Pirates Host Villanova for Crucial Weekend Series - Seton Hall University Athletics
The Pirates enter the weekend in second place in the BIG EAST standings, sitting just two games ahead of the third-place Wildcats.
shupirates.com
South Orange, N.J. – The Seton Hall softball team returns to Mike Sheppard Sr. Field this weekend for a pivotal three-game series against Villanova beginning on Friday. The Pirates enter the weekend in second place in the BIG EAST standings, sitting just two games ahead of the third-place Wildcats. The series begins with a doubleheader on Friday at 2 p.m. before the series finale on Sunday at 11 a.m.
LAST TIME OUT
The Pirates swept their fourth consecutive BIG EAST series by winning all three games at Providence last weekend. The weekend was highlighted by Shelby Smith's no-hitter in Saturday's 11-1 win, the 21st no-no in Seton Hall softball history. The first two games of the series were run rule victories for the Pirates, who scored nine or more runs in all three games on the weekend.
SCOUTING VILLANOVA (30-19, 13-5 BIG EAST)
- The Wildcats enter this weekend playing strong, winners of their last seven BIG EAST games.
- Tess Cites paces the Villanova offense with a .366 batting average which rises all the way to .448 during BIG EAST action. Ally Jones and Ryan Henry also boast averages above .350 in conference play.
- The Wildcats own a steady pitching staff, led by Kat Gallant and her team-leading 2.37 ERA in 106.1 innings. Peyton Schnackenberg and Kelsey White both post a 3.92 ERA in 78.2 innings this season.
- Villanova's hitters exude patience at the plate, drawing the seventh-most walks in the nation at 183 entering the weekend.
- Seton Hall and Villanova have met 93 times in their histories, with the Wildcats holding a 50-43 advantage. Last season, Villanova took two out of three, with Shelby Smith hurling a complete game shutout in the Pirates' victory in game one.
Over the years, these two teams have produced exciting back-and-forth games down to the very end.
- May 2, 2021: Seton Hall 10, Villanova 9 (10 innings)
- The Pirates rallied from the brink of defeat three different times in this one to win it, 10-9, in 10 innings. Down two in the seventh with two outs, Kelsey Carr doubled and Abby Wingo hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game. After Villanova responded with three runs in the eighth, the Pirates would tie it back up after an RBI single and a two-run homer from Baylee Allender. The Wildcats took a 9-8 lead in the 10th, but the Pirates once again rallied. Carr doubled home the tying run and later scored the winning run on a wild pitch to claim the victory.
- March 24, 2019: Seton Hall 7, Villanova 6
- After Villanova scores four runs in the seventh to take a 6-4 lead, Jaden Tate hits a walk-off three-run home run to win it, 7-6, in game one of the doubleheader. Later in game two, a slugfest went the way of the Pirates, 11-9, as Janae Barracato's grand slam helped the Pirates pull away.
- March 25, 2017: Seton Hall 8, Villanova 6 (10 innings)
- The Pirates rallied from four different deficits in this one to walk it off in extras. The Pirates faced an early 3-0 hole before tying things up in the fifth. Later in the seventh, Alexis Walkden hit a solo home run to tie the game at 4-4. In the eighth, the Pirates launched another game-tying solo shot, this time from Noel Lent to knot things at 5-5. In the 10th inning with the Pirates trailing by a run, Lauren Fischer lined a three-run walk-off home run to center to capture the Pirate victory.
- Abby Wingo extended her hitting streak to 16 games on Saturday, matching Yasmin Harrell's program record in the process. She has also reached base in each of her last 31 games.
- Wingo is closing in on several single-season records. Along with the hitting streak, Wingo is six base hits shy of breaking the record of 64 held by Katie Pierce and Valerie Suto. Wingo is also nine runs scored from breaking Pierce's single-season runs scored record of 47 set back in 2006.
- 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 .312 team batting average, which would surpass the previous mark of .307 from the 1999 season.
- 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.
- Wingo has hits in 16 straight and 30 of her last 31 games. She has only gone hitless in six games all season and has failed to record a hit in back-to-back games just once.
- In addition to Wingo's hitting streak, Taylor Hill has hit safely in 13 straight games and Kelsey Carr has a hit in 12 straight.
- Shelby Smith's no-hitter on Saturday 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.
- Kelsey Carr has been on fire since the calendar flipped to April. She is batting .541 (20-for-37) with five home runs, 25 RBI, 12 runs and a 1.207 SLG% offensively to pair with a 1.85 ERA in 22.2 innings pitched. In just BIG EAST games during the month of April, Carr is batting .550 (11-for-20) with two home runs, 17 RBI and a 1.26 ERA in 16.2 innings.
- Carr has had a resurgent year in the circle, owning a 1.62 ERA through 90.2 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 15 BIG EAST wins this season are tied for the most in a season in team history (2005).
- The Pirates will finish with an overall record above .500 for the first time since 2006, when they finished 29-27.
- The Pirates enter the weekend with the top team batting average (.312) and ERA (2.61) in the BIG EAST. Abby Wingo's .413 average and Kelsey Carr's 1.62 ERA both also lead the conference.
- 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.
