Darby Pandolfo, Seton Hall
#BIGEASTsb Continues as Non-Conference Play Heats Up
2.20.20 Softball Notes
NEW YORK - The third week of non-conference play is set to kick-off Friday, with seven teams in action.
Butler (8-3) - After a weekend at the Madeira Beach Spring Games, the Bulldogs will take a week off before returning to the diamond on Feb. 28 for five games in three days at the Liberty Softball Classic. Last time out, Butler went 4-2 with wins against Central Arkansas, Nicholls State, Georgie State and Middle Tennessee while narrowly dropping contests to Akron (8-7) and Presbyterian (4-3) in 12 innings.
Creighton (5-4) - Creighton returns to action this weekend for the Tiger Classic in Nashville, Tenn. The Bluejays will face Rider, Tennessee State, Central Connecticut State and Bowling Green in the two-day event. Creighton enters the weekend after a 2-2 outing at the North Texas Invitational. Kiele Miller leads the way in the circle for CU with seven appearances and 42 strikeouts on the season while Ashley Cantu paces the Bluejays at the plate with 16 hits, tied for the league-lead.
DePaul (4-6) - DePaul travels to Birmingham, Ala. this weekend for the Samford Tournament. The Blue Demons will face Georgia Tech on Friday morning before taking on Samford on Friday evening for the first of two meetings. DPU will meet its first top-25 opponent of the season when the Blue Demons face No.13/11 Kentucky for two matchups over the weekend. DePaul last met the Wildcats in the first round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament with UK outlasting the Blue Demons 6-0.
Georgetown (1-9) - The Hoyas head south for the Madeira Beach Tournament for five games in three days. GU will face South Dakota and Columbia on Friday before meeting Cornell and Manhattan on Saturday. Georgetown will close out their trip with a meeting against Stony Brook on Sunday at 9 a.m. Georgetown recorded their first win of the season last weekend at the Winthrop Tournament with a 2-1 victory over Holy Cross behind two home runs from Savannah Jones.
Providence (2-3) - Providence will also head to the Madeira Beach Spring Games for its second weekend of action in the 2020 season. PC will face three New York programs in Columbia, Albany and Stony Brook before meeting South Dakota and Merrimack to round out the competition. The Friars picked up two wins at the 2020 Bearkat Classic last weekend with an 11-7 win over Sam Houston State and a 3-1 decision over George Mason.
St. John's (2-8) - St. John's embarks on a five-game road trip to Beaumont, Texas for the Cardinal Classic at Lamar University. The Red Storm will face Northern Colorado three times, while meeting Lamar twice. SJU dropped its meeting with Lamar last weekend, 10-2, at the Texas A&M Invitational. The Johnnies picked up two wins over Binghamton in College Station to earn its first two victories of the 2020 campaign.
Seton Hall (3-6) – Seton Hall returns to the diamond after a trip out west to Lake Elsinore, Calif. The Pirates head south to Conway, S.C. to compete in the Chanticleer Showdown. Seton Hall will meet Coastal Carolina for the first two contests of the weekend before facing University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) on Saturday. The Hall will close out the weekend with a matchup against Iona at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
Villanova (6-4) - The Wildcats hit the road to the Sunshine State for the third time in as many weekends for the Disney Citrus Classic. VU is set to meet Clemson, in their first season as an NCAA Division I program, as well as Stetson, Morgan State, Oakland and Troy. The Wildcats are coming off of a 3-2 outing at UCF last weekend with two wins over Penn State and a 5-0 victory over FAU. Paige Rauch leads VU in the circle with a 5-0 record early in the season, including a no-hitter against FAU while striking out 13 batters. Rauch and Angela Giampolo were named BIG EAST Pitcher and Player of the Week after their performances last weekend.