St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
vs. Penn St. (Seminole Challenge)
Red Storm Fall 5-2 to Penn State
3/18/2004 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 6, 2004
TALLAHASSEE, FLA. - The St. John's University softball team fell to Penn State, 5-2 this morning on the second day of the 2004 Seminole Challenge, hosted by Florida State University. The Red Storm fall to 7-8 on the season, while the Nittany Lions improve to 2-11, having played 11 ranked teams this season.
Penn State jumped to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Meghan Wolfer bounced a ball through the middle for a single with one out. Leigh Murray followed with a double into the left centerfield gap, scoring Wolfer from first. On the play, Murray reached third on a throwing error by catcher Carrie Kester (Farmington, N.M.), but would be caught stealing on a failed squeeze play, helping the Red Storm escape the inning only down one run.
The Nittany Lions added another run in the bottom of the second inning, on a sacrifice fly by Kate Gentile to take a 2-0 lead. Barbie Pierce led off the inning with a double off the left field wall and was pinch run for by Kelsey Francisco. Francisco would advance to third on a sacrifice bunt and score on Gentile's sacrifice fly.
Penn State threatened to score again in the bottom of the third, but left runners stranded on second and third with one out. Red Storm starter Brittany Crouch (Irvine, Calif.) retired the No. 3 and 4 batters in the Nittany Lions' lineup, as she got Leigh Murray to bounce back to her and then struck out Katie Stauffer swinging.
St. John's finally got to Penn State starter Missy Beseres in the top of the fourth inning, as they scored one run to shorten the Nittany Lion lead to 2-1. Beseres retired the first 10 Red Storm batters she faced, but St. John's broke through for their first hit as freshman Tami Hill (San Diego, Calif.) laid down a bunt single with one out. After junior Jillian Sandoval (Orange, Calif.) sacrificed her to second with two out, junior Allina Sainz (San Diego, Calif.) lined the ball through the middle scoring Hill.
Crouch got herself out of another jam in the bottom of the fourth as Penn State had runners at first and second with one out, but she got the next two batters to ground out, ending the scoring opportunity.
Penn State added three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, increasing their lead to 5-1 after five innings. After a one-out single by Meghan Wolfer, Leigh Murray hit her second RBI double of the game, putting the Nittany Lions up 3-1. After an error by Crouch put runners on first and second, Barbie Pierce laced a double to left, scoring Murray and moving Katie Stauffer up to third. Stauffer would score on a fielders choice by Scarlett Neal, but Pierce would be left on third as Kate Gentile struck out to end the inning.
Junior Katie Watson (Avendale, Ariz.) relieved Crouch to begin the bottom of the sixth inning. Crouch went five innings, allowing five runs, four earned, on seven hits and one walk, while striking out two. Watson retired the three batters she faced, on a pop out and two ground outs, to send the Red Storm to their last at bats with a 5-1 deficit.
After the first two Red Storm batters were retired, St. John's put together a rally. Freshman Christina Tucker (San Diego, Calif.) lined a single past the third baseman and freshman Loren Anguiano (Mesa, Ariz.) reached on an error by the Nittany Lion second baseman. Sophomore Megan Oliver (Endicott, N.Y.) singled to center, with Tucker scoring on an error by the centerfielder. After the runners moved up to second and third on the play, sophomore Leigh Carlson (Howland, Ohio) was hit by a pitch to load the bases. With sophomore Jessica Marical (Stanton, Calif.) stepping to the plate, the umpires called for a rain delay. However, after a 14 minute delay, Marical would ground out to the pitcher, giving Penn State the 5-2 victory.
The Red Storm return to the field this afternoon as they take on host Florida State with first pitch scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
