Pirates Struggle at FGCU Invitational

Published: Monday, February 17, 2025

by AJ Rayer

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Seton Hall Pirates softball team (3-6) traveled to Florida last weekend for the FGCU Invitational, their second tournament of the year. They played five games over three days against Omaha (9-1), Florida Gulf Coast (5-8), and Wisconsin (6-2).

The Hall’s first game of the weekend was an extra-inning thriller against Omaha. Kelsey Carr gave the Pirates an early lead in the top of the first when she pulled a pitch down the left-field line for a two-run homer. Olivia Gilbert added to the lead in the fourth with a two-run home run of her own, followed by another RBI from Hanna Alexander in the fifth.

Karissa Dupuis started the game on the mound for the Pirates and pitched a clean game until the fifth inning, when she ran into trouble and surrendered three runs. Rachel Scheumann came on in relief and gave up two runs in the sixth as Omaha tied the game at 5-5.

The game moved to extra innings, remaining tied until the 10th. Omaha then broke through with a walk-off RBI single to win.

Just a few hours later, the Pirates avenged their loss, dominating FGCU. The bats stayed hot as Gilbert drove home Katey Brennan in the first inning before Erin Howard added two more runs on a home run in the 3rd.
FGCU responded in the 4th, tying the game at 3. The Pirates bounced back in the 5th, capitalizing on a wild pitch that scored two runs. Gilbert then hit her second home run of the tournament in the 6th, sealing a 7-3 win for Seton Hall.

On Day 2 of the invitational, the Pirates' offense fell short as they dropped matchups to both Wisconsin and Omaha in a rematch.

Against Wisconsin, the Badgers jumped out to an early three-run lead and never looked back. The Pirates finally got on the board in the bottom of the fourth thanks to an Erin Howard RBI. However, the Badgers stayed in control as they cruised to a 7-2 win over Seton Hall.

In their rematch against Omaha, the Pirates scored in the first yet again as Erin Howard drove home Kelsey Carr on a single to right field. The Mavericks responded quickly in the second, scoring two runs off Seton Hall’s Kyra Kreuscher. The scoring did not let up the rest of the game for Omaha, as the Pirates eventually fell 6-1 despite some scoring opportunities to cut down the lead in the final innings.

In the final match of the invitational on Sunday morning against Wisconsin, the Pirates' defense improved dramatically with Carr in the circle. No hits were recorded through the first three innings until Carr helped her own cause with a solo home run in the fourth. Howard added another run on an RBI single as the Pirates led 2-0 heading into the fifth.

The Badgers then finally took off as a leadoff double led to a game-tying two-run home run.

The Pirates went to extra innings for the second time on the weekend, where Wisconsin walked it off in the eighth to hand Seton Hall a 3-2 loss.

After a long road trip, Seton Hall will return to South Orange for its home opener on Feb. 22, a doubleheader against Lehigh. First pitch is at noon on WSOU.net, with Lauren Reese and AJ Rayer on the call.

AJ Rayer can be reached at alexander.rayer@student.shu.edu. 

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