Pirates Travel to Villanova to Open BIG EAST Play This Weekend - Seton Hall University Athletics
Villanova, Pa. – The Seton Hall softball team hits the road to open BIG EAST play this weekend with a three-game series at Villanova. The series kicks off ...
Villanova, Pa. – The Seton Hall softball team hits the road to open BIG EAST play this weekend with a three-game series at Villanova. The series kicks off with a doubleheader on Friday beginning at 1 p.m., with the series finale set for Noon on Sunday. All three games can be seen live on FloSoftball.
LAST TIME OUT
Seton Hall wrapped up the last of its multi-team events down at the FIU Classic, coming home with a 3-2 record on the weekend. Two of the wins came as part of a doubleheader sweep over UIC on Saturday featuring a comeback win over the Flames capped off by a walk-off home run from Lauren Caye (Pittsburgh, Pa.). In addition to the wins over UIC, the Pirates also took down North Dakota in the opener.
SCOUTING VILLANOVA (8-11)
- The Wildcats were picked to finish first in the BIG EAST preseason poll
- Villanova and Seton Hall will meet for the first time since the BIG EAST Championship last season, where the Pirates took down the Wildcats to capture their first conference title since 2005.
- The Pirates went a perfect 4-0 during their championship run, including handing Villanova both of its losses in the tournament. In addition to the title game win, Seton Hall battled to a 9-6 win in nine innings over the Wildcats in the second game of the week.
- Reigning BIG EAST Player of the Year Tess Cites leads the offense for Villanova with a .382 batting average, while Ally Jones trails close behind at .333 and a team-best 13 RBI. Pitchers Caroline Pellicano and Alyssa Seidler pace the pitching staff with each boasting sub-3.00 ERA's.
- Game two of the series this weekend will be the 100th all-time meeting between the schools on the softball field.
- Lauren Caye's walk-off home run 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 37 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 2.36 through the first 71.1 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. 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.
