Pirates Head To Omaha For Final Regular Season Set

OMAHA, Neb. – The Seton Hall softball team (22-23, 8-8 BIG EAST) hits the road for the final weekend of regular season action this weekend when it travels to Creighton (19-22, 7-11 BIG EAST) for a three-game set. The series kicks off with a doubleheader on Saturday, May 4 beginning at 1 p.m. before the finale on Sunday, May 5 at 12 p.m. The two games on Saturday will air on Jays Video through the Creighton website before the Sunday contest on the BIG EAST Digital Network.

The Hall enters the final weekend of the season firmly in the hunt for a BIG EAST Tournament berth. The Pirates are currently fifth in the league standings, a half game behind both third-place Villanova and fourth-place Providence. Seton Hall holds tiebreakers against both VU and PC, but cancelations have led to all three squads playing different numbers of games and therefore unable to tie in the standings. If all three teams play all three games over the weekend, SHU has to win one MORE game than either Providence OR Villanova to earn a top-four finish and advance to the conference championship.

LEADING OFF >>

The Pirates have been led offensively this season by the dynamic duo of Janae Barracato (Hempstead, N.Y.) and Hailey Arteaga (Upland, Calif.) occupying the top two spots in the lineup
Barracato is third in the country with 20 doubles, while Arteaga is right behind her with 17 two-baggers to rank 1-2 in the BIG EAST
The 37 doubles accumulated by the pair matches or exceeds the total of 12 teams in Division I
Their success in recording two-base hits has helped Seton Hall to rank fourth in the country with 1.84 doubles per game
Arteaga is also in the hunt to become the second Pirate to ever hit .400 or better over the course of the season, ranking fourth in the league with a .404 average to go along with six home runs and 37 RBIS (fourth in the league)
Barracato ranks top-five in the BIG EAST in hits (50), runs scored (34) and triples (2) while slashing .333/.404/.533 and knocking in 29 runs
The Hall has also gotten a power surge this season from Baylee Allender (Rosharon, Texas) who leads the club with nine home runs, including a league-leading six during BIG EAST play
Reganne Camp (Bloomington, Ill.) has paced The Hall in the circle this season with a 10-10 record and 4.13 ERA with 115 strikeouts in 118.2 innings pitched
Chrisa Head (Lewisville, Texas) and Madison Strunk (Adkins, Texas) have also provided quality innings for The Hall, each logging over 50 on the year and winning four games between them in league play

BATTLING THE BLUEJAYS

The Hall enters the three-game set with Creighton holding an all-time record of 5-9 against CU in a series dating back to the Bluejays joining the league for the 2014 season
The Pirates had early success against CU, going 5-2 in the first seven meetings, but since then Creighton has won seven-straight
During Creighton's recent success, five of the seven setbacks have been by three runs or less
This season Creighton has played to a 19-22 overall record and a 7-11 mark in BIG EAST play after being chosen as the league's preseason favorite
Kiara Mills leads CU with a .359 average, nine home runs and 28 RBIs on the year
Ashley Cantu (.355) and Mileah McKelvy (.323) are also top bats for the Jays
In the circle, Laura Roecker has pitched to a 9-8 record and 3.22 ERA in 91.1 innings

WHAT'S AHEAD
If the Pirates are able to qualify for the BIG EAST Tournament, semifinal action kicks off from Rosemont, Ill. on Friday, May 10.