Pirates Host Butler with Regular Season Title at Stake - Seton Hall University Athletics
Should the Pirates win all three games this weekend over Butler, they would win a share of their first BIG EAST regular season title in program history.
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PROMOTIONS ALL WEEKEND!
Be sure to get to the ballpark all weekend long to cheer on the Pirates and take part in promotional events each day! On Friday, enjoy free soft pretzels and play softball bingo while following along with the game. On Saturday, get there early for our Senior Day ceremony and pick up your Seton Hall softball trading card on the way in. On Sunday, enjoy the warm weather with free ice cream sundaes while supplies last.
LAST TIME OUT
The Pirates went 1-2 last weekend at home against Villanova. After dropping the first two games of the series on Friday, The Hall came out swinging in the series finale on Sunday morning. The Pirates put up nine runs at the dish and Sydney Babik (Gilbert, Ariz.) shut down the Wildcats offense through five innings of three-hit ball to get the win.
A CHANCE AT HISTORY
The Pirates control their own destiny towards clinching a share of the BIG EAST regular season crown. Should the Pirates win all three games this weekend over Butler, they would win their first conference regular season title in program history. The Pirates enter the weekend one game ahead of Villanova in the standings and would need to maintain that lead to earn a first round bye in next week's BIG EAST Tournament.
SENIOR SEND-OFF
The Pirates will celebrate Senior Day prior to first pitch on Saturday afternoon. Miranda Arruda, Ashly Colonnetta, Grace Dawson, Shelby Smith, Taylor Soanes, Ally Taylor, Jordan Tressler and Abby Wingo will each be recognized before the game.
SCOUTING BUTLER (17-30, 11-7 BIG EAST)
- Butler enters this weekend having taken two out of three at home last weekend against Georgetown. The Bulldogs won the final two games of the series to snap a stretch which saw them lose eight straight and 11 of their last 12 games.
- Overall, Butler's staff owns the third-highest ERA at 5.47. However, the Bulldog pitchers have fared better during BIG EAST action as their 3.46 team ERA during conference play is third-best.
- Butler is one of four offenses batting over .300 as a team during BIG EAST play, as it enters with a .301 average and a league-leading 22 home runs.
- Of those 22 homers during conference play, seven of them belong to Monique Hoosen. That total ranks second in the league, and her 13 home runs on the season as a whole are tied for first.
- Mackenzie Griman has been the steadiest of the Butler pitchers this season, sporting a 3.91 ERA through 127 innings pitched. The other three Bulldog pitchers all have ERA's of 5.97 or higher on the season. In BIG EAST play, however, both Griman and Rylyn Dyer post ERA's under 3.00.
- Butler leads the all-time series, 15-10. The Bulldogs took two of three from the Pirates in Indianapolis last March.
- Abby Wingo set a new program record for longest hitting streak last Friday against Villanova, doubling in the fifth inning to extend her streak to 17 consecutive games with a hit. Her streak was stretched to 19 after collecting hits in each of the final two games of the series.
- Wingo has hit safely in 34 of her last 35 games. She has only gone hitless in six of the 50 games she has played this season and has only failed to record a hit in back-to-back games once.
- Wingo enters the weekend two hits shy of breaking the single-season record of 65 held by Katie Pierce and Valerie Suto.
- The Pirates are closing in on breaking several single-season team records in 2023. The group has already set new marks in runs scored and RBI and are on pace to break the team's single-season hits mark of 449. Seton Hall also owns a .309 team batting average, which would surpass the previous mark of .307 from the 1999 season.
- Sunday was Seton Hall's 16th BIG EAST win of the season, the most ever in a single season for the program. The Pirates' 36 overall wins this season are their most since winning 46 games in 2004.
- Wingo is looking to become the third Pirate ever to bat over .400 for a season. Her .414 average currently sits as the second-highest single-season batting average in team history.
- Friday's game marks the 2000th game in Seton Hall softball program history.
- Shelby Smith's no-hitter on April 22 at Providence was the 21st in program history and the first since Ashley Forsyth's perfect game at Saint Peter's on April 8, 2010. As a result of the no-hitter, Smith was named BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week on Monday.
- The Pirates enter the weekend with the top team batting average (.309) and ERA (2.68) in the BIG EAST. Abby Wingo's .414 average ranks first and Kelsey Carr's 1.94 ERA is second in the league.
- Kelsey Carr was electric during the month of April. She is batting .511 (23-for-45) with seven home runs, 30 RBI, 15 runs scored and a 1.067 SLG% offensively to pair with a 2.83 ERA in 29.2 innings pitched. In just BIG EAST games during the month of April, Carr batted .500 (14-for-28) with four home runs, 22 RBI and a 2.66 ERA in 23.2 innings.
- Carr has had a resurgent year in the circle, owning a 1.94 ERA through 97.2 innings of work this season. No Seton Hall pitcher has posted an ERA under 2.00 since 2005. She has been named BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week twice this season and has been named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll four times.
- The Pirates captured their 30th win of the season on April 18 at Marist, reaching that mark for the first time since 2005. That season was also the last time the program won a BIG EAST title.
- The Pirates will finish with an overall record above .500 for the first time since 2006, when they finished 29-27.
- Seton Hall has displayed an ability to win games in multiple different ways in 2023. The Pirates have won 11 games this year via mercy rule, and have won 13 of their last 16 games decided by two runs or less.
- Carr tied the single-game program record for runs batted in on April 16 at DePaul, finishing with seven RBI. She tied Danielle DeStaso's mark which was set against St. Bonaventure on Feb. 8, 2013.
- Smith picked up her 300th career strikeout on April 1 during her 10-strikeout performance. Smith became the seventh Pirate to achieve the milestone and the first since Reganne Camp in 2020.
- Smith was named BIG EAST Player of the Week on March 27 for her two-way prowess 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 Co-Pitcher of the Week on March 6.
- Erin Howard was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week on April 3 after a strong run producing weekend against St. John's. In four games, she batted a team-best .556 (5-for-9) with six RBI. In the 10 games she has started this season, she has RBI's in five of them.
- 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' 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.
All three games this weekend can be seen live on FloSoftball. Live stats for all games this week can be accessed here.
