South Orange, NJ - Jen Russell (Seymour, CT) surrendered only a bunt single in the first inning as the senior hurler posted her second complete game shutout of 2011 in a 5-0 victory over Seton Hall Friday afternoon.  Russell set down the last 15 hitters of the game in order and recorded five strikeouts en route to picking up her fifth win in the pitching circle this season.  The Pioneers also stayed hot at the plate and notched 13 total hits, including a 3-for-4 performance from Taylor Froelich (Garden Grove, CA) and a 2-for-3, two RBI outing from Liz Tsipouras (Simi Valley, CA). 

Sacred Heart (8-7) got onto the scoreboard in the bottom of the third as Froelich and Courtney Lee (Camarillo, CA) both singled to start the threat.  After Tsipouras was issued a free pass freshman Annie Dreher (Saugus, CA) supplied a RBI single to plate the first score of the game.  Two batters later Nicole Sidor (West Vancouver, BC) slashed a base hit through the right side of the infield and a pair of runners crossed the plate to make it 3-0, SHU.

Seton Hall (8-13) got its only hit of the game with a one-out bunt single up the third base line.  The rest of the day the Pirates only managed a walk in the second and had a runner reach in the third on a fielding error.  Russell set down the next 15 batters in a row with the ball leaving the infield only once.

Tsipouras had a single in the fourth and a double in the sixth, supplying an insurance run each time, to stretch the Pioneer advantage to 5-0.  Jade Bowins (Frederick, MD) and Lee had two-hit games as the first four in the Pioneer batting order went 10-for-15 at the dish.

 The Sacred Heart softball team returns to action for two more games at the Seton Hall Pirate Classic tomorrow beginning at 9:00 am.  The Pioneers will take-on Manhattan to start the day and play a tournament semifinal game at 2:00 pm with a team to be determined based on seeding.