St. John's University Athletics
St. John's Releases 2011 Softball Schedule
11/12/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Nov. 12, 2010
Schedule Schedule PDF
QUEENS, N.Y. - Matchups against 12 teams that played in the 2010 NCAA Tournament, including road series against BIG EAST perennial powers DePaul and Notre Dame and games against local powerhouses Fordham and Hofstra, highlight the St. John's softball team's 2011 schedule.
"We have put together a very competitive non-conference schedule to go along with an always challenging BIG EAST conference schedule," fifth-year head coach Amy Kvilhaug said. "Twelve of our opponents are NCAA Tournament participants from a year ago, so we expect to go up against great competition quite a bit this season."
The 2011 St. John's softball team features Kvilhaug's largest and deepest roster to date with 20 players donning a Red Storm uniform this spring. Seven talented freshmen and one junior college standout join 12 returning letterwinners as St. John's looks to charge up the BIG EAST Conference standings. The Red Storm returns the senior pitching duo of Kat Lawrence and Linzee Sumrall and six starters in the field, including senior mainstays Chelsea Durning and Kacee Cox, a 2010 Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I All-Region honoree and All-BIG EAST Second Team selection
The Red Storm opens its season with six road tournaments that will provide the team with some tough early tests heading into its BIG EAST slate in late March. Five teams in those six tournaments recorded over 40 wins in 2010.
"Our 2011 schedule presents us with some great challenges right out of the gate, beginning with the Seminole Kickoff when we open up with host Florida State," Kvilhaug said.
The Seminole Kickoff Classic will be held Feb. 11-13 in Tallahassee, Fla. St. John's starts the season on Feb. 11 against a pair of NCAA Regional participants in Florida State and defending CAA champion Hofstra. The Red Storm then plays UNC-Greensboro and a second game based on tournament record the following day. STJ will conclude its trip to Sunshine State in either the tournament's championship or consolation game.
The following week, St. John's will compete in the Pirate Classic from Feb. 18-20 in Greenville, N.C. The Red Storm will play three games against NCAA Regional participants East Carolina and Virginia, facing the defending Conference USA Champion Pirates twice. STJ also has a pair of games against a familiar foe in Kent State, a team that swept the Red Storm in two games last season.
St. John's returns to the Lone Star State for the first time since 2007 for the Texas Tech Tournament held Feb.25-27 in Lubbock, Texas. The team will face Wichita State and NCAA Regional participant Texas Tech twice each before wrapping the tournament against Northern Illinois.
The Red Storm will spend Spring Break in Florida for a pair of tournaments. From March 5-6, STJ will play in the FGCU Tournament in Fort Meyers, Fla., facing St. Francis (Pa.), Colgate, Tennessee-Martin and Florida Gulf Coast. St. John's will then head up Interstate 75 to Clearwater, Fla., to compete in the USF Tournament, running March 11-13 with games against Saint Joseph's, Quinnipiac, Toledo and NCAA Regional participants Maryland and Massachusetts. UMass is the defending Atlantic-10 champion.
St. John's wraps non-conference tournament play with the JMU Dukes Invitational held March 18-20 in Harrisonburg, Va. The Red Storm will take on Binghamton and James Madison twice each and play Lehigh once.
The Red Storm opens its home schedule on March 23 against NCAA Regional participant Fordham in a rematch of one of the team's most thrilling games from 2010. Last season, Sumrall went pitch-for-pitch with All-American Fordham pitcher Jen Mineau for 10 innings before the Rams pulled out a 3-0 win in the Bronx.
Three days later, St. John's starts BIG EAST play with a three-game home series against USF from March 26-27. The team makes its first conference road trip the following week to face DePaul in Chicago for a three-game set from April 2-3.
"The BIG EAST has really grown in parity and has established itself as a top softball conference, sending around four teams to the NCAA Tournament annually," Kvilhaug said. "We are eager to compete, and with a strong core of veterans leading the way, it should be a very exciting season."
Following an April 6 doubleheader at Seton Hall, STJ returns to Red Storm Field from April 9-10 for three games against Providence. The Red Storm heads over to Brooklyn to face defending NEC champion LIU on April 12 and returns to Queens to host a doubleheader against Villanova the next day.
From April 16-17, St. John's will play Georgetown in a three-game series in Washington D.C. The team returns to Red Storm Field to host Pittsburgh on April 21 and 23 and heads up Long Island to Hempstead, N.Y., for a rematch with Hofstra on April 26.
St. John's final regular season road trip is to Notre Dame, Ind., as the Red Storm wraps BIG EAST regular season play against the Fighting Irish for the second straight year. The team will play Wagner in a doubleheader on May 7 for its regular season finale.
The BIG EAST Championship will be held in Louisville, Ky., for the fourth consecutive season from May 12-14.
For the latest Red Storm statistics, recaps, scores, schedules and highlights, please visit www.RedStormSports.com and follow the action at www.twitter.com/stj_softball. If you would like to receive the most up-to-date information on the St. John's softball team please send your e-mail address to stephen.lee09@stjohns.edu.
