Pirates Travel to Baltimore for Retriever Round Robin - Seton Hall University Athletics
BALTIMORE – The Seton Hall softball team will travel down to take part in the Retriever Round Robin #1 on Saturday and Sunday hosted by UMBC. The Pirates wil...
BALTIMORE – The Seton Hall softball team will travel down to take part in the Retriever Round Robin #1 on Saturday and Sunday hosted by UMBC. The Pirates will play four games over two days with two matchups apiece against UMBC and Saint Joseph's at The Diamond at UMBC.
LAST TIME OUT
The Pirates opened up their 2022 season with a 1-3 weekend at The Tiger Invitational hosted by Auburn. The Pirates picked up the first victory in new head coach Angie Churchill's tenure in South Orange with a 12-0 victory over UMass Lowell in five innings on Saturday. Sophomore Sydney Babik (Gilbert, Ariz.) picked up her first career complete game shutout in the victory, fanning five River Hawks in the process. Graduate student Janae Barracato (Hempstead, N.Y.) was a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with two doubles and three runs scored while Abby Wingo (Portland, Ore.) picked up two doubles of her own with a 3-for-3 afternoon knocking in two runs in the process.
Wingo and Shelby Smith (Friendswood, Texas) were named to the Tiger Invitational All-Tournament team for their play over the four games. Smith was also named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor roll on Monday. The junior slashed .400/.462/.900 with two doubles, 4 RBIs and hit her first career home run to go along with a 10-strikeout complete game in the circle.
SCOUTING
UMBC (0-0)
- The Retrievers will get their 2022 season underway this weekend coming off back-to-back America East Championships and subsequent NCAA Tournament bids.
- UMBC returns the reigning America East Championship Most Outstanding Player and All-Conference outfielder Sierra Pierce. Pierce hit .314 last season with four home runs and a team-leading 25 RBIs.
- In the circle for the Retrievers is two-time defending America East Pitcher of the Year, Courtney Coppersmith. The senior was 19-4 last season with a 0.93 ERA and 249 strikeouts through 151 innings. Coppersmith also hit .313 at the plate with seven doubles and three home runs as she was named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Mid-Atlantic All-Region First Team.
- UMBC leads the all-time series between the two programs, 5-2, with the last meeting coming in 2020 at the Chanticleer Showdown hosted by Coastal Carolina.
- The Hawks are coming off their first action of the 2022 campaign with five games played at the Buzz Classic hosted by Georgia Tech last weekend. Saint Joseph's did not pick up a win in the tournament but fell to last season's BIG EAST champion Villanova by a score of 7-5 on Sunday.
- Madison Fife led the Hawks at the plate in the Buzz Classic going 4-for-10 with a home run and a double. Taylor Marinelli added six hits and five runs batted in to lead the team.
- Amanda Herr is a leader in the circle from a season ago finishing the 2021 season with a team-best 3.51 ERA with 11 wins and 58 strikeouts in 85.2 innings pitched.
- The two teams have split the all-time series evenly at four games apiece. The squads last met in 2016 in South Orange with the Hawks taking that game 14-7.
- The 13 hits for the Pirates in their win over UMass Lowell were their most in a game since they had 18 in a 10-inning win over Villanova last season.
- Abby Wingo hit .500 with two doubles and two runs driven in over four games on her way to being named to the Tiger Invitational All-Tournament Team.
- Jenna Blevins hit her first career homerun in the win over UMass Lowell which also served as the first collegiate hit of her career.
- With Janae Barracato's two doubles over the week end she extended her program record for two-baggers to 53 for her career.
- In addition to hitting the first home run of her career on Friday, Shelby Smith also racked up her second career double-digit strikeout game with 10 in the Pirates' season opener against UMass Lowell.
FOLLOW
The Pirates' matchups with UMBC will be streamed here. Live stats for all four games can be found here.
