Seton Hall University
Villanova
Rabbetts Homers Twice in Loss at Villanova
4/22/2014 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 22, 2014
VILLANOVA, PA. - Sophomore Alex Rabbetts (Corona, Calif.) hit a pair of home runs but it was not enough to fuel a full comeback as the Seton Hall University softball team fell at Villanova, 4-3 on Tuesday afternoon.
The Pirates swept a doubleheader at Villanova on Monday to win the series and Seton Hall now stands at 8-7 in BIG EAST play, tied with Georgetown for second place in the conference standings with six regular season games remaining. SHU hosts Butler University, another team vying for one of the four BIG EAST Tournament berths, in a three-game series this Saturday-Sunday, April 26-27, at Mike Sheppard, Sr. Field.
Seton Hall trailed 4-1 through three innings before the comeback attempt started in the fifth when Rabbetts smashed a solo home run over the fence in left center field, her second homer of the season.
In the sixth inning the Pirates had their best chance to get back into the game but the Hall stranded runners at second and third. With one out senior Meredith Henze (Elkton, Md.) doubled to center field, followed in short order by a Whitney Jones (Skowhegan, Maine) single up the middle, and she moved up to second on a Shea Palmer throw to the plate.
Sophomore Jackie DiPietro (Horsham, Pa.), who saw her career-best six-game hitting streak come to an end, flew out to left for the second out of the inning and junior Colltey Sheldon (Peoria, Ariz.) connected on a fly ball to deep center field, but Palmer was there to make the play and end the threat.
Rabbetts homered again to lead off the seventh, working a full count before powering a solo shot off the scoreboard in left field. She tied a Seton Hall single-game record and is just the 13th player to homer twice in the same game.
Villanova starter Kate Poppe settled in to retire the next two Pirates prior to Maria DeLuca (Cedar Grove, N.J.) extending the inning with a bloop single to left. She was stranded at first as Danielle DeStaso (Congers, N.Y.) popped out foul to first to end the game.
Seton Hall led early, plating one in the top of the first thanks to DeLuca's first-career triple. With one out in the top of the first she line a shot into the gap in right center field.
Danielle Lewandowski made an attempt at a catch but was unable to cut the ball off before it traveled all the way to the fence. It was the second three-base hit of the series for Seton Hall and its fourth of the season. DeLuca's big base hit was not in vain as Henze brought her home with an RBI base hit up the middle.
DeStaso was cruising through two innings, retiring the first six batters she faced before Stephanie Butler led off the third with a base hit to right which signaled the start of a big inning for the Wildcats. Shortly thereafter the bases were loaded with no outs.
Kate Poppe reached when a sacrifice bunt with odd spin stopped in front of the batter's box, and Faith Laudano's (Islip, N.Y.) throw to first drew Jones off the bag. Aleshia Ayers laid down a second-straight bunt, fielded cleanly by Henze on the left side, but her attempt to catch Butler at third was not in time.
DeStaso hit Lauren Herschberg to bring the first run home and two more base hits made it a four-run inning for the home team, the largest lead of the series for Villanova. The Wildcats would not score again but Seton Hall was unable to come back to tie the game despite the two home runs from Rabbetts.
DeStaso fell to 7-7 on the year, allowing three earned runs on seven hits with three strikeouts. Henze and DeLuca both turned in multi-hit performances to join Rabbetts as the Hall's offensive leaders.
