Softball Hosts UConn For Senior Day
4/26/2013 12:00:00 AM | Softball
SOFTBALL HOSTS CONNECTICUT IN 2013 HOME FINALE
Seton Hall hosts the University of Connecticut in a crucial three-game BIG EAST series this Saturday-Sunday, April 27-28, at Mike Sheppard, Sr. Field in South Orange, N.J., starting with a doubleheader on Saturday at 12 p.m., and the Pirates’ 2013 home finale on Sunday at 11 a.m. The Huskies lead the all-time series with Seton Hall, 37-14, and have won the last seven meetings with the Pirates, including three games in South Orange last year. Connecticut is currently a game and a half ahead of SHU in the BIG EAST standings with a 6-10 record in league games.
LAST TIME OUT
The Pirates lost a midweek BIG EAST game to USF, 6-3, at home on Tuesday afternoon. The No. 24 Bulls jumped out to a 5-0 lead before Seton Hall started to chip away at its deficit. Sophomore Danielle DeStaso went 3-for-4 at the plate with an RBI, sophomore Colltey Sheldon was 2-for-4 and junior Maria DeLuca launched a solo home run over the scoreboard in left field, her fifth of the season. SHU used three pitchers in the game, DeStaso received the start and junior Jen Metzger gave up just three runs over 3.2 innings of relief.
WHO TO WATCH
SETON HALL: A couple of Pirates bring pretty impressive hitting streaks into the weekend series. Freshman center fielder Yasmin Harrell is currently on an eight-game hitting streak and needs just two steals to set a new SHU single-season record. Sophomore Colltey Sheldon has a hit in her last five games, picking up a pair of singles against USF on Tuesday. Junior Maria DeLuca has two home runs and four RBI over the last four games.
UCONN: The Huskies hit four home runs in their 10-6 win over Albany on Thursday afternoon with Valerie Sadowl going 2-for-3 with four RBI. Kiki Saveriano has been the ace all season, as she has appeared in 28 games making 25 starts and has compiled a team-best 18 complete games.
SCOUTING CONNECTICUT
Connecticut features a balanced offensive attack with three hitters averaging north of .300 in Marissa Guches (.362), Kim Silva (.361) and Maddy Schiappa (.325). The Huskies also have seven players with at least three home runs; Silva leads the way with five bombs on the year. Kiki Saveriano does all of the heavy lifting at pitcher. She has started 25 games and boasts a 14-11 overall record with 134 strikeouts, three shutouts and a 2.59 earned run average.
FUTURE SCHEDULE
Seton Hall has three non-conference games next week, a single game at Saint Peter’s and a doubleheader at Stony Brook before closing out the conference slate with a three-game series at Georgetown on Saturday-Sunday, May 4-5.
HEAT CHECK
• Junior Maria DeLuca his batting .375 over the last 10 games with three homers and eight RBI.
• Sophomore Danielle DeStaso is batting .379 and slugging .621 with two homers and nine RBI over the last 10 games.
• Freshman Yasmin Harrell has an eight-game hitting streak and is 10-for-11 in stolen base attempts in the last 10 contests.
HEALTHY HITTING STREAKS
Sophomore Colltey Sheldon and freshman Yasmin Harrell have strung together a couple of impressive hitting streaks for the Pirates. Harrell has recorded a hit in each of the last eight games, the longest streak for any SHU player this season, while Sheldon has a hit in each of the last five games with three multi-hit games over that span.
DELUCA LANDS ON HONOR ROLL
Junior second baseman Maria DeLuca earned a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll for the first time in her career on Monday, April 22. She hit .467 with a home run and three RBI in the previous week, helping the Pirates secure a 2-1 series win at Syracuse. She was 7-for-15 at the plate and slugged .667 with a .529 on-base percentage.
MARIA DELUCA, WHAT A HITTER!
Junior second baseman Maria DeLuca smashed a solo home run over the scoreboard at Mike Sheppard, Sr. Field on Tuesday against No. 24 USF and has now homered three times over the past seven games. She entered the season with just two home runs and 13 RBI over her first two seasons but ranks second on the team in batting (.336), home runs (five) and RBI (25) in 2013.
PIRATES SURPASS BIG EAST WIN TOTAL
With its doubleheader sweep at Syracuse on April 20, Seton Hall picked up its fourth conference win of the season, surpassing its total of three BIG EAST wins from each of the last two seasons. The Pirates have won the most BIG EAST games this year since they were 8-13 in league play during the 2010 campaign.
RECORD OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION
Seton Hall put up a season-high 16 runs on 19 hits in a 16-15 win at Syracuse on April 20. The 16 runs scored tied a school single-game record and set a new mark for runs in BIG EAST game. The previous SHU BIG EAST run record was 15, something not seen since a 15-5 win over Rutgers in 1997. The 19 total hits broke the old school record of 18, set at Saint Peter’s on April 27, 1999.
SYRACUSE SHUTDOWN
Sophomore right hander Danielle DeStaso was in complete control in Seton Hall’s 4-1 win at Syracuse on April 20. She gave up just three hits with six strikeouts against just two walks in the complete-game win and retired 14 of the last 15 batters she faced, including a string of 11 in a row. The three hits allowed tied for the lowest total of the season and it was the second shutout of a BIG EAST opponent this season.
SINGLE-SEASON RECORD WATCH
Seton Hall has a number of players that have cracked the single season top-10 in several statistical categories so far this year:
• Yasmin Harrell ranks second with 25 steals
• Danielle DeStaso is tied for 10th with eight home runs
• Danielle DeStaso is ninth in innings pitched (159.2), ninth in wins (14) and sixth in strikeouts (150)
AW MADE YOU LOOK
Sophomore Danielle DeStaso has a team-high 150 strikeouts this season and 60 of those have been on called third strikes. She ranks second in the BIG EAST in strike outs looking and her 24 called third strikes in league play also ranks second.
BIG EAST CLOSE ENCOUNTERS
Seton Hall has had a knack for playing in close games lately against BIG EAST foes as six of the Pirates’ last nine conference contests have been decided by just one run, including a pair of games in the Syracuse series last weekend. Seton Hall is 6-6 in one-run games this season and 9-9 in games decided by two runs or less.
