INDIANAPOLIS, IND. -- Visiting Seton Hall used a power-fueled offense and a clutch defense to hold off Butler and record a BIG EAST doubleheader sweep on Sunday, April 26.  The Pirates captured the opener, 5-4, and then held on for a 6-5 win in the nightcap.

Seton Hall (22-25, 8-9 BIG EAST) slugged four home runs in the two games and seven round-trippers during the three-game weekend.  It proved to be just enough to give the Pirates the narrow edge in the crucial conference series.

Home runs by Faith Laudano and Alexis Walkden helped Seton Hall to a 5-1 lead through five innings of the opener on Sunday.  That lead looked solid behind the  strong pitching of sophomore Lauren Fischer, who limited the Bulldogs to four hits in the first five frames.

But the Bulldogs (23-25, 8-10 BIG EAST) weren't done.  A leadoff double by senior Kristen Boros and singles by junior Alex Kotter and sophomore Brandyce Sallee cut the lead to 5-2 and brought the tying run to the plate with no outs in the bottom of the sixth inning.

The Pirates turned to relief pitcher Danielle DeStaso, and she retired three straight Butler hitters to end the threat.

Then in the bottom of the seventh, the Bulldogs started another rally behind a leadoff double by senior Cassie Rupel and an infield single by senior Sarah Gronowski.   A walk to Krosley Ogden loaded the bases with no outs and brought Boros to the plate.

Fischer returned to the circle and got Boros to ground into a fielder's choice, retiring Ogden at second and allowing one run to score.  Kotter then hit a ground ball to second base. Seton Hall second baseman Yasmin Harrell tagged out Boros, as Butler's fourth run scored, and then tried to throw out Kotter at first.  The throw was wild at first and Kotter made a break for second.

The game ended when Seton Hall first baseman Whitney Jones quickly recovered the ball and made a strong throw to second base to nail Kotter.

Butler had nine hits in the game, including three by Gronowski and two each by Kotter and Sallee.  Boros and relief pitcher Kacey Starwalt limited the Pirates to seven hits.

Seton Hall jumped in front in the second inning of the second game on a two-run, home run by Laudano.  Butler trimmed the margin to 2-1 on a run-scoring single by Rupel in the bottom of the fourth, but the Pirates came back with two more runs in the top of th fifth.

A two-run, home run by Walkden in the top of the seventh gave Seton Hall a 6-2 lead heading into the bottom of the final frame and set the stage for another Butler rally.  

Kotter led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a single and Sallee followed with a double to right field.  Freshman Alyssa Lach then delivered a three-run, home run over the left field wall to cut the Seton Hall lead to a single run with no outs.  The Pirates retired Chelsea Norwood on a hard infield grounder, and junior Riley Carter was called out on strikes.  Sarah Dixon then reached on an error and advanced to second base on a single by Gronowski.  But Ogden struck out swinging to end the game.

Gronowski added three more hits, giving her six hits on the afternoon.  Kotter and Boros each had a pair of hits.  The Bulldogs had 12 hits as a team, but left 11 runners on base.  Junior Kristin Gutierrez, who pitched a complete game in Butler's victory in the opening game of the series, took the loss, despite allowing just six hits.

Butler will close out the regular season with a three-game series at DePaul on Saturday and Sunday, May 2-3.  DePaul currently sits in second place in the BIG EAST standings, while the Bulldogs are tied for fourth with Villanova.  The top four teams in the final standings advance to the conference tournament.