St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Seton Hall
Seventh Inning Rallies Earns St. John's Two Wins
3/22/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 22, 2008
Box Score: St. John's 7 - Seton Hall 6
Box Score: St. John's 5 - Seton Hall 4
QUEENS, N.Y. - The Red Storm softball team (10-15) took on BIG EAST opponent Seton Hall (8-11) in the first two games of conference play this year. St. John's trailed in both contests entering the seventh inning, but got clutch hitting throughout the lineup to take both games and improve to 3-0 at home and 2-0 in the BIG EAST. The Red Storm took the first game 5-4 and the second 7-6.
"A win is a win, especially in the BIG EAST," said head coach Amy Kvilhaug. "That was not our A game, but we were still victorious. Our offense definitely bailed us out of some tough situations and Roxy [Struble] was huge for us. Our freshmen pitching got some experience and hopefully that will prepare them for games ahead."
For the first five innings in Queens, pitching dominated for both teams. Seton Hall sophomore Ashley Forsyth held the Red Storm bats scoreless while the Pirates were able to get an unearned run in the third getting on the board first. Seton Hall added to their lead in the fourth when Jenna Best hit a solo home run.
The Pirates added two more in the top of the sixth on Best's second home run of the game, giving Seton Hall a 4-0 lead.
Freshman starter Kat Lawrence managed to overcome early battles with the Seton Hall bats and finished with a solid line of nine strikeouts in seven innings, giving up only three earned runs in a complete game effort.
In the bottom of the sixth, the St. John's offense finally came alive, garnering three hits and two runs in the inning. The first run was off a sacrifice fly by sophomore Brandy Reyes and the second came from St. John's second triple of the season. Graduate student Alyson Funn roped a fastball to center field, touching three bases and plating Danielle Estrada.
Trailing by a run and entering the bottom of the seventh, freshman Chelsea Durning got the inning started, singling to center. Senior co-captain Bionka King followed with a walk. Freshman Kacee Cox was the next batter and delivered with a double to right center to score Durning and cut the Pirate lead to one.
The hits kept coming as junior Roxy Struble singled to left, scoring King and tying the game at 4.
After a Reyes walk and a reach on error by Estrada, Funn came up to the plate with the bases loaded and a chance to give the Red Storm its first BIG EAST victory of the year. On the second pitch she saw, Funn was able to split the defenders on the right side, score Struble and give St. John's the 5-4 victory.
In game two, St. John's got on the board first when Cox singled to the opposite field and score Durning. The Red Storm struck again two batters later when Reyes added a single of her own to score Cox and give St. John's a 2-0 lead.
The Red Storm lead would not last as Seton Hall added a home run and a triple in the next inning to give the Pirates five runs on four hits in the second.
In the bottom of the third, St. John's was able to get one back on a solo home run by Cox, cutting the Seton Hall lead to 5-3. After giving up an RBI single to the Pirates in the top of the sixth, The Red Storm were once again faced with a multiple run deficit entering the seventh inning.
With its back against the wall yet again, the Red Storm offense refused to quit and kept swinging. Trailing by three, Cox led off the inning with a hit-by-pitch. Struble continued her clutch hitting, taking the third pitch she saw and blasting it to deep center, cutting the lead down to a single run.
Reyes, the next batter, was able to work a walk and Estrada managed to also get on base after an error by the shortstop. Funn was then able to lay down the sac bunt to advance the runners. Sophomore Shauntaine Harris then came up with one out and runners at second and third and was able to drop a bloop single in-between the third baseman and left fielder, allowing Reyes to score from third and tie the game at six.
After an intentional walk to senior co-captain Lisa Geer, it was Durning's turn to come up with the bases loaded and a chance to give St. John's its second come from behind victory. On a 0-1 count, Durning was able to put the bat on the ball and send it in the direction of second base. The Seton Hall pitcher tried to make a play on the ball, but it kicked off the front of her glove, negating any chance at a putout by the second baseman. This allowed Estrada apple time to score and gave St. John's the win, 7-6.
On the day, Struble finished 5-for-7 with two runs, a double, a home run, three RBI and a stolen base. Cox was equally impressive going 3-for-6 with four runs, a double, a home run and three RBI. Reyes also finished above .500 on the day, going 2-for-4 with a run, an RBI and two walks.
The Red Storm's next game will be a make-up for its postponed game versus Fairfield. First pitch for this single contest is scheduled for 4 p.m. in Queens, N.Y. at Red Storm Field.
