The Pirates softball team travelled to Lubbock, Texas over the weekend for the Jeannine McHaney Memorial Classic, in which they faced off against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, North Dakota Fighting Hawks, and the host, Texas Tech Red Raiders. The Pirates arrived with a 4-5 record in this early stage of the season and looked to turn heads.
North Dakota was their first matchup on Friday, and the Pirates achieved a resounding 8-0 victory. Pitcher Shelby Smith managed to shut out the opponent, recording 12 strikeouts. Kelsey Carr, Lauren Caye, and Abby Wingo managed to score in the first two innings.
Seton Hall’s three-run advantage stayed put until the sixth inning, as Erin Howard put another run on the board with a double and Taylor Hill used an RBI triple to score two more. Consecutive hits from Wingo and Jordan Tressler gave the Pirates a 7-0 advantage, and Lauren Caye hit a single to tack on the final run.
The second portion of the day’s double-header was against hosts Texas Tech, who have had a strong start to their season with a 13-6 record. The Pirates attempted to score early, though the Red Raiders exited the inning without allowing a run. A pair of two-run homers in the bottom of the second gave the opposition a 4-0 advantage, though Taylor Hill homered to right field for The Hall’s first score.
Seton Hall couldn’t keep up, despite Texas Tech’s final score coming in the fourth inning, and they dropped their first game of the tournament Friday evening.
North Dakota was the Pirates’ first matchup on Saturday as well, and gave the team trouble. The Fighting Hawks held a 2-0 lead into the fourth inning until Wingo put The Hall on the board with a single that scored Marisa Pla. North Dakota tacked on three more runs in the sixth and it looked to be over for Seton Hall.
Lauren Caye sat on third and ran home on a wild pitch, which was followed by a reach from Ashly Colonnetta that scored two. With the deficit at 5-4, Taylor Hill stepped up and tied the game. Kelsey Carr singled up the middle to bring the game-winning run home.
Rutgers was The Hall’s final opponent on Sunday morning and, sitting at 3-1 for the weekend, looked to close out with a win. Despite loading the bases in the first, Rutgers made their way out of the jam. Hill homered once again, this time to left field, and tied the game at one in the second inning.
The Scarlet Knights’ Kyleigh Sand walked the game off with a single, stealing second, and then scoring to hand Seton Hall a 3-2 loss.
Seton Hall improves to 7-7 overall and looks ahead to opening Big East play in Storrs, Connecticut against UConn on Friday, March 3rd at 3:00 pm.
Thomas Donnelly can be reached at thomas.donnelly@student.shu.edu. Find him on Twitter @_tommyd023. Christopher Benitez Cuartas can be reached at christopher.bentezcuartas@student.shu.edu.
