Hall Faces Georgetown in Big Test
5/3/2013 12:00:00 AM | Softball
SOFTBALL HEADS TO GEORGETOWN FOR REGULAR SEASON FINALE
Seton Hall will conclude its regular season schedule with a three-game BIG EAST series at Georgetown this Saturday-Sunday, May 4-5, in Washington, D.C. The Pirates enter the weekend with a 6-12 record in conference play and sit just a half game out of the No. 8 spot in the league standings behind Connecticut and Rutgers. Georgetown is currently fifth in the league with a 9-10 mark and just two and a half games separate the teams situated fifth-10th in the league standings with three conference games remaining for all 13 BIG EAST teams.
LAST TIME OUT
After winning its home finale against Connecticut last Sunday the Pirates stepped out of conference play for three matchups with non-conference foes, beating Saint Peter’s, 16-0, on Tuesday afternoon, before dropping two games at Stony Brook, 6-4, and 4-0, on Wednesday in Stony Brook, N.Y. Sara Haefeli hit two home runs and the Pirates tied school records with 16 runs scored and 19 hits in the victory at Saint Peter’s. Sophomore Whitney Jones went 3-for-6 in the doubleheader at Stony Brook, driving in a run in the first game of the day.
WHO TO WATCH
SETON HALL: Junior Maria DeLuca has been named to back-to-back BIG EAST Honor Rolls and is hitting .375 with three home runs, 12 RBI and a .719 slugging percentage over the last 10 games. Sophomore Colltey Sheldon is batting a blistering .480 in her last eight starts and freshman Yasmin Harrell has recorded a hit in 14-straight games.
GEORGETOWN: Lauren O’Leary threw a complete-game victory at Louisville last weekend. She yielded just two runs on eight hits in her 16th complete game of the season. Shikara Lowe homered for the fifth time in the victory over the Cardinals and she leads the team with a .338 average. Alexandria Anttila has been Georgetown’s power hitting specialist with 11 home runs, 10 doubles and a .577 slugging percentage.
SCOUTING GEORGETOWN
The Hoyas feature three hitters with batting averages north of .300. Shikara Lowe leads the team with a .338 average while Elyse Graziano (.333) and Samantha Giovanniello (.306) have started in all 50 games. Lauren O’Leary and Megan Hyson have split time at pitcher so far this year. O’Leary is 13-14 overall with 166.2 innings pitched and 145 strikeouts. Hyson has made 33 appearances with 17 starts and has struck out 133 batters in 151 innings.
FUTURE SCHEDULE
The 2013 BIG EAST softball championship will be held Thursday-Saturday, May 9-11, at the University of South Florida Softball Stadium in Tampa, Fla. The top eight teams in the conference will qualify for the single elimination tournament.
HEAT CHECK
• Sophomore Colltey Sheldon is batting a team-high .480 over the last 10 games with four RBI.
• Junior Maria DeLuca has a team-high three home runs and 12 RBI over the last 10 contests..
• Freshman Yasmin Harrell has a school-record 14-game hitting streak and is hitting .408 over that span.
POSTSEASON BREAKDOWN
Heading into the final weekend of BIG EAST action Seton Hall currently trails eighth place University of Connecticut by just a half game in the league standings. The Pirates are a game and a half behind Providence and Syracuse and two and a half games behind Georgetown for fifth place. There are four three-game series this weekend that will play critical roles in determining the final four BIG EAST Tournament spots:
#10 Seton Hall (6-12) at #5 Georgetown (9-10)
#11 Pittsburgh (6-13) at #9 Rutgers (7-12)
#4 DePaul (14-5) at #8 Connecticut (7-12)
#6 Providence (8-11) at #7 Syracuse (8-11)
RECORD HITTING STREAK
Freshman center fielder Yasmin Harrell has set a new school record with her current 14-game hitting streak. The previous Seton Hall record for consecutive games with a base hit in the same season was 12, and the school record for consecutive games across two seasons is 14. Harrell is batting a team-high .408 with 20 hits, two doubles, six RBI and 12 runs scored over the last 14 games and is also 12-for-14 in stolen base attempts.
ANOTHER BROKEN RECORD
With a pair of stolen bases in a 16-0 win at Saint Peter’s University on Tuesday, April 30, speedy freshman Yasmin Harrell set a new Seton Hall single-season record for stolen bases and now has 30 during her rookie season, breaking the old SHU single-season mark of 27, set by Michelle Reed in 2007. The 30 stolen bases already rank Harrell eighth on the Seton Hall career list and she is currently second in the BIG EAST and 20th in the nation in stolen bases. She is 30-for-34 in stolen base attempts this season.
DELUCA DEJA VU
Junior second baseman Maria DeLuca made it back-to-back appearances on the BIG EAST Softball Weekly Honor Roll when she received the conference accolade for a second-straight week on April 29. In the previous week she helped the Pirates post a 2-2 record against BIG EAST foes, including a 2-1 series win over Connecticut, by hitting .417 with a pair of home runs, five RBI and five runs scored. She also slugged 1.000 with a .500 on-base percentage.
RECORD SETTING WIN
Seton Hall scored seven runs before even recording an out in its 16-0 win at Saint Peter’s on April 30, and by the time the game was over the Pirates had set a new school record and tied two others. The 16-run margin of victory set a new program record, breaking the old mark of 15, last accomplished during the 1997 season. The 16 runs scored and 19 base hits tied a program record set in a 16-15 victory at Syracuse earlier this season.
HAEFELI HOMERS TWICE
Sophomore outfielder Sara Haefeli hit a pair of home runs in the Pirates’ 16-0 win at Saint Peter’s on April 30, tying a school record with two home runs in the same game. It was the 12th time a Seton Hall player accomplished the feat and the second time this season; freshman Alex Rabbetts homered twice in a win over Marist. Haefeli is batting .250 with five home runs, six doubles and 19 RBI this season.
FIRST TIMER
Freshman Jackie DiPietro hit the first home run of her career, a two-run shot over the fence in left field in the second inning of Seton Hall’s 16-0 win at Saint Peter’s on April 30.
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 first with 30 steals
• Danielle DeStaso is tied for 10th with eight home runs
• Danielle DeStaso is seventh in innings pitched (170.2), ninth in wins (14) and fifth in strikeouts (161)
