St. John's University Athletics
Softball Closes Out Spring Break Trip
3/13/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 13, 2006
TALLAHASSEE, FLA. - St. John's closed out its spring break trip with another double header at the Florida State Invitational. The Red Storm defeated North Florida in game one to advance to the final round of the Silver Bracket. In that game, St. John's took a disappointing loss to Florida State, 7-2. The team went 3-3 in tournament play, placing second in its bracket.
Game One: St. John's vs. North Florida, W 3-0
Kim Lerch earned her third victory of the week when she shut out North Florida in a 3-0 game. The win was highlighted by senior Jessica Marical's home run in the top of the fourth inning.
Marical jacked the third pitch she saw over the left field fence for her first career home run. The solo shot put the Red Storm up 2-0. Earlier, during the second inning, Marical scored the first run of the game on a single from Tami Hill.
Lerch continued her dominance in the circle, striking out eight in a complete game. For the week, she earned four wins and posted an ERA of 0.62. Lerch fanned 21 over 31 innings of work and allowed only three earned runs.
Game Two: St. John's vs. Florida State, L 7-2
St. John's mounted another seventh inning rally but it was not enough to overcome a seven run deficit. The Red Storm fell to Florida State 7-2 to take second overall in the Silver Bracket of the Florida State Invitational.
Marical's hot bat continued into the Florida State game as she scored one of the two runs posted by St. John's. The Red Storm managed eight hits off of Florida State's Kayla Collins but weren't able to get in scoring position until the seventh. Tami Hill was productive as the leadoff going 2-for-4 with an RBI. Roxann Struble scored the second run of the game off of Hill's single to center field.
Weekly Wrap-up: In a busy week for the Red Storm, it posted seven wins and three losses. Offensivly, the team was led by the trio of Lauren Lupinetti, Megan Oliver and Roxann Struble.
Lupinetti concluded the week with a .444 batting average, 16 hits, 5 runs, one double, nine RBI and one home run. The homer came in game one of the Florida State Invitational off of No. 17 Nebraska. She crushed her second career home run 200 feet over the left field wall.
Oliver scored eight runs with three RBI and one double and posted a .347 batting average. Rookie Roxann Struble has continued to impress at the plate and hit .357 this week with five runs, five RBI and two doubles.
No body shined brighter than Kim Lerch. The pitcher was exceptional on the mound posting a 0.62 ERA, giving up only three earned runs. She struck out 21 batter in 31 innings.
"I think our team is working very hard and I liked what I saw out there," said head coach Debbie DeJong. "We have a long way to go and we have to keep working at it, but I saw some improvements. It was a long trip for us and we got to play some really talented teams. I think we will build off of this experience and take it with us into BIG EAST competition."
The Red Storm finished 7-3 for the week and 7-6 overall during its spring break trip. The team will welcome St. Francis in its first home game of the season on Wednesday, March 15 at 3 p.m.
