St. John's University Athletics
St. John's Beats Marist at Dixie Classic
3/4/2001 12:00:00 AM | Softball
In game one against UNC-Greensboro, Lisa Tropea (Oceanside, NY/Oceanside HS) was 2-for-4 with a double in the third inning and a single. In the top of the fourth, SJU loaded the bases after Lauren Fisher (East Rockaway, NY/East Rockaway HS) hit a long fly ball into center field that topped off the center fielders glove, allowing her to reach first base. After Ann Raab (Freehold, NJ/Allentown HS) popped out to short for the second out of the inning, Kelly Houghton walked and Michele Crokus was hit by pitch. However, SJU was unable to plate a run as Cecelia Baston popped up to first to end the inning. Courtney Fitzgerald (Bellerose, NY/Mary Louis Academy) took the loss for St. Johns, giving up three runs on seven hits with four strikeouts.
In the second game, Radford opened up the game in the bottom of the first, scoring three runs on five hits. In the top of the second, Brandy Winstead retired the Red Storm in order. In the bottom of the second, Radford scored their fourth and final run with a homerun over the left field fence by Shelly Guy. St. Johns finally got on the board on the top of the fifth when Raab hit a double to left field and eventually scored on an RBI-double by Jessica Dima (Staten Island, NY/Port Richmond HS). The Red Storm scored two more runs when Courtney Nilan (Valley Stream, NY/Kellenberg Memorial), who was hit by a pitch, scored on a throwing error by the third baseman. Again, unfortunately, this was the only inning SJU scored. Gina Calabrese (Long Beach, NY/Long Beach) took the loss for SJU, giving up four runs on six hits with six strikeouts.
St. Johns ended the day on a positive note when they beat the Red Foxes, 4-2. In the top of the first, Marist got on the board first with one out on a homerun off Fitzgerald over the left field by Jessica Craver. Fitzgerald regrouped and quickly retired the side with two groundouts. SJU responded right back with a solo homerun by Tropea. The game remained tied at 1-1 until the top of the fourth inning when the Red Foxes responded with a second homerun by Melissa Tucci. This homerun would be the final run Marist would score.
In the bottom of the fourth, St. Johns responded with two-out rally when Danielle Sweeney (Bellerose, NY/Mary Louis Academy), who was 2-for-3 on the day, hit a single to right field to keep the inning alive. Next up was Dima who also singled. Both Sweeney and Dima scored on a single to left field by Jessica Shepherd (Akron, OH/Ellet HS). Kelly Houghton (Millsboro, Del./Briarcliffe) flew out to right to end the inning.
SJU scored its fourth and final run in the bottom of the fifth when Fisher singled to center. She eventually scored on an RBI-single by Marilyn Brown (Bronx, NY/John F. Kennedy HS). Fitzgerald got a win giving up six hits with one strike out.
St. Johns will continue tournament play tomorrow at 11:00am.
