St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
USF
USF Defeats St. John's, 10-2, In Five Innings
3/27/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 27, 2011
Box Score | 
Honoring Kris Benasutti Photo Gallery
QUEENS, N.Y. - After unplayable field conditions cancelled Saturday's games and pushed back the start of play on Sunday to 1 p.m., the St. John's softball team fell to USF, 10-2, in five frames at Red Storm Field.
Before the game, St. John's honored the memory of softball alum Kris Benasutti, who starred for the then-Regals at shortstop from 1986-89. Benasutti passed away on June 8, 2010, at the age of 43 after fighting colon and liver cancer. St. John's honored her memory with a pre-game reception in Donovan Hall, an on-field presentation of flowers to her parents, George and Rosanna Benasutti, and the dedication of a plaque in her name behind the first-base dugout.
The Red Storm (13-18, 0-1 BIG EAST) struggled to get going early as two wild pitches and three errors over the first three innings put STJ in an 8-0 hole.
The Bulls (19-15, 1-0 BIG EAST) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. With one out and runners on second and third, Gina Kafalas scored from third on a wild pitch by STJ starter Kat Lawrence. Two batters later, Janine Richardson scored when Stephanie Medina reached on an error.
In the third, USF poured on six more runs. With one out and the bases loaded, Medina drew a five-pitch walk with the bases loaded to plate Kafalas. Laura Fountain drew a walk on a full count in the next at-bat to bring in Kourtney Salvarola for the Bulls' fourth run of the game. After Ashley Beza entered the circle in relief of Lawrence, two more runs scored when Erin Bly reached on an error at short. Kelly McCarver reached on an error at second to load the bases again and Alexis Nowell's sacrifice fly to right field drove in a run to give USF a 7-0 lead. Bly stole home on a double steal in the next at-bat for the Bull's eighth run.
St. John's got on the scoreboard in the fourth. With one out, Chrissy Montez drew a five-pitch walk off USF starter Lindsey Richardson. Kristi Cady plated Montez after knocking a 3-1 pitch into the right field corner for an RBI triple.
USF responded with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth to extend its lead to 10-1. With one out and runners on second and third, Nowell hit a sac fly to left to plate Fountain from third base. In the next at-bat, Kafalas hit an infield single and Nowell advanced to third and scored on a throwing error at first.
In the bottom of the fifth, Julia Sanchez drilled a one-out single up the middle off USF reliever Capri Catalano. Bulls ace Sara Nevins entered in relief and advanced Sanchez to second a wild pitch and to third on an illegal pitch. Chelsea Durning drew a walk and Sanchez scored when Nevin threw another illegal pitch on a 3-1 count.
Cady went 1-of-2 with one triple and one RBI. Sanchez was 1-of-2 with one run scored.
Lawrence fell to 5-6 in the loss after tossing 2.1 innings, striking out five and allowing three earned runs. Beza threw 2.2 innings in relief with one strikeout and three unearned runs.
Richardson improved to 6-5 with the win and threw 4.0 frames with one hit and one earned run allowed.
St. John's next opens its BIG EAST road schedule at DePaul with a three-game series from April 2-3. STJ will return to Red Storm Field when it hosts Providence for three games from April 9-10.
