Micah Truax led Huskies to the split against Seton Hall with her sixth and seventh home runs of the season on Saturday.

Softball Splits With Pirates

Defensive Problems Hurt Huskies

By: Kevin Meacham

Posted: 4/24/06

After 40 games, it appears that the offensive struggles of the UConn softball team (18-22, 5-9 Big East) are a thing of the past. Unfortunately, offense alone will not carry the Huskies into the Big East tournament.

Take, for example, Saturday's cold, rain-soaked doubleheader against Seton Hall. The Huskies scored 15 runs in two games against the Pirates, but could only manage a split.

"We hit the ball well enough to win games," said head coach Karen Mullins. "If we didn't give stuff away defensively, we would have been alright."

In the first game, a 9-7 UConn victory, the Huskies showed a flair for the dramatic, needing a bizarre two-out rally to tie the game in the seventh. Micah Truax then sent her teammates into jubilation with a two-run walk-off home run in the eighth.

In the second game, Seton Hall (28-22, 6-10 Big East) capitalized on incredibly sloppy UConn defense. The Huskies committed eight errors, allowing a mind-boggling nine unearned runs en route to an 11-6 victory.

"We were just way too sloppy in the second game," Mullins said. "It was a matter of us breaking down. Both teams had to play in the same conditions."

Seton Hall starter Kim Schweitzer shut the Huskies down early on, allowing three hits over the first four innings, and keeping the Pirates on the winning end of a 1-0 score. The fifth inning would be a different story.

Meghan Tierney reached on an infield bunt single, a feat she would achieve three times in this game.

"That's what she does," Mullins said. "She's got great speed and we moved her to the left side of the plate to capitalize on that."

After Truax singled, third baseman Jillian Ortega emphatically put the Huskies on the board with a three-run homer over the centerfield wall. Three consecutive two-out doubles by Danielle Del Ponte, Erica Pernell and Kim Castner, along with a single by Sarah Neuschwander, added three more runs to the onslaught.

Despite the 6-1 lead, UConn's pitching seemed to unravel in the top of the sixth. Starter Krista Michalczyk loaded the bases with no outs and walked in a run before she was lifted in favor of Rachael Crossin.

"They're a good-hitting ballclub," Michalczyk said. "If they see a pitcher for too long, they're going to come around on her.

Crossin didn't fare much better, allowing an RBI single, bases-loaded walk and an RBI groundout to pull Seton Hall within 6-5.
She walked the tying run in before Ashley Thody was called on to get the final out of the inning. Thody then gave up the lead run in the top of the seventh on a one-out double.

In the bottom of the seventh, Jessica Quan came to bat as the Huskies' last hope with two outs. She cranked a ball deep to left field and off the wall. The throw from Seton Hall left fielder Jenna Best got underneath shortstop Katie Pierce and Quan dashed to third base, prompting a throw from second baseman Leah Menichetti. That throw went well over the third baseman's head and into the stands, allowing Quan to score the tying run.

The next time UConn came to bat, Truax delivered a moonshot over the left field wall, prompting on-deck batter Ortega to throw her bat straight in the air. The Huskies celebrated their third win in a row by crowding home plate as Truax crossed it.

"It just felt good to hit one," Truax said. "You don't even know what's going on until you get around first base."

With rain pouring on the field in between games, the pitchers appeared to have trouble gripping the ball. UConn's game two starter, Michelle Caouette, threw 32 pitches in the first inning, allowing two runs but no hits.

Caouette's struggles continued and she was replaced by Michalczyk in the second.

Michalczyk said she was not used to pitching so many innings in a day, due to her recovery from ankle surgery last year.

Seton Hall held a 4-2 lead until the bottom of the fourth. With two on and two out, Truax came up with another gigantic blast. Her three-run home run, her team-leading seventh of the year.

UConn's lead would be short lived, however. The Pirates scored a run on an error by Erica Pernell to tie the game at 5-5. Michalczyk threw a wild pitch to the next batter, giving Seton Hall a 6-5 lead. In the same at-bat, she allowed another RBI single to give the Pirates a two-run cushion.

"Errors are errors," Michalczyk said. "It was rainy and wet, and the ball takes bad bounces on this field. It just happens, and it's no one's fault."

Meanwhile, Pirates pitcher Ashley Arnett successfully shut down the Huskies' bats, allowing two hits over the final three innngs of the game and making sure the lead stood.

Michalczyk would go on to allow a two-run homer in the sixth to Best, after which she was visibly frustrated on the mound.

"It was just an off day for everyone," Ortega said. "There's no excuses. Tomorrow will be a different story, a different day."

The Pirates would run an 11-5 lead before Del Ponte singled in the bottom of the seventh to score Ortega and complete the scoring.

The Huskies are in action again today as they face Big East opponent St. John's in a doubleheader. The games, postponed due to heavy rains Sunday, will begin at 1 p.m. at the Connecticut Softball Stadium. They will be preceded by the Hartford Courant Careerbuilder.com Senior Salute.

These games are particularly important in the Big East tournament race. The Huskies sit in 9th place, percentage points behind both the Pirates and the Red Storm. A sweep of St. John's could leapfrog the Huskies over both teams, putting them in the eighth and final spot in the tournament.

"We definitely want to take two out of two," Truax said. "That's the plan."