St. John's University Athletics
Red Storm Opens 2011 Season At Seminole Kickoff Classic
2/10/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 10, 2011
Game Notes | 2011 Record Book | VIDEO: Season Preview With Coach Kvilhaug | VIDEO: Season Preview With The Players | 2011 PDF Schedule | 2011 Quick Facts | Inside St. John's Softball | Gametracker Links: STJ-FSU (Feb. 11), STJ-Hofstra (Feb. 11), STJ-UNC-Greensboro (Feb. 12) | LIVE VIDEO: STJ-FSU (Feb. 11) | Tournament Central
QUEENS, N.Y. - The St. John’s softball team opens its 2011 season in the Sunshine State. From Feb. 11-13, the Red Storm will compete in Florida State’s 2011 Seminole Kickoff Classic in Tallahassee, Fla., facing the No. rv/23 Seminoles, local rival Hofstra and UNC-Greensboro.
After a strong fall season and a productive winter of workouts and practice, the 2011 Red Storm is primed for an exciting season in its fifth year under head coach Amy Kvilhaug. The team returns 11 letterwinners, including six starters and two starting pitchers. With the addition of eight talented newcomers in the offseason, St. John’s has its deepest roster in years.
“We are excited going into the season,” Kvilhaug said. “We are going to have 10 subs on the bench every game as long as we remain healthy. It is exciting because our depth gives us lots of options to hit, run and pitch.”
St. John’s, which has won its past two season openers, will take on No. rv/23 Florida State in its season debut on Feb. 11 at 2:15 p.m. Live online video for the St. John’s-Florida State game on Feb. 11 will be available through CBS Sports All-Access. St. John’s All-Access Monthly is $9.95. The game will mark the fourth time the two programs have met and FSU holds a 3-0 series advantage. The last time STJ and FSU squared off was on March 12, 2006, when the Seminoles took a 7-2 win in Tallahassee, Fla., and the Red Storm took second place in the Silver Bracket of the Florida State Invitational.
STJ will also renew its rivalry with local foe Hofstra on Feb. 11 at 6:30 p.m. The team will look to avenge a pair of losses to Hofstra in 2010 when the Pride topped the Red Storm by a combined score of 16-4.
On Feb. 12, the Red Storm will face UNC-Greensboro for in the schools’ eighth all-time meeting. The Spartans lead the series 5-2 and took a 4-3 win the last time the teams played on Feb. 22, 2004. Following that game, St. John’s will play in either the No. 1-vs.-No. 4 seeded game at 2:45 p.m. or the No. 2-vs.-No. 3 seeded contest at 4:45 p.m. The team will conclude play in Tallahassee on Feb. 13 in either the 10 a.m. consolation game or the 12:15 p.m. tournament championship.
Gametracker live stats will be available for all games free of charge through RedStormSports.com and Seminoles.com.
Notable Notes
• St. John’s trip down to Tallahassee, Fla., to compete in Florida State’s Seminole Kickoff Classic marks a homecoming of sorts for junior outfielder Fachon Jones. Jones transferred to St. John’s after a standout career playing for Tallahassee Community College from 2009-10. The speedy outfielder was a two-time Coaches’ All-Panhandle Conference Softball Team selection and hit .340 or better and stole 20 bases in each of her two seasons with TCC.
• St. John’s has gone 2-2 in its season openers under head coach Amy Kvilhaug, including wins in the past two season openers. On Feb. 14, 2010, St. John’s took an 8-0 win over Liberty in the Charlotte Round Robin in Charlotte, N.C. On Feb. 13, 2009, St. John’s won, 4-3, over Temple in the FIU Tournament in Miami, Fla.
• Senior outfielder Chelsea Durning would certainly like to have a repeat performance from last year’s season opener against Liberty. With two outs and the bases loaded in the second inning, Durning hit her first career home run with a shot sailing over the center field wall for a grand slam.
• Senior pitcher Kat Lawrence has started each of St. John’s last three season openers, going 2-1. On Feb. 14, 2010, she tossed five shutout innings while striking out four and allowing just one hit in STJ’s 8-0 rout of Liberty. Lawrence was a strikeout machine in 2009 season opener, fanning 10 batters and allowing two runs over seven frames as St. John’s edged Temple, 4-3, on Feb. 13, 2009. Lawrence’s lone season-opening loss came in her career debut against Chattanooga on Feb. 15, 2008. The Red Storm fell 11-5 after she tossed two-thirds of an inning and allowed eight earned runs.
• The Red Storm is making its first trip to the the Sunshine State since 2009 when the team opened the season in the FIU Tournament in Miami, Fla. Durning hit .357 (5-of-14) with four runs scored and three stolen bases in the tournament. Meghan Gwynn hit .333 (4-of-12) with three RBI, three runs scored, two doubles one stolen base and her first career home run against Michigan State (Feb. 14, 2009). Kristi Cady hit .313 (5-of-16) with one RBI, two doubles, one run scored and two stolen bases. Lawrence went 2-1 with a 3.50 ERA and 18 strikeouts over 16.0 innings in the tournament. Linzee Sumrall was 1-1 with a 2.10 ERA and 13 strikeouts in 13.1 innings of work.
• St. John’s went 0-2 against Hofstra last season, suffering a 6-2 defeat on March 24 and a 10-2 loss on April 21. Amber Curry hit .400 (2-of-5) and totaled one run and two steals against the Pride.
Scouting No. rv/23 Florida State
All-time series: St. John’s trails 0-3.
Last meeting: March 12, 2006. FSU won, 7-2.
Florida State is receiving 22 votes in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll and is ranked No. 23 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Poll.
The Seminoles went 44-18 in 2010 and 18-10 at home. The team went 12-9 in the ACC, finishing third in the regular season and second in the conference tournament. The team made its 11th straight appearance in the NCAA Division I Softball Championship but fell in its the Athens Regional to Georgia and Radford. The Seminoles boasted a .297 team batting average that ranked 38th in the nation.
This season, the team returns 13 letterwinners, including seven starters and four pitchers. FSU has eight newcomers.
FSU looks to fill the void created after the departure in All-American Carly Wynn. The Seminoles return two of their top three hitters in senior Shayla Jackson (.338 BA, 33 RBI) and sophomore Tiffani Brown (.328 BA, 24 RBI, 13 SB).
In the circle, the Seminoles return their ace in senior righty Sarah Hamilton. Hamilton went 22-10 with a 1.50 ERA and 326 strikeouts over 214.1 innings in 2010.c
Scouting Hofstra
All-time series: St. John’s trails
12-27-1. Last meeting: April 21, 2010. Hofstra won, 10-2.
Hofstra is receiving votes in both the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll (29 votes) ESPN.com/USA Softball Poll (nine votes).
The Pride tied its school record with 45 wins in 2010, going 45-12 and advancing to the NCAA Regional finals before falling to Arizona in a 12-inning thriller. The team was 9-3 in neutral-site games. Hofstra went 18-2 in CAA en route to both the regular season and conference tournament titles.
Hofstra returns its entire pitching staff and all but two of its starting hitters from 2010.
Sophomore pitcher Olivia Galati was named to the USA Softball National Player of the Year Top 50 Watch List after a stellar 2010 freshmen campaign when she went 26-7 with a 1.60 ERA and 294 strikeouts. When she faced St. John’s on March 24, 2010, Galati struck out eight and allowed two runs on six hits over seven frames.
The Pride lost its top two hitters in Kris Root and Michele DePasquale. Sophomore Tessa Ziemba (.318 BA, 5 HR, 41 RBI) and senior Sara Michalowski (.308 BA, 8 HR, 34 RBI) are its top returning hitters.
Scouting UNC-Greensboro
All-time series: St. John’s trails 2-5
Last meeting: Feb. 22, 2004. UNCG won, 4-3.
The Spratans return 12 letterwinners from 2010, including six starting hitters and two pitchers. The team has five freshman newcomers.
UNC-Greensboro returns its top three hitters in junior Alex Emeterio (382 BA, 5 HR, 13 2B, 32 RBI), sophomore Eileen Horsmon (.326 BA, 6 HR, 6 2B, 21 RBI) and redshirt senior Kaitlin Merkt (.268 BA, 11 HR, 10 2B, 38 RBI).
The Spartans will be without their top starting pitcher from 2010 in Amber Harrell. Junior Cory Mattson will look to build off a solid sophomore campaign when she went 10-14 with a 2.85 ERA and 122 strikeouts over 142.2 innings.
