The Seton Hall softball team headed south to Boiling Springs, N.C. to begin its 2017 season. In the first two games of a three-game series of the Gardner Webb tournament, the Pirates beat Hampton, 11-1, and Bucknell, 18-8.
Game one of the weekend went well, as the Pirates defeated Hampton University 11-1. Seton Hall got on the board in the top of the first via a Darby Pandolfo double, which drove home starting pitcher Lauren Fischer. The game was broken open in the second inning when the Pirates took a 6-0 lead, due to Noel Lent’s RBI double and Lauren Fischer’s two-run home run to center field. The third inning capped off the scoring for the Pirates, putting five on the board with two two-run doubles and a one-run single.
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Photo via SHU Athletics[/caption]
The pitching and fielding of Seton Hall were strong throughout. Seton Hall’s ace Lauren Fischer tossed a five-hit, one-run outing. Fischer had three strikeouts and no walks in her complete game. The Pirate defense also had no errors.
In game two of the afternoon, the team took on the Bucknell Bison. Seton Hall’s bats were quiet for the first two innings, but that did not last. This changed in the third inning, with a two-run home run by freshman Darby Pandolfo. SHU put together a seven-run fifth inning, headlined by a three-run home run by junior infielder Alexis Walkden. In the end, the Pirates put up 18 runs on the Bison.
Bucknell put up a fight, though, as the team scored eight runs and tested the Pirates' bullpen. The Bison scored runs from top-to-bottom of their lineup, with six different players having a RBI. This balanced attack was not enough for the Bison to overcome the Pirates, with the final score being 18-8 in favor of Seton Hall.
The winning pitcher was Reganne Camp for the second game. This was Camp’s first collegiate appearance. The losing pitcher was another freshman, Bucknell’s Raeanne Geffert.
The Pirates will be back in action on Sunday to try to get off to a 3-0 start against the Crusaders of the College of the Holy Cross.
Brendan Finnegan can be reached at brendan.finnegan@student.shu.edu or on Twitter @FinnBrend.
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