Hall Opens BIG EAST Tournament
5/8/2013 12:00:00 AM | Softball
SOFTBALL OPENS BIG EAST TOURNAMENT AGAINST NOTRE DAME
The Seton Hall University softball team will open competition in the 2013 BIG EAST Championship against the University of Notre Dame on Thursday, May 9, at the USF Softball Stadium in Tampa, Fla., at 12:30 p.m. The Pirates finished the regular season with an 8-13 record in conference play to secure the No. 8 seed in the postseason tournament. Notre Dame wrapped up the No. 1 overall seed with a 19-3 conference record. Seton Hall is making its 10th overall appearance in the BIG EAST Tournament and first since 2009. The Pirates are 11-11 all-time in tournament play, winning a pair of BIG EAST Championships in 2004 and 2005.
LAST TIME OUT
Seton Hall was facing a pair of must-win situations in its final regular season series at Georgetown last weekend and the Pirates came away with big wins to clinch a postseason berth. Junior pitcher Jen Metzger was tremendous, giving up just two runs over 12 innings to earn a pair of victories. Senior Brittany Hammer hit .667 in the series and junior Maria DeLuca had a grand slam and six RBI in a 14-1 win in game two. Sophomore Sara Haefeli came up with the game-winning home run in the top of the seventh inning to lift the Pirates to a win in the regular season finale.
WHO TO WATCH
SETON HALL: Senior Brittany Hammer has been on a torrid pace over the past 10 games, hitting .448 with four doubles, a triple and a .655 slugging percentage over that span. Junior Maria DeLuca and sophomore Sara Haefeli both have three home runs over the past two weeks, with DeLuca driving in a team-high 15 runs. Junior right hander Jen Metzger has a pair of wins and three complete games over her last six appearances.
NOTRE DAME: Sophomore center fielder Emilee Koerner was named the BIG EAST Player of the Week and junior Laura Winter was tabbed as the BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week after the Fighting Irish won a series over Louisville, Koerner hit .467 with two doubles and a home run while Winter posted a 4-0 record in the circle last week with a 1.75 earned run average.
SCOUTING NOTRE DAME
The Fighting Irish are 4-1 over their last five games and are coming off a 2-1 series victory over Louisville. Emilee Koerner leads the team with a .479 average and she has 35 extra base hits and 45 RBI this season. Laura Winter is one of the team’s offensive and pitching leaders. She ranks second for Notre Dame with a .368 batting average and has belted a team-high 17 home runs. Winter also has a 27-9 record at pitch and 272 strikeouts in 232.1 innings pitched.
FUTURE SCHEDULE
The winner of Thursday afternoon’s quarterfinal matchup will advance to face either DePaul or Georgetown in the tournament semifinals on Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. The BIG EAST Championship is scheduled for Saturday, May 11, at 4 p.m.
BIG EAST TOURNAMENT PRIMER
• Seton Hall is making its first appearance in the BIG EAST Tournament since the 2009 season
• The Pirates have made 10 all-time appearances in the BIG EAST Championship and have posted an 11-11 overall record
• Seton Hall won a pair of BIG EAST titles, posting back-to-back championships in 2004 and 2005
• The Pirates last BIG EAST Tournament game was a 1-0 loss to DePaul in the tournament quarterfinals back on May 7, 2009, in Louisville, Ky.
SHU VERSUS NOTRE DAME IN THE POSTSEASON
Seton Hall and Notre Dame have matched up seven times in BIG EAST Tournament play with the Pirates holding a 5-2 edge over the Fighting Irish in those tilts. Seton Hall won the last postseason meeting with Notre Dame, 2-1, in 11 innings in the 2005 BIG EAST championship game.
IMMEDIATE DIVIDENDS
First year head coach Paige Smith has made a big impact in just her first season at Seton Hall. She guided the Pirates to eight BIG EAST wins for the first time since the 2010 season and the program’s first postseason berth since 2009. Seton Hall has also had a player land on the conference weekly honor roll on six different occasions.
HAMMER TIME
Senior shortstop Brittany Hammer was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on May 6, marking the first time this season and the third time in her career she has earned the conference weekly distinction. Hammer hit .500 with nine runs scored, three doubles and a triple in a 3-3 week for Seton Hall. In the Pirates’ series victory at Georgetown she hit a team-leading .667 with five runs scored, including a 4-for-4, four run performance in the Hall’s game-two victory over the Hoyas.
MAGNIFICENT METZGER
Junior Jen Metzger’s pair of primetime pitching performances played a critical role in the Pirates’ ability to win the series at Georgetown and clinch a postseason berth. In two games Metzger posted a 0.58 earned run average with 10 strikeouts while giving up just one earned run to pick up her first two conference victories of the season.
HAEFELI TO THE RESCUE
Sophomore Sara Haefeli dialed up the biggest hit of her career when she blasted a solo home run to left field to help lift the Pirates to a 2-1 victory at Georgetown in their regular season finale on May 5. The blast was Haefeli’s sixth home run of the season and third of the week. Her six home runs rank third on the team.
HEAT CHECK
• Senior Brittany Hammer is hitting .448 with five extra-base hits and a team-high 12 runs scored over the last 10 games.
• Junior Maria DeLuca boasts a team-high .767 slugging percentage 15 RBI in her last 10 starts.
• Freshman Jackie DiPietro is batting .500 with a double and a home run in her last 12 plate appearances.
RECORD HITTING STREAK
Freshman center fielder Yasmin Harrell set a new school record a 14-game hitting streak that came to an end in game one against Georgetown on May 4. 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 hit a team-high .408 with 20 hits, two doubles, six RBI and 12 runs scored during the streak and was also 12-for-14 in stolen base attempts.
