Pirates Travel to Rider for Midweek Doubleheader - Seton Hall University Athletics
Lawrenceville, N.J. – Fresh off a three-game sweep at Georgetown over the weekend, the Seton Hall softball team continues its road stretch with a doublehea...
Lawrenceville, N.J. – Fresh off a three-game sweep at Georgetown over the weekend, the Seton Hall softball team continues its road stretch with a doubleheader at Rider on Tuesday. Game one will get underway at 2 p.m., with the second game of the day slated to begin at approximately 4 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT
After an 0-3 start to conference play, the Pirates traveled down to Washington, D.C. and came away with a three-game sweep over Georgetown. The sweep was punctuated by a 12-7 win in 10 innings on Sunday, a game in which the Pirates saw two separate two-run leads slip away. The Pirates had a 5-3 edge with one out to go in the seventh inning before a two-run home run tied things up. Later in the ninth inning, Seton Hall once again took a two-run edge at 7-5, but a pair of Hoya sacrifice flies leveled the score again. The Pirates would leave no doubt in the top of the 10th, scoring five runs to pull away with the win.
NEWS & NOTES
- Katey Brennan was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week on Monday after batting .455 (5-for-11) with five RBI. The freshman also reached base at least twice in all three games over the weekend against Georgetown.
- Lauren Caye also garnered weekly honors from the conference, being named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll. The Pirates' centerfielder batted a team-best .500 over the weekend and reached base at a .692 clip over the three-game sweep of the Hoyas.
- Kelsey Carr put up a big weekend at the plate against Georgetown. The senior hit three home runs over the final two games of the series, moving her season total up to five.
- Brennan hit her first career home run on March 10 at Villanova. Hitting in the middle of the order in all 20 games so far this season, the freshman sports a .317 batting average and 15 RBI, both of which rank in the top-three on the team.
- Caye's walk-off home run against UIC on March 2 was the first non-run rule walk-off home run for the Pirates since Baylee Allender hit one against Georgetown on April 6, 2019.
- For Caye, it was her first home run since April 16, 2022 against Georgetown.
- The Pirates have won 40 consecutive games when scoring six or more runs. Their last loss in such a game came on April 9, 2022 in an 8-7 loss to DePaul.
- Kyra Kreuscher was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Feb. 26 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.
- Now in her sophomore year, Kreuscher has an ERA of 2.58 through the first 81.1 innings of her career.
- Taylor Hill was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Feb. 19 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. Entering 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.
