The Seton Hall softball team retaliated from a one-run deficit to defeat Hofstra on Thursday afternoon by a final score of 4-1.
The Pride came into the game with a total of 60 stolen bases in their starting lineup compared to Seton Hall’s 15. The significant statistic played to Hofstra’s advantage as it enabled a run in the top of the second inning.
The Pride hit a triple, then followed with a sac bunt that drove in the first run of the game.
After walking two batters early on, Pirates starting pitcher Chrisa Head was relieved by Reganne Camp, and Camp went on to pitch five innings of relief.
Haley Arteaga reignited the offense in the bottom of the third as she singled through the left side of the field. Destini Peck followed Arteaga’s single with one of her own, as Arteaga would advance to third, representing the game-tying run. Arteaga tied the game on a wild pitch and gave Seton Hall a lead which it would maintain throughout the rest of the game.
Janae Barracato doubled in the third inning to drive in another run and Arteaga followed with one of her own as the Pirates finished the inning with a two-run advantage. That separation was enough to vault the Pirates over the top, as Hofstra had scoring opportunities but solid infield play and pitching stymied its attempts.
Arteaga finished the afternoon 2-for-3 with an RBI. Barracato, who has been red hot of late, went 2-for-4 and extended her hitting streak to ten games.
Head coach Paige Smith spoke after the game about the effective combination that the two players have been at the top of the order for the Pirates.
“If you watch in the dugout, everything they do feeds off each other,” Smith said. I” know when Janae sets the table, you’re about to see something big from Hailey. The other thing about them is that they’re so tight that if one of them falls a little short, the other one picks ‘em up – I’ll put our one-two punch at the top of the lineup against anybody.”
Seton Hall softball has now won eight of its last 10 games and move to 17-16 on the season. Up next, they host a three-game series over the upcoming weekend against St. John’s, who has a similarly oriented team.
“If you look at our numbers in terms of OPS and even ERA, we’re almost the same team,” Smith said. “You ever wanted to play a video game against yourself? Because we’re about to.”
Evando Thompson can be reached at evando.thompson@student.shu.edu or on Twitter @Thompsev.
