out and Yasmin Harrell on second, Alexis Walkden came through yet again with a hit to the right-center field gap. Yasmin Harrell came around to score to win the game, which was the Pirates’ third consecutive walk-off victory.
Smith said after the game, “I feel that every inning is going to be a seventh inning for us so the fact that we have had such great success late in games is just going to roll over into every inning.” She would go on to talk about how they were able to make a comeback and win the game. “Everybody was ready to come in to all situations. We used most of our lineup today, which was really exciting to see because they have all been working hard for their spots.”
The Pirates’ next game will be this Saturday, April 25, when they make their final road trip of the season to Butler. The Bulldogs are currently in fourth place in the Big East with a 7-8 conference record. The Pirates are right behind them in the standings with a 6-8 conference record.
Double-header action is set to begin with game one at 12:00 p.m. and game two at 2:30 p.m.
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