WSOU

Recap: SHU Splits Doubleheader with Army on Sunday

Date: February 26, 2023

By: Joe Walls and Brian Henderson

Kelsey Carr on the mound for the Pirates.

Seton Hall Athletics

The Seton Hall Pirates (4-5) took on the Army Black Knights (3-8) today in a doubleheader at Mike Shepard Sr. Field, dropping the first game by a score of 3-2.

The first game was marked by it’s pitching, as Shelby Smith pitched three innings for the Pirates, only allowing one run and freshman-phenom Kyra Keruscher pitched almost the rest of the eight innings.

On the bump for the Black Knights was Alicyn Grete who gave up zero runs besides the opening run in the bottom of the first inning. Army was able to knot it back up at one off a Taylor Brown solo homerun in the third inning to deep center field.

From there, the stalemate held until the Knights got a second run on a single that just squeaked by the glove of shortstop Andrea Perez. From there, it felt like the Pirates couldn’t help but play from behind, even after Kelsey Carr came into the game as a pinch hitter and took the first ball she saw deep over the scoreboard and out of Mike Shepard field.

What felt like a game the Pirates could have walked off twice in the bottom of the seventh and eighth inning was unfortunately snuffed out by two unlucky plays on the basepaths.

A line drive to the Army second baseman resulted in a double play after the Pirates couldn’t get back to the second base bag in the seventh and then in the eighth where if felt like Déjà vu as another line drive snuffed out the Pirates hopes.

Keruscher seemed a bit fatigued by the end of her outing on the mound and the Knights broke the 2-2 tie after a passed ball got by Pirates catcher Hannah Alexander which gave Army the momentum, and run it needed to finish out game one on top.

In their second outing, the Seton Hall Pirates crushed the Army Black Knights 11-0, enforcing the mercy rule after the top of the fifth inning.

Starting pitcher Kelsey Carr was automatic, allowing just one hit over five scoreless innings and notching four strikeouts as well. Her 2023 season has been spectacular so far, posting a 1.17 ERA in 18.0 innings pitched before the doubleheader today.

Carr also got involved on the offensive end in both games against Army. She homered in the bottom of the seventh in the first game before clobbering a ball deep to center field to send her and Lauren Hill home, making it 2-0.

The bottom of the second inning was where the Pirates offense could do no wrong. After freshman Andrea Perez got herself over to first base, Lela Allen kicked off the scoring for the Pirates with a nice hit into the gap. Perez was able to use her speed to leg it home.

Soon after, what was supposed to be a bunt turned into Abby Wingo racing home and the Pirates left with runners on second and third. It isn’t very often you see a double off of a bunt.

A sacrifice fly made it 5-0 with Shelby Smith up to bat, and her RBI single extended the lead. After Carr got on base again, a Lauren Gilbert double sent the Seton Hall pitchers around the bases for an 8-0 lead. Just for good measure, Gilbert scored a run of her own before Army finally closed out the inning.

Lauren Hill and Shelby Smith scored once again in the bottom of the fourth to bring the score to 11-0. More lights-out pitching from Kelsey Carr ended this game early.

The second game of this doubleheader was the polar opposite of the first. The first game was a low-scoring 3-2 affair and had to go into extras.

The Pirates scored their most runs in an inning since Feb. 20, 2022, when they scored eight runs in an inning during their 19-2 beatdown of UMBC.

The Hall will look to keep the momentum going during the Texas Tech Invitational, where they alternate playing North Dakota and Texas Tech twice each, before closing it out against Rutgers.

Joe Walls and Brian Henderson can be reached at joseph.walls@student.shu.edu and brian.henderson1@student.shu.edu.

Posted in: Sports, Softball

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