Pirates Set for Midweek Tilts at Monmouth, Stony Brook

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Pirates Set for Midweek Tilts at Monmouth, Stony Brook - Seton Hall University Athletics

Winners of seven of their last eight games and 8-2 in their last 10 contests, the Pirates will look to continue their strong play in two midweek matchups this week.

shupirates.com

South Orange, N.J. – Winners of seven of their last eight games and 8-2 in their last 10 contests, the Pirates will look to continue their strong play in two midweek matchups this week. The Pirates will head to West Long Branch, N.J. on Tuesday for a doubleheader against Monmouth before heading to Stony Brook on Wednesday for a single game against the Seawolves.

LAST TIME OUT
The Pirates traveled to Omaha this past weekend, coming away with a three-game sweep against Creighton for the program's first conference three-game sweep since 2016. Dominant two-way efforts from Kelsey Carr (Ridgewood, N.Y.) and Shelby Smith (Friendswood, Texas) led the Pirates to wins in the first two games, with both posting three-hit efforts at the plate along with complete game performances in the circle. In game three, Sydney Babik (Gilbert, Ariz.) held the Bluejay bats quiet for much of the game, and a seventh inning rally was halted after Andrea Perez (Corona, Calif.) made a game-ending diving catch on what could have been the tying single.

SCOUTING MONMOUTH (4-15, 4-5 CAA)

• The Hawks are coming off a three-game set at Hofstra over the weekend in which they lost two of three, cruising to a 9-2 win in the opener.
• Monmouth has played just three home games so far in 2023, all of which came during its three-game series against Elon from March 18-19.
• Abby Warner is the team's top hitter, entering Tuesday at a .262 clip with a team-best nine RBI.
• Monmouth's ace is Billie Kerwood, who has compiled a 2.67 ERA through 13 appearances and 60.1 innings pitched.
• Seton Hall leads the all-time series, 31-21-1. The two sides broke a 10-year hiatus in the series last season when the programs split a doubleheader in South Orange.

SCOUTING STONY BROOK (10-14, 2-6 CAA)

• The Seawolves are fresh off winning their first two games in conference play, sweeping a doubleheader against Drexel on Sunday.
• Stony Brook is in search of its first home win of the campaign, opening 0-4 so far at University Field.
• Kyra McFarland and Alicia Orosco are the top two hitters on the club, batting .327 and .304, respectively. Corinne Badger owns the team lead with six home runs, while Alyssa Costello is the top run producer with 16 RBI.
• Ashton Melaas owns a team-best 3.69 ERA so far this season, and most recently fired 7.2 innings of shutout softball on Sunday.
• The Pirates and Seawolves have several common opponents on their 2023 schedules, including BIG EAST foes St. John's and Providence. Stony Brook is slated to play Manhattan and Army in non-conference action, two teams the Pirates too have competed against in non-league action. Both sides also have Fairleigh Dickinson on the docket for April.
• Seton Hall leads the all-time series with Stony Brook, 11-9. The Pirates have lost the last four meetings and are in search of their first win in the series since April 23, 2015.

NEWS & NOTES

• Smith was named BIG EAST Player of the Week for her two-way prowess this past weekend at Creighton. She went 6-for-11 (.545) with two RBI at the plate while also firing a complete game victory in game one of Saturday's doubleheader. This is Smith's second BIG EAST honor of the season, as she was named Pitcher of the Week on March 6.
• Carr was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll, marking the third straight week in which she has received a weekly honor from the league. Carr went 3-for-3 with a home run and two RBI, reaching all four times she stepped to the plate in Friday's win over Creighton. In that same game, Carr pitched all seven innings, striking out six and allowing just two earned runs.
• In the 11 games Carr has pitched this season, she is batting .296 with three home runs and eight RBI. In the 12 games which Carr has batted but not pitched, she is hitting just .233 with one home run and three RBI.
• Abby Wingo (Portland, Ore.) is in the midst of the best offensive stretch of her career. She enters the week with a team-best .366 average and is riding a nine-game hitting streak. Wingo has hit safely in 16 of her last 17 games, a stretch which has seen her bat .468 with five multi-hit games.
• Olivia Gilbert (Johnston, R.I.) launched a grand slam in the seventh inning of Friday's win over Creighton, which marked her third consecutive game with a homer.
• Seton Hall's nine-run inning on March 15 against Manhattan was its most in one frame since a 10-run rally in the fifth inning against Army on March 6, 2020.
• The Pirates collected 24 hits across the doubleheader against Manhattan on March 15, their most in a double dip since banging out 28 hits against UMBC and Saint Joseph's on Feb. 20, 2022.
• Shelby Smith earned BIG EAST Co-Pitcher of the Week honors on March 6 after striking out 24 batters across back-to-back starts against North Dakota and Texas Tech. Smith was the first Pirate hurler since at least 2016 to have back-to-back appearances with double digit strikeouts.
• Shelby Smith enters the week with 284 career strikeouts to her name, just 16 shy of 300 for her career. She would become the seventh Pirate pitcher to reach 300 strikeouts and the first to reach the milestone since Reganne Camp in 2020.
• The Pirates' 3-2 win over Texas Tech on March 4 was the program's second ever win against a Big 12 opponent, and first since defeating Kansas, 3-2, on Feb. 17, 2008.
• Wingo tallied her 100th career base hit on March 4 against Texas Tech.
• Taylor Hill (Little Falls, N.J.) hit her fourth home run of the season on March 5 against Rutgers, her 14th game of the season. During Hill's freshman season it took her 31 games before she hit her fourth homer.
• Hill has reached base in 18 of the 19 games this season, including a 14-game on-base streak to open the season.
• Seton Hall's game against Rutgers on March 5 was its third extra innings game so far this season, already nearly matching its total of four such games from the 2022 season.

FOLLOW
All three games this weekend can be seen live on FloSports. A link to sign up with special Seton Hall pricing can be found here. Live stats for the game can be accessed here.

 

[silkcitypirate]

SWEPT Monmouth today !!!!!!!

 

[Halldan1]

Babik, Kreuscher Twirl Gems in Sweep at Monmouth - Seton Hall University Athletics

Erin Howard (Skillman, N.J.) and Shelby Smith (Friendswood, Texas) each drove home three runs and Sydney Babik (Gilbert, Ariz.) went the distance in the circle in

shupirates.com

​

Kreuscher Twirl Gems in Sweep at Monmouth​

• Game 1
• Game 2

10
Seton Hall 16-10

1
Monmouth 4-19

Score By Innings

Team	1	2	3	4	5	R	H	E
Seton Hall	0	3	4	0	3	10	10	0
Monmouth	0	0	1	0	0	1	5	4

W: Babik, Sydney (4-2) L: Gletow, Kylie (1-8)


West Long Branch, N.J. – Timely offense and stellar pitching led the way for the Pirates on Tuesday afternoon as they swept a doubleheader at Monmouth. Erin Howard (Skillman, N.J.) and Shelby Smith (Friendswood, Texas) each drove home three runs and Sydney Babik (Gilbert, Ariz.) went the distance in the circle in a 10-1 win in game one, while Kyra Kreuscher (Great River, N.Y.) tossed a complete game shutout in the 3-0 game two victory.

The wins make it five in a row for the Pirates, who are now 9-1 in their last 10 games, marking the program's best 10-game stretch since 2006.

Game 1: Seton Hall 10, Monmouth 1 (5)
How it Happened

• After a quiet first inning for both offenses, the Pirate bats awoke in the second for three runs. Olivia Gilbert (Johnston, R.I.) drove home the first run on a sacrifice fly, followed by Abby Wingo (Portland, Ore.) scoring on a throwing error which made it 2-0. Howard would knock home her first run of the game on an RBI groundout to second to give the Pirates a 3-0 advantage.
• The Hall would break the game open in the third. With two runners on and one out, Smith cracked a three-run home run to left field to double the lead to 6-0. Later in the inning, back-to-back singles gave Howard another RBI opportunity. She would come through with a single to center, scoring Gilbert from second to make it a 7-0 game.
• After Monmouth got one run back in the third, the Pirates were able to extend their lead in the fifth. Howard drove in her third run of the game with an RBI single to center, where Wingo would also come around to score after a throwing error. Two batters later, Taylor Hill (Little Falls, N.J.) drove one to the wall in right field for an RBI double to bring the score to 10-1.
• Babik got the start in the circle and had an efficient outing, allowing just five hits and one run while striking out five.

Notes & Numbers

• This is Howard's third multi-hit game of the season and her first multi-RBI game on the campaign.
• Smith is red-hot at the plate, going 7-for-13 (.538) with a home run and five RBI over her last four games.
• Babik has now won each of her last four decisions.

Game 2: Seton Hall 3, Monmouth 0
How it Happened

• The Pirates got runners aboard in each of the first three innings but were unable to score. That would change in the fourth, as Wingo doubled herself into scoring position and was brought home by an Andrea Perez (Corona, Calif.) double to make it 1-0 Pirates.
• In the fifth, Kelsey Carr (Ridgewood, N.Y.) would make a productive out. A hard hit ball back to the pitcher allowed Hill to cross the plate, making it a 2-0 Seton Hall lead.
• Gilbert would pad the lead in the sixth, as she hit the first pitch of the inning over the wall in left field for her sixth home run of the season.
• Kreuscher made her second start of the season and was in command throughout. After shutting down the Hawks' offense through the first six innings, Monmouth put two runners on to send the tying run to the plate in the seventh. The freshman dug deep, getting a strikeout and a lineout to finish off the game.

Notes & Numbers

• Both of Kreuscher's starts in the circle this season have been complete game shutouts. Her previous start was a one-hitter on Feb. 19 against IUPUI, a game in which Kreuscher was just four outs shy of a perfect game.
• Wingo extended her hitting streak to 11 games, matching the longest such streak of her career.
• Gilbert has hit four home runs over her last seven games and has now driven in a run in nine of her last 12 contests.
• The Pirates improve to 9-1 over their last 10 games, the program's best 10-game stretch since 2006.

What's Next
Seton Hall hits the road again on Wednesday as it travels to Stony Brook for a single game against the Seawolves at 3 p.m.