The Seton Hall softball team fell, 4-3, to Butler on Sunday afternoon, as the Bulldogs avoided a series sweep by the Pirates. The game finished in extra innings, and the loss puts the Pirates at 16-16 on the season.
Chrisa Head took the mound for the Pirates to start the game. She escaped the first inning only allowing one run on two hits. Seton Hall responded quickly with a long roping single down the right field line from Janae Barracato to lead off the bottom of the first.
Renee Nunez/Staff Photographer
After Hailey Arteaga got on base with a walk, Destini Peck drove in Barracato with an RBI single to tie the game at 1-1. Two batters later, Jaden Tate hit an RBI single with the bases loaded to give Seton Hall the lead. Then, a bases loaded walk brought in the third Pirate run of the game.
In the top of the third, Butler got revenge and smacked a home run to center field to cut the Pirates’ lead to just one run. After two singles to follow up the homer, Head was pulled from the game for Reganne Camp, who struck out the next two batters to get the Pirates out of the jam.
In the top of the fifth, the Bulldogs threatened with runners on second and third base and no outs, but Emily Supercynski threw the runner out at home on a ground ball to keep Butler from tying the game. Camp made the next batter strike out looking to get the Pirates within one out of getting out of the inning with the lead, but she walked the next batter to load the bases. However, Camp struck out the next batter to avoid any issues.
“She’s just in a groove right now,” head coach Paige Smith said. “She studies the game, she studies their hitters. Last night she watched every single one of their hitters, so she was really prepared to come in.”
Butler, though, hit a double to right-center to start the top of the sixth, putting the Bulldogs in scoring position with no outs. Camp struck out the next three batters, but the third one was a dropped third strike, which allowed the runner on third to score and the batter to advance to first, thus tying the game at three runs apiece.
After a leadoff walk from Darby Pandolfo to begin the bottom of the sixth, Seton Hall struck out three times and stranded a runner on second.
The game required extra innings to decide a winner. With one out in the top of the eighth, the Bulldogs crushed a home run over the left field fence, which proved to be the game-winning hit. Camp took credit for the loss but finished the game with 12 strikeouts in five-and-two-thirds innings of relief.
The Pirates will host Hofstra on April 11 for their next game. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.
Joseph Ippolito can be reached at joseph.ippolito@student.shu.edu or on Twitter @joeippy.
