St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Monmouth N.J.
Red Storm Takes Two From Monmouth
3/26/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 26, 2008
Box Score: St. John's 4 - Monmouth 3
Box Score: St. John's 4 - Monmouth 1
QUEENS, N.Y. - The St. John's Red Storm (13-15) took on the Monmouth Hawks (3-12-1) on Wednesday afternoon at Red Storm field and won both games of a doubleheader. The Red Storm defeated the Hawks in game one by a score of 4-3 and took game two, 4-1.
"This was a good way for us to finish the week in New York," said head coach Amy Kvilhaug. "We were provided with opportunities to work on different things and our pitching did very well for us, while the offense executed when needed. We feel good heading into the weekend."
In game one vs. the Hawks, St. John's was able to get on the board first. In the bottom of the first inning, freshman leadoff hitter Chelsea Durning got on base after a single to third. Durning advanced to second on a strikeout and then to third on a Roxy Struble single. When Struble was caught in a run down, Durning made the heads-up play to score from third before Struble was tagged out and gave the Red Storm a 1-0 lead.
St. John's got into trouble in the top of the second, loading the bases and allowing three runs to score on only one hit. The Red Storm entered the bottom half of the second trailing 3-2.
Senior co-captain Lisa Geer was able to help her own cause when she singled up the middle to score Danielle Estrada who had reached on a fielder's choice then stole second two batters earlier. After two complete innings the Red Storm still trailed 3-2.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Red Storm bats finally came alive. After sophomore Shauntaine Harris was hit by a pitch, Durning singled to give St. John's runners on first and second. Senior second baseman Bionka King then laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance both base runners. Freshman Kacee Cox, the next batter, drove the third pitch she saw to right field, scoring Harris on the sacrifice fly and tying the game at three.
BIG EAST Player of the Week, Struble came up to bat next with Durning on second. Struble ripped a single to left field to score Durning and give St. John's the 4-3 lead.
Geer pitched a great game for the Red Storm after getting into some early trouble. The senior picked up her second win and third complete game of the season, giving up three hits and striking out four.
In game two against Monmouth, St. John's was once again able to get on the board first in the bottom of the first inning. Cox made it all the way to third after a single and an error on Monmouth. Struble then took care of the rest, doubling to right field and scoring Cox from third.
The Red Storm offense struck again in the bottom of the third. After a King single and stolen base, sophomore Brandy Reyes smacked a double down the left field line to score King and give St. John's the 2-0 lead.
Monmouth was able to get a run back in the top of the fifth after a hit-by-pitch and a wild pitch set up the Hawks to score on an RBI single.
St. John's reacted well and tacked on two insurance runs in the bottom half of the fifth inning. Reyes reached on a walk and left fielder Alyson Funn came through with a single into left. Estrada then came up and delivered a two-out double to score both runners and give St. John's the 4-1 advantage.
Freshman pitcher Linzee Sumrall picked up her fifth win and fourth complete game of the season against the Hawks. Sumrall, like Geer, only gave up three hits in the contest but only gave up one run and struck out 10 Monmouth batters while walking two.
St. John's now heads south to take on two BIG EAST foes in doubleheader action. The Red Storm will face off against the Bulls of USF in Tampa at 4 p.m. on Friday, then head Louisville to take on the Cardinals on Sunday at 11 a.m.
