Pirates Head to Miami for FIU Classic - Seton Hall University Athletics
Miami, Fla. – The Seton Hall softball team concludes its slate of early season multi-team tournaments this weekend as they take part in the FIU Classic hos...
Miami, Fla. – The Seton Hall softball team concludes its slate of early season multi-team tournaments this weekend as they take part in the FIU Classic hosted by Florida International. The bracket style event begins on Friday for the Pirates with games against North Dakota at 3 p.m. and the host Panthers at 5:30 p.m. Saturday morning sees the Pirates square off with UIC at 10 a.m. The remaining two opponents on the weekend for Seton Hall will be determined based on the outcome of games throughout the weekend.
LAST TIME OUT
Seton Hall came home with a 2-3 record at the Sun Devil/GCU Classic last weekend in Phoenix, Ariz. The Pirates captured a pair of 4-2 victories over New Mexico State and Utah Valley, while battling Texas State, Arizona State and Grand Canyon to a trio of narrow losses.
Friday, March 1
3 p.m. – Seton Hall vs. North Dakota
5:30 p.m. – Seton Hall at FIU
Saturday, March 2
10 a.m. – Seton Hall vs. UIC
3/5:30 p.m. – Seton Hall vs. TBD
Sunday, March 3
9/11:30 a.m. – Seton Hall vs. TBD
NEWS & NOTES
- Kyra Kreuscher was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday after her strong outing on Saturday against New Mexico State. The sophomore pitched all seven innings, allowing just five hits and two runs to pick up her second win of the season.
- Taylor Hill was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll last week after going .500 (6-for-12) at the plate with three doubles, four runs scored and two RBI in the season's opening weekend at FAU.
- The Pirates were picked to finish third in the BIG EAST preseason poll, behind second-place UConn and first-place Villanova. Seton Hall finished in third place in last year's standings.
- Seton Hall will be tasked with replacing some key producers from last year's squad. Centerfielder and last year's team leader in batting average Abby Wingo, second baseman Ashly Colonnetta, and left fielder Marisa Pla have all graduated along with reserves Grace Dawson, Ally Taylor and Jordan Tressler. Pitcher Shelby Smith, who was named the Most Outstanding Player of the BIG EAST Tournament, transferred to Houston. Catcher Regan Rand has also transferred to Division-II Indiana (Pa.).
- The Hall welcome in a pair of freshmen to the 2024 squad. Outfielder Katey Brennan and pitcher Karissa Dupuis will both look to be key contributors in South Orange this upcoming season.
- Seton Hall will face a tough non-conference slate in 2024, including matchups against three teams that won NCAA regional games last season an six opponents who won at least 34 games. Included in that bunch are dates with Grand Canyon, who pulled off a shocker last season against No. 2 UCLA, as well as a rematch of the Austin Regional elimination game against Texas State.
- The Pirates will face off against opponents from three of the power conferences this season: ACC (Louisville, Syracuse), Big 10 (Michigan) and PAC-12 (Arizona State).
- Head Coach Angie Churchill coached against her alma mater in Michigan last weekend for the first time in her career. Churchill was a four-year member of the Wolverines softball team from 2001-04, winning three Big Ten titles and reaching the College World Series three times.
- The Pirates earned several All-BIG EAST awards. Kelsey Carr was named BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year, Abby Wingo was named Defensive Player of the Year, and the coaching staff led by Angie Churchill was named BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year. Carr, Wingo and Shelby Smith were all named to the All-BIG EAST First Team, with Carr being a unanimous selection.
- Carr is the first Pirate pitcher to be named BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year. The junior led the league in ERA (1.82), reaching that number after 61.2 innings of work. Carr only allowed more than two earned runs in a start just twice during BIG EAST play.
- Carr was one of just two players in the country last season to finish with a sub-2.00 ERA, hit 10+ home runs and drive in 50+ runs (Valerie Cagle, Clemson).
- Wingo was the first Pirate recipient of the Defensive Player of the Year award. The senior had a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage in 31 chances in center field. Wingo had the third-highest number of chances among BIG EAST outfielders and had the most chances among center fielders in the league.
- Abby Wingo set new single-season records in base hits (71) and longest hitting streak (19 games) last season. Her .397 average led the club, and she only failed to collect a base-hit in consecutive games twice all year.
- Seton Hall's 18 BIG EAST victories last season were a new program record, and the team's 42 wins rank as the second-most in program history (46, 2004).
- Seton Hall's win over Villanova on Day Two of the BIG EAST Tournament was its 40th win of the season, reaching that plateau for just the second time in program history. Enterting the year, Seton Hall had not won 30 games in a season since 2005.
- The Pirates finished with an overall record above .500 for the first time since 2006, when they finished 29-27.
