Seton Hall University
Boise State
Off and Running, Softball Wins Two to Start 2015
2/6/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
DENTON, TEXAS - The Seton Hall University softball team saw its 2015 season get off to an outstanding start, as the Pirates swept a pair of games at the North Texas Invitational on Friday. In a high-scoring season opener, SHU defeated Boise State 13-10, and the Pirates held off tournament host North Texas, 2-1, in game two.
Against Boise State, the Pirates saw a six-run lead dissipate in the sixth inning, but responded with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the frame to reestablish the upper hand.
Senior Danielle DeStaso (Congers, N.Y.) was the star in game two, picking up the win on the mound and driving in both runs. She threw seven innings of three-hit ball, allowing just one unearned run with three strikeouts. In the top of the first inning, DeStaso hit a two-run shot which ultimately held up as the all the offense SHU would need.
Seton Hall won its first two games of the season for the first time since 1999. DeStaso's home run was the 24th of her career and moved her within two of tying Vickie Lamb (1997-01) for second-place in school history. She also picked up two wins, which increased her career tally to 29, tied for seventh all-time with Jenn Berghoff (1998-99). The Pirates had not faced either team prior to Friday.
Seton Hall 13, Boise State 10
The 2015 season was off to an interesting start after the Pirates found themselves facing a 4-0 deficit through just a half inning of action. However, The Hall would not trail for long, as they rallied for eight runs in the bottom half of that inning to take control.
In all, 12 batters stepped to the plate for SHU in that big inning, and seven of the eight runs came with two outs. The deficit had already been trimmed to 4-3 when senior Whitney Jones (Skowhegan, Maine) doubled to right field, scoring classmate Sara Haefeli (Montclair, N.J.) from second to tie the game.
With the bases loaded, junior Alex Rabbetts (Corona, Calif.) was hit by a pitch, bringing Jones home to give SHU its first lead. The rally was capped off by a Yasmin Harrell (Cheektowaga, N.Y.) RBI single, which plated sophomore Noel Lent (Yaphanic, N.Y.).
Seton Hall tacked on two more in the third and was comfortably ahead when Boise State (0-1) made a move with a six-run sixth. Starter Casey Moses (Lower Burrell, Pa.)had settled in after the first, giving up just three hits over the ensuing four innings before finding trouble. Three of the first four batters of the sixth reached base, and one run had scored with two on when DeStaso came in for relief.
She yielded doubles to Sara Ketelsleger and Makenzie Sullivan, the second of which cleared the bases and brought three runs home, tying the game at 10-10.
The Pirates didn't have to wait long before retaking the lead. DeStaso led off the bottom half of the inning with a single, and came home on a bases loaded walk issued to Jones. Senior Sam DeMasi (Lockport, Ill.) drove in junior Jackie DiPietro (Horsham, Pa.) and Lent doubled to right center to score Haefeli.
Batting leadoff, sophomore Valerie Suto (Mercerville, N.J.) went 2-for-3 with three runs scored. DeStaso was 2-for-2, scoring twice with an RBI, and Haefeli also registered a multi-hit day, batting 2-for-4.
Seton Hall 2, North Texas 1
All three runs came in the first inning of Seton Hall's second win of the day. Harrell led the game off with a base hit to left, swiped second, and ended up a third on a DiPietro groundout. With two outs, DeStaso smacked a homer down the left field line, and suddenly it was 2-0.
The Mean Green's (0-1) only run was an unearned tally in the bottom half of that inning. Kelli Schkade, who walked to leadoff the game, was sacrificed up to second, and scored on a Haefeli error on a Danielle Hoff single two batter later. DeStaso limited the damage, eventually striking out Sarah Barker to end the inning.
Although it looked like Seton Hall was in for another high scoring affair, outside of Danielle DeStaso in the top of the sixth inning, neither team advanced another player past second base for the rest of the game, and DeStaso would yield just two more hits to North Texas.
Jones added another base hit, a double in the fifth, to finish 2-for-5 on the day, and Suto swiped two bases, upping her single-day tally to three.
Seton Hall will play two more games on Saturday, when it faces Texas Southern at 1 p.m. and North Texas at 5:30 p.m.
