Pirates Open BIG EAST Play, Host Providence

South Orange, N.J. – The Seton Hall softball team will open up BIG EAST conference play when they host Providence for a three-game set starting on Thursday. The Pirates will take on the Friars with a single game on Thursday starting at 2 p.m. before playing a doubleheader on Friday at 12:30 p.m. at Mike Sheppard, Sr., Stadium.

All times and dates are subject to change according to the weather.

LAST TIME OUT
The Pirates are coming off a 2-3 weekend at the Libby Matson Tournament hosted by pacific last weekend. In the Pirates' final game on Sunday, junior Shelby Smith (Friendswood, Texas) picked up the win after five solid innings of relief in a 4-3 victory over Pacific. Freshman Lauren Caye (Pittsburgh, Pa.) led the Pirates with two hits including the game-winning single in the seventh. The Pirates improved to 7-7 on the season as they head into conference play.

SCOUTING

Providence (10-5)

The Friars most recently played on Tuesday, where they picked up a 6-1 victory on the road at Brown University.
Sophomore Jacque Harrington leads Providence at the plate with a .409 average, 18 hits and 10 runs batted in. Harrington also has four home runs to her credit through 13 games.
In the circle, Tori Grifone leads the Friars with a 2.53 ERA through 44.1 innings pitched and 53 strikeouts to the tune of a 5-2 record.
The Pirates lead the all-time series between the two teams 36-33 with the Pirates taking 15 of the previous 23 matchups.

NEWS AND NOTES

Following their 12-7 victory over Nevada last Friday, the Pirates have now scored 10-plus runs in five games this season.
Freshman Lauren Caye leads the Pirates five home runs and 11 RBIs in just 21 at-bats this season.
Junior Abby Wingo currently leads all qualified Pirates with a .400 batting average and has a hit in nine consecutive games. Dating back to the start of the season Wingo has reached base safely in 13 of 14 games for the Pirates
On Feb. 20, the Pirates accounted for 30 runs, 28 hits and nine home runs in two wins over UMBC and Saint Joseph's. The 19 runs in the win over UMBC in game one set the program record for most runs in a game while the 17-run differential was the largest margin of victory in program history. The 19 hits tied a program record.
Following the Pirates' offensive explosion at the UMBC Retriever Round Robin, graduate student Janae Barracato was named the BIG EAST's Player of the Week. Barracato hit .615 (8-13) with three doubles and six runs scored over the four games.
With a three-run homer in the win over Nevada on March 4, Hannah Alexander became the ninth different Pirates to hit a home run this season compared to eight different Pirates who jumped the yard from a season ago.