St. John's University Athletics
Red Storm Softball Takes On Yale In Home Opener
3/4/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 4, 2008
QUEENS, N.Y. - The Red Storm softball team opens its home schedule Wednesday, March 5, as the Bulldogs of Yale come to Queens. St. John's is slated to take on the Bulldogs at 2:30 p.m. in the first game of a double-header. This is Yale's first game of the season.
• The Bulldogs and Red Storm are tied in its all-time series, 11-11-1, although St. John's is 2-1-1 at Red Storm Field.
• Last year's match up between the two teams was cancelled due to weather. In 2006, St. John's won both games of its double-header at Red Storm Field, 3-2 and 7-6.
• St. John's returns home after spending the first two weeks of the season on the road in Louisiana and California.
• On St. John's 10 day, 12 game road trip to California, the team won its last game versus Northridge 5-0. St. John's also picked up victories versus UC Santa Barbara and Long Beach State.
STORM TRACKER
King Of The Base Paths
Senior outfielder Bionka King has turned it on as of late after moving into the leadoff spot for the Red Storm. Over the past week she leads the team in runs with five and stolen bases with four.
"Deezer "The Stuff Champs Are Made Of
Senior shortstop Danielle Estrada isn't just doing it with the glove this season. Over the past week, the middle infielder has a home run and six RBI to pace St. John's
Rox And Roll
Junior first baseman Roxy Struble started the season off slow but has started to break out of her early funk. In the past five games, Struble has walloped two doubles and two RBI, totaling 6 bases.
Not The Only Reyes In New York
Sophomore catcher Brandy Reyes has been on a tear, hitting .400 over the past week. Reyes has recorded 10 hits including a home run and three RBI. She is also slugging .520 and has a .484 on base percentage.
Kacee Kool
Third baseman Kacee Cox is proving not to be your average freshman. Cox has already been named to the BIG East Honor Roll once this year, and is batting .304 with a home run and 3 RBI over the past week.
Durning Over A New Leaf
Another freshman, outfielder Chelsea Durning, has started to produce after being moved into the two spot in the lineup. After starting the season as the leadoff hitter, head coach Amy Kvilhaug has found that her new right fielder is very comfortable batting second and should continue to do so for the rest of the season.
Kat On The Prowl
Freshman Pitcher Kat Lawrence has shown that she is indeed a big game pitcher. Lawrence was on the mound for the Red Storm's first victory of the season and has complete games versus Long Beach State and Fullerton. Against the Beach, Lawrence pitched a shutout, earning her second win of the season.
Sumrall-saulting To The Top
Starter Linzee Sumrall has turned her season around in a big way. After coming in for relief against UC Davis, allowing only two runs and striking out six in just 3.2 innings the freshman pitcher had the game of her young career against Cal State Northridge. Sumrall had a complete game shutout, striking out seven batters and only walking one.
SCOUTING YALE
• The Bulldogs return seven starters from last year's team that won 21 games.
• Head coach Barbara Reinalda has a deep and talented pitching staff and a well-balanced, potent offense. In the last two years, the Bulldogs have combined to hit 45 home runs and score nearly 400 runs.
• There are only two seniors on the roster but both are very experienced. Aracelis Torres, the team captain, is a three-year starter at shortstop. Last year, she was second on the team in home runs (4) and third in RBI (22). Outfielder Courtney Blachford has appeared in 99 games and has batted .257 in her career.
• Rebecca Wojciak, a two-time conference honorable mention selection, anchors the pitching staff. After only two years, she is seventh in school history with 139 career strikeouts. Last year, she was second in the Ivy League in earned run average (1.86) and led the Yale staff in wins (7), strikeouts (62), innings (97.2), starts (15) and complete games (8).
• Wojciak's battery mate, catcher Katie Edwards, is tied for third all-time at Yale with 12 career home runs. Last year, Edwards earned honorable mention All-Ivy recognition after leading the team in homers (5) and RBI (25).
• Center fielder Ashley Sloan was a first team All-Ivy selection after leading the league in stolen bases (18) and triples (4). Her 37 runs scored were the second most in a season in school history.
• Two other sophomores - KR Ling and Kayla Kuretich - will see time in the circle. Ling made seven starts last year and was 3-4 with a 2.37 ERA. Kuretich was bothered by an injury for much of the year, but still managed 23 strikeouts in 36 innings pitched.
