Smith Notches 300th Career Strikeout in Win over St. John's

Saturday, April 1

South Orange, NJ

1:30 PM

Seton Hall University

19-11, 0

St. John's

13-16, 0

ST JOHN'S

Seton Hall

Smith Notches 300th Career Strikeout in Win over St. John's

4/1/2023 4:29:00 PM | Softball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

South Orange, N.J. – Shelby Smith (Friendswood, Texas) struck out 10 batters, including the 300^th strikeout of her career, and allowed just one run across seven innings as the Pirates defeated St. John's, 4-1, on Saturday afternoon. Smith becomes just the seventh Pirate pitcher ever to record 300 career strikeouts and the first since Reganne Camp achieved the milestone in 2020.

How it Happened
After Smith danced her way out of trouble in the top of the first, she helped out her own cause at the plate in the bottom half. With Taylor Hill (Little Falls, N.J.) on first and one out, Smith ripped a laser off the wall in left field to allow Hill to score all the way from first.

B1 | The Pirates strike early again! Shelby hits a laser off the wall to score T-Hill from first!#HALLin🔵⚪ pic.twitter.com/HRWL9jGUjD
— Seton Hall Softball (@SHUSoftball) April 1, 2023

Each offense was quiet over the next couple of innings. It was in the fourth that the Pirates brought home what proved to be the game-winning run. After the first two batters of the inning were set down, the Pirates hit three straight singles to center field, each on consecutive pitches. The last of the sequence was Erin Howard (Skillman, N.J.) grounder to the outfield which scored Lauren Caye (Pittsburgh, Pa.) to make it a 2-0 lead.

B4 | Erin Howard cashes in!

Three straight two-out singles to center result in the second Pirates run of the day!#HALLin🔵⚪ pic.twitter.com/RPTORy3oK1
— Seton Hall Softball (@SHUSoftball) April 1, 2023

Smith was able to escape danger in the circle in the fifth, when St. John's put runners on second and third with its top hitter London Jarrard at the plate. With the tying run in scoring position, Smith forced Jarrard to ground back to the circle to end the inning.

The Red Storm got on the board in the top of the sixth, but the Pirates were able to respond in the bottom half with two runs of their own. The first came from Abby Wingo (Portland, Ore.), who extended her hitting streak to 14 straight games with a home run to center field. Later in the inning, Hannah Alexander (Wrightstown, N.J.) would knock another home on a sacrifice fly to make it a 4-1 Seton Hall lead.

B6 | How 'bout a homer to keep the hitting streak alive!?

Abby Wingo extends her hitting streak to 14 games with this homer to center! We now lead 3-1 in the 6th.#HALLin🔵⚪ pic.twitter.com/wzibK9yBgP
— Seton Hall Softball (@SHUSoftball) April 1, 2023

Smith entered the seventh inning needing just one strikeout to reach 300 for her career. She did that, and then some. After a leadoff walk, Smith struck out each of the next three batters to get to 10 total punchouts on the afternoon.

𝙂𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙙.

The newest member of the Pirates' 300 strikeout club is Shelby Smith!#HALLin🔵⚪ pic.twitter.com/odfEHCAPXn
— Seton Hall Softball (@SHUSoftball) April 1, 2023

3⃣0⃣0⃣❗

Shelby Smith becomes the 7th Pirate ever to strike out 300 batters in her career!#HALLin🔵⚪ pic.twitter.com/VXe2FEO9z9
— Seton Hall Softball (@SHUSoftball) April 1, 2023

Notes & Numbers

Smith now sits seventh in Seton Hall history with 302 career strikeouts. Saturday was the sixth time in Smith's career, and third time this season, in which she has compiled double-digit strikeouts.
Wingo's 14-game hitting streak is tied for the second longest in program history. Her streak matches Yasmin Harrell's streak from 2013. Harrell owns the program-best stream of 16 straight games from back in 2016.
Wingo is batting .474 over her 14-game hitting streak, and also now has hits in 20 of her last 21 games.
Of the Pirates' nine hitters, eight of them reached base safely and seven of them recorded at least one hit.
Smith is batting .333 (13-for-39) with seven RBI in the 14 games that she has both pitched and hit in.
The Pirates have won four straight games over St. John's for the first time since Apr. 3, 1999-Apr. 14, 2001.

What's Next
The Pirates conclude their series with St. John's on Sunday afternoon with first pitch slated for 12 p.m. Coverage can be found on the BIG EAST Digital Network on FloSoftball.