Pirates Open BIG EAST Play With VU, TIME CHANGE

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – After a highly successful run through the Inaugural Pirate Invitational last weekend, the Seton Hall softball team sets its sights on BIG EAST play and welcomes Villanova to Mike Sheppard, Sr. Field. The Hall and the Wildcats will play a three-game set beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday, March 25 now moved up two hours and set to start at 10 a.m. and concluding with a noon start on Sunday. All three contests will be available streaming for FREE on the Pirate Sports Network.

The Pirates are 13-9-1 on the year after going 4-0 in the aforementioned Pirate Invitational, picking up three wins by way of the run-rule in triumphs over Brown, Saint Peter's and Hartford along with a victory over Iona. Villanova enters the first BIG EAST weekend of the season with a 11-8 record after sweeping Rider in a doubleheader on Thursday afternoon.

PIRATE POINTS

The Hall boasts one of the BIG EAST's most potent offense, currently leading the league in batting average (.302), runs per game (6.2), on-base percentage (.407), slugging percentage (.493) and doubles per game (1.91)
Destini Peck (Riverside, Calif.) is the reigning BIG EAST Player of the Week and rqanks fourth in the BIG EAST with a .410 batting average to go along with six doubles and 17 RBIs
Junior Alexis Walkden (Cibolo, Texas) checks in with a .362 average and team-highs of five home runs, 10 doubles and 24 runs scored
The freshman duo of Hailey Arteaga (Upland, Calif.) and Darby Pandolfo (Massapequa, N.Y.) have provided a spark at the plate, with the former notching a team-high 21 RBIs and the latter batting .333 with eight doubles and a pair of home runs
Lauren Fischer (Robbinsville, N.J.) has starred in the circle and at the dish for the Pirates, holding a team-best 2.33 ERA to go along with a .339/.525/.625 slash line
Fischer is one of six Pirate hurlers to notch at least one win this season, including reigning BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week Madison Strunk (Adkins, Texas) and freshman Reganne Camp (Bloomington, Ill.)
Camp owns a 3.50 ERA and a 26:12 strikeout-to-walk ratio during her rookie season

VILLANOVA NOTES

The Wildcats visit South Orange with an 11-8 record on the year
After a tournament last week was canceled VU played a pair of midweek doubleheaders this week, dropping two at Delaware before notching a pair of wins at home against Rider
The Wildcats hold a team batting average of .300 and a team ERA of 3.09 entering conference action
Nikki Alden is VU's top offensive threat, batting .432 with team-highs of four home runs and 21 RBIs
Lauren Hanna (.358) and Tianah Hathaway (.345) are second and third on the team in average, while Carolina Jones is batting .333 and is tied with Alden for a team-best four home runs
In the circle, Brette Lawrence has seen the bulk of action and holds an 8-4 record with a 2.45 ERA in 74.1 innings, striking out 64 against only nine walks on the year

SERIES NOTES

The Pirates are 35-38 all-time against Villanova in a series dating back to 1985
Last season the Pirates suffered a sweep to the Wildcats in a series originally schedule to be played at Villanova that featured two games in South Orange with VU playing as the home team
In Seton Hall's last true home series against Villanova, the Pirates swept the Wildcats in a three-game set on March 29 and 30, 2015
The Pirates are 7-1 against Villanova in their last eight true home games in the series

WHAT'S NEXT
Following the weekend set, the Pirates will play host to Fordham for a midweek contest on Tuesday, March 28.