The Seton Hall softball team entered the weekend coming off a four game winning streak with a three game home match up against Big East competitor Pittsburgh. Coach Vander May entered the weekend looking to pick up career victory 400 in their opening Big East match up.
The Pirates (12-16, 0-3) were no-hit by Pittsburgh's Cory Berliner in game one, losing 9-0 in five innings. The Panthers (22-6, 3-0) put the game out of reach in the first inning of game one by putting seven runs on the board by sending 10 batters to the plate.
Berliner allowed just one base runner on a walk in the bottom of the first inning to improve to 6-2. Sophomore Hannah Hill took the loss after giving up six runs before retiring a single batter.
Seton Hall was then shutout in game-two by a score of 6-0. Pittsburgh went up early, 1-0, on a Yvette Bravo RBI single and then Kelly Hmiel made it 3-0 with a two-run shot in the third. The Pittsburgh Panthers tacked on insurance runs in the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings.
Karlyn Jones pitched a two-hitter to improve her record to 8-2 while Freshman Jen Metzgerdropped her record to 5-3.
Freshman Maria DeLucaand senior Nalin Bennett were the only Pirates to record hits in game two.
Pittsburgh completed the three-game sweep of the Seton Hall softball team with a 10-1 victory at Ivy Hill Park on Sunday afternoon. After the Panthers put four runs on the board in the top of the first, the Pirates tried to come from behind in the bottom half of the second inning.
Sophomore Brooke Tullled the inning off with a double, and came around to score after an opposite-field single from junior Kristen Kaelin. Bennettcame up to the plate and followed the single with a walk. A sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position but the team left the runners on base.
Pittsburgh put the game away in the third inning with home runs by Holly Stevens and Niki Cognigni. The Panthers scored three more in the fourth inning to close out the scoring in the game.
Alyssa O'Connell picked up her eighth win (8-2) after allowing just the one run on four. Hillsuffered the loss and dropped her record to 5-10.
"It was a tough weekend, we played against a good Pittsburgh team who were on the top of their game," head coach Ray Vander May said.
Vander May was disappointed with the setback from the weekend games but was hopeful that the team will rebound and continue their goal for a Big East crown. He explained how Tull was showing some positive signs with her bat this weekend after being used mostly for pitching assignments during the season. DeLuca was also a bright spot in the losses to Pittsburgh over the weekend.
Vander May will get his next chance at career victory 400 on Thursday, March 31 when the Pirates welcome St. Peter's College to Ivy Hill Park for a double-header.
Daniel Simone can be reached at Daniel.simone@student.shu.edu.
