Over the weekend the UConn Huskies paid a visit to the Seton Hall Pirates of New Jersey for a three-game set. Both teams started in the top four in the Big East standings and looked to gain separation from each other for better seedings before the conference tournament next month. Backed by two stellar pitching performances from Payton Kinney and Hallie Siems, the Huskies were able to steal the series on the road, winning the last two games after losing Friday night’s game. Here’s how this weekend’s slate went.
UConn 0 Seton Hall 5
Game one came down to which team made the first mistake. Hallie Siems started the day for the Huskies, while Kelsey Carr took the rubber for the Pirates. Both pitchers shut down the other team’s offenses for the first six innings. Carr held the Huskies hitless through the first five innings, allowing just two base runners off of two walks. Siems struggled a little more than Carr but was able to get out of two real tough innings to keep the game tied going into the later innings. In the third, the Pirates loaded the bases off of singles from Taylor Hill, Olivia Gilbert and Katey Brennan, but Siems got Lela Allen to fly out to center to end the threat. Two innings later in the fifth, the Pirates put the pressure on the Huskies once again. Seton Hall loaded the bases for a second time off an Amber Johnson single, Olivia Gilbert hit by pitch and a Katey Brennan walk, but Siems got Allen out to end another threat, this time a groundout to first. UConn wasn’t able to hold Seton Hall’s offense back any longer, however, as in the sixth inning the Pirates exploded for five runs. For the third time, Seton Hall had runners at each base and a full-count Kelsey Carr walk finally broke the scoreless tie. Hope Jenkins was then brought in to face Olivia Gilbert who took her deep to left field for a bases clearing double. Seton Hall finished their sixth inning hit parade with a Brennan single to center bringing in their fifth run. Carr finished the game for the Pirates, allowing three hits and two walks while striking out seven across 7.0 innings pitched for her ninth win of the season.
UConn 4 Seton Hall 2
After being shut out in the opener, UConn took advantage of two Seton Hall errors to score first. Lexi Hastings started the game reaching on an error from Seton Hall’s Olivia Gilbert and advancing to second on a passed ball. Lauren Benson, UConn’s two-hole hitter, reached on another error, this time from pitcher Sydney Babik that scored Hastings. Rosie Garcia walked and after a couple of groundouts put runners on second and third with two outs, Kaitlyn Kibling came up to bat. UConn’s center fielder took the ball to right to bring in Benson and give UConn a 2-0 lead. With Payton Kinney shutting down the Pirates bats, going 5.2 scoreless innings allowing just two hits and striking out seven, UConn was able to continue to build their lead. Lauren Benson hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth while Giuliana Abruscato scored on a sixth inning wild pitch to put the Huskies up 4-0 entering the bottom of the sixth. The Pirates didn’t go down without a fight, slowly clawing their way back into the game. Olivia Gilbert homered in the sixth off of Meghan O’Neil to pull Seton Hall within three heading into the final inning. Just like game one of the series, Seton Hall loaded the bases to put the pressure on. Though one run was walked in, Kinney shut the door on any hope the Pirates had to hand UConn game two of the series.
UConn 2 Seton Hall 0
In the weekend finale, it was another great pitching performance from UConn to wrap up the series. Hallie Siems was handed back the ball to end the weekend and she dominated in her 4.1 innings of work, allowing no runs and just three base runners (hit, walk, HBP). Pinned against Kelsey Carr like in the opener, this time it was Siems who out pitched the competition. These two teams held each other scoreless through six innings, Seton Hall with just Carr and UConn with a combination of Siems and Payton Kinney. It took until the seventh inning for the Huskies to break through. With Lexi Hastings grounding into a fielder’s choice and replacing Taylor Zatyk on the base paths, her 25th stolen base of the year put a runner into scoring position. Lauren Benson walked and brought up Rosie Garcia, who deposited a grounder into left to bring in Hastings for the go ahead run. Jana Sanden followed that up with a single herself, scoring Benson while Garcia was thrown out trying to steal home. The Pirates went down in order in the bottom half of the inning to give UConn the series win.
UConn now sits second in the conference standings at 12-6, behind just Villanova (15-2) who has first. Seton Hall finishes the weekend in fourth place at 10-8 in the Big East behind Villanova, UConn and Creighton. The Huskies will have their chance to gain some ground on the first place Wildcats next weekend as they host Villanova Friday through Sunday but have a quick matchup with Boston College Tuesday to wrap up first.