St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
DePaul
Red Storm Softball Takes One Of Two Against DePaul
4/14/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 14, 2010
Video Highlights | Lawrence Talks About Win On Video Blog | Dopudja Talks About HR | Curry And Montez Discuss Big Defensive Plays
QUEENS, N.Y. - The St. John's softball team gave BIG EAST foe DePaul all it could handle on Wednesday as the teams split their doubleheader at Red Storm Field.
The Red Storm (15-21, 4-6 BIG EAST) roared back from a 6-1 deficit in the first game, but came up just short of a huge comeback as DePaul (21-14, 4-3 BIG EAST) hung on for the 6-5 win.
In the second game, STJ junior pitcher Kat Lawrence was lights out in the circle, tossing seven scoreless innings of one-hit ball to lead St. John's to a 2-0 victory.
GAME 2: ST. JOHN'S 2, DEPAUL 0
The Red Storm did all of the scoring in the second game in the third inning with two outs. After Chelsea Durning drew a walk and stole second base, Amber Curry drove her in with a double ripped down the left field line. Kacee Cox followed with an RBI single up the middle, plating Curry from second base.
St. John's starting pitcher Kat Lawrence was nearly unhittable in the circle. After issuing a leadoff double to DePaul's Alex Morocco to in the first at-bat of the game, Lawrence made quick work of the Blue Demons the rest of the way. She did not face more than three batters in a single frame from the second inning through the seventh.
Shortstop Chrissy Montez made a few key defensive plays to back Lawrence's strong performance. In the top of the fifth, Montez made a strong throw to the plate in a 4-6-2 play that prevented DePaul's Sarah Shizas from scoring. The freshman shortstop made a great leaping grab on a lineout to short to get the first out of the sixth. She followed that by fielding a groundout to short for the second out of the inning.
Curry and Cox each went 1-of-3 from the plate with one RBI. Montez and Jenna Berger also totaled one hit a piece in the contest.
Lawrence improved to 9-6 on the season with the win. She struck out five and her seven scoreless frames of one-hit ball marked her sixth complete game and third shutout of the season. DePaul starter Bree Brown (7-4) took the loss after allowing two runs and striking out seven over six innings.
GAME 1: DEPAUL 6, ST. JOHN'S 5
St. John's jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Chelsea Durning got things rolling with a leadoff single up the middle. Two batters later, Durning scored when Kacee Cox reached on a throwing error by DePaul starting pitcher Becca Heteniak and advanced to second.
DePaul evened the game at 1-1 in the top of the second when Marla Matthews scored teammate Shea Warren from third base after hitting a one-out single. The Red Storm defense was sharp on the play as STJ first baseman Stacia Dopudja threw out Mathews as she tried to advance to second base.
In the third, the Blue Demons added four runs to build a 5-1 advantage. Lynsey Ciezki scored from third when teammate Tara Voss was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. With no outs, St. John's Jordan Tingley entered the game in relief of starting pitcher Linzee Sumrall. DePaul scored three more on a sac fly to center and a two-run single to short.
After DePaul added another run in the top of the fourth to extend its lead to 6-1, the St. John's offense kicked into high gear. Dopudja sparked the rally, blasting a solo home run to straightaway center to lead off the home fourth. Dominique Marcelino, pinch-running after a single by Shauntaine Harris, scored STJ's third run of the game when Durning belted a one-out double to left field with two runners on. Amber Curry followed with an RBI single through the left side to score Julia Sanchez from third base and bring the Red Storm to within 6-4.
Tingley held DePaul in check from the fifth through the seventh. The freshman hurler tossed three shutout frames with two strikeouts in that stretch.
In the fifth inning, Curry came up with a big double play to get Tingley out of a bases-loaded jam. With one out, a line drive hit Curry's glove and popped up in the air. The second baseman turned around and located the floating ball before making the grab and rifling a throw to Sanchez at third where a DePaul runner had already vacated the bag.
In the bottom of the seventh, St. John's drew to within 6-5 when Cox drove in Curry from second base on a groundout up the middle.
Durning and Curry each went 2-of-4 with one double, one RBI and one run scored. Curry also had a pair of stolen bases. Dopudja was 1-of-3 from the plate with one home run.
Sumrall (5-12) took the loss after striking out two and allowing five runs over two innings. Tingley had a strong relief outing, tossing five innings with two strikeouts and just one run given up. DePaul's Becca Heteniak picked up the win after throwing seven frames with five runs allowed (four earned) and nine K's.
St. John's opens a seven-game road trip this weekend when it travels to face Pittsburgh for a three-game set April 17-18. The Red Storm and the Panthers will square off in a doubleheader on April 17 and play a single game on April 18.
NOTES: With two steals in the game one against DePaul, Amber Curry upped her season total to 17, surpassing St. John's alum Erin McDonnell for sixth place on the STJ single-season steals list… Kacee Cox totaled two RBI on the day, setting her new personal single-season high at 36… St. John's game-two win over DePaul was its second victory over the Blue Demons all-time and its first since besting them in 2003.
