The Seton Hall women's softball team heads down the parkway this weekend in search of their first Big East Conference wins of the season. Rutgers University hosts the Pirates for a double header on Saturday followed by the series finale on Sunday.
Seton Hall last played Rutgers during the 2008-2009 season, splitting the series 1-1 after the Pirates dropped the first game.
Seton Hall (12-19) is 1-9 on the road this season while Rutgers (11-21) is 0-3 at home. The Pirates will look to capitalize early and often off the Scarlet Knights weak pitching staff. Rutgers three starting pitchers all have ERA's above 5.00 with no pitcher having more than five wins on the seasons. Rutgers has the worst team era in the Big East at 5.90.
The Seton Hall lineup is led by freshman Meredith Henze who's stepped in to lead the offense with 11 runs batted in as well as two home runs while having a .273 batting average. The offense is bolstered by senior Nalin Bennett who leads the team with 23 hits while batting .295 on the season, the best of any player to appear in 75 percent of the games this season. Staying healthy has been a problem for this year's team; only five players have played in at least 29 of the teams 31 games.
The Pirates pitching staff looks to limit the Rutgers offense which is third in the Big East in team batting average at .292.
Rutgers offense is led by junior Brittney Lindley who is ranked in the top ten of the Big East in ten offensive categories. Lindley is third in the Big East with a .411 batting average while recording 25 hits, 39 runs, eight home runs and 28 runs batted in.
The Seton Hall tandem of sophomore Hannah Hill and freshman Jen Metzger look to slow down the Scarlet Knights behind their team leading five victories apiece. Hill leads the team with eight complete games and 42 strikeouts while Metzger leads the team with a 3.66 ERA.
After the weekend series Seton Hall travels down the parkway again to play a Wednesday double header against Monmouth University.
Monmouth (12-13) is 2-0 at home this season.
Both teams squared off in a double header last season with Monmouth winning both games. The Hawks took the first game 4-0 and defeated the Pirates 11-1 in five innings in the second.
Monmouth is led by senior Emily DeLong and sophomore Kate Kuzma. DeLong leads the team with a .396 batting average while tallying five home runs and 13 runs batted in. Kuzma is batting .315 and leads the team with six homeruns and 20 runs batted in.
Monmouth's pitching staff is led by junior Lauren Sulick who leads the teams with 11 wins and a 2.20 ERA. Sulick is a powerful pitcher who can wear a team down. She has 15 complete games and 73 strikeouts on the season.
Colin Rajala can be reached at colin.rajala@student.shu.edu
