Pirates Travel to Manhattan, Host Saint Peter's This Weekend

South Orange, N.J. – The Seton Hall softball team will take part in some non-conference action this weekend as they take on the likes of Manhattan and Saint Peter's this weekend. The Hall will travel to Manhattan for a doubleheader starting at 2 p.m. on Saturday before returning home for a single game with Saint Peter's at noon on Sunday at Mike Sheppard, Sr., Stadium.

LAST TIME OUT
The Pirates are coming a road BIG EAST series at Butler in which the Pirates took one of three games at Butler Softball Field. Taylor Hill (Little Falls, N.J.) led the Pirates in the series, going 5-for-10 (.500) with a double and 5 RBIs in three games against the Bulldogs. Hill was selected to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll for her efforts.

SCOUTING

Manhattan (5-13, 0-0 MAAC)

The Jaspers are coming off a loss to Columbia, 7-1, on the road Wednesday. Prior to that, Manhattan took down St. John's, 2-0, on March 22 at home.
Annie Moore leads the Jaspers offensively with a .345 average, three home runs and 11 runs batted in. The senior currently has a 1.011 OPS, playing all 18 games for Manhattan.
In the circle, Ava Metzger has tossed a team-leading 43.2 innings across nine appearances to the tune of a 4.12 ERA and 31 strikeouts.
The Pirates have never dropped a game against the Jaspers, leading the all-time series 12-0 between the two programs. The Hall last played Manhattan in 2012 resulting in a 13-7 victory at the Strike Out Cancer Tournament.

Saint Peter's (11-15, 0-0 MAAC)

The Peacocks dropped two, road doubleheaders during the week, first at Wagner on Tuesday and then FDU on Thursday. They will also take on Siena in doubleheader at home on Saturday, prior to playing the Pirates on Sunday.
The duo of Olyvia Smith and Cara McNulty lead the Peacocks offensively hitting .382 and .363, respectively. Smith has racked up 34 hits for Saint Peter's while McNulty has knocked in 16 runs with three home runs and six doubles.
Saint Peter's has used six different pitchers this season. Taylor Rondon sports a 2.96 ERA in 26 innings spread across 12 appearances while Syndey Senerchia has tossed a team-leading 41.1 innings with 27 strikeouts.
The Pirates lead the all-time series with the Peacocks, 37-7-1. Seton Hall has taken each of the previous 10 matchups with Saint Peter's including three games in 2019 at home.

NEWS AND NOTES

Coming off a BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll selection, Taylor Hill has turned it on in conference play for the Pirates, leading all qualified hitters with a .414 average and four doubles in nine BIG EAST games. The Pirates' primary shortstop is also tied for the team lead in conference runs driven in with eight to her credit to go along with a .973 fielding percentage. In The Hall's win in game one last Friday, Hill went 3-for-4 with a double and four RBIs to lead the Pirates to victory. In game two, Hill picked right up where she left off in game one, putting the Pirates on the board in the first with an RBI single as part of a 2-for-3 day with an RBI giving her a total of five hits and five RBIs on the afternoon.
Graduate Student Baylee Allender hit her third home run of the season on Sunday. The longball was also the 24th of her career, good enough for sixth best in Seton Hall career history.
The Pirates, along with Creighton, are one of two teams in the conference to have multiple BIG EAST Player of the Week selections. Janae Barracato earned the distinction for the Pirates on Feb. 21 while Shelby Smith did the same on March 21. Laure Caye was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week on Feb. 21 following a weekend in which she went 3-for-5 (.600) with three home runs in three Pirate wins at the Retriever Round Robin hosted by UMBC. Additionally, Smith (2x) and Hill have been named to the conference's weekly honor roll for the Pirates.
Junior Abby Wingo leads the team and is tied for first in the conference in doubles with nine. Shelby Smith leads the league in innings pitched and is sporting a 2.40 ERA in conference games.
The Pirates currently lead the BIG EAST in doubles with 44 and are 14^th in the nation in doubles per game at 1.76.
Head Coach Angie Churchill is currently sitting on 199 wins heading into the weekend as she looks to capture her 200^th career NCAA victory.
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.
The Pirates have scored 10-plus runs in five games this season.
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.