St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Pittsburgh
Red Storm Shuts Down Pittsburgh, 6-0
4/18/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 18, 2010
PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Kat Lawrence tossed seven shutout innings, Kacee Cox drove in three runs and the St. John's softball team defeated Pittsburgh, 6-0, Sunday to close out its season series against the Panthers.
The Red Storm (16-23, 5-8 BIG EAST) offense got rolling in the third inning. Julia Sanchez drilled a one-out single up the middle. Chelsea Durning followed with a single down the third-base line. After Sanchez and Durning advanced on Amber Curry's sac hit to first base, Cox drove in both runners with a two-out single to right field and St. John's took a 2-0 lead.
St. John's took control of the game in the fourth, plating four runs to extend its lead to 6-0 over Pitt (22-17, 6-5 BIG EAST). Kristi Cady led off the inning with a single to center field. Two batters later, Dominique Marcelino belted an RBI double to right center, scoring Cady to put the Red Storm up 3-0. Jenna Berger reached on an error by the Pitt third baseman in the next at bat. With Sanchez at the plate, Berger stole second and Marcelino scored from third base on another error by the third baseman. Sanchez singled on a ball that stuck in the dirt in front of the catcher, moving Berger to third base. Durning advanced Sanchez to second with a sac hit to third base. Curry ripped a single to center, plating Berger and moving Sanchez to third. Cox connected on a single to right field to bring home Sanchez and give STJ a 6-0 advantage.
Lawrence fed off of the Red Storm's offensive surge, retiring six straight in Pitt's fourth and fifth innings.
Cox finished 2-of-4 at the dish with three RBI. Sanchez was 2-of-3 with a pair of runs scored. Berger finished 2-of-3 with one run scored. Curry went 1-of-3 with one RBI and one run scored. Marcelino finished 1-of-3 with one RBI.
Lawrence improved to 10-7 on the season after tossing seven scoreless frames with four strikeouts. She held the Panthers to just four hits. Pitt starter Alyssa O'Connell fell to 10-9 after throwing 5.1 frames and allowing six runs (three earned). Cory Berliner added 1.2 scoreless innings of relief for the Panthers.
The Red Storm will next face Hofstra on Wednesday in Hempstead, N.Y.
NOTES: Julia Sanchez was STJ's top hitter in the series against Pittsburgh, batting at a .600 clip (3-of-5) with three runs scored… Kacee Cox owns a .389 (7-of-18) career average against Pitt.
