St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Hofstra
Hofstra Takes 5-0 Win Over St. John's
4/26/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 26, 2011
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. - The St. John's softball team fell to local rival Hofstra, 5-0, Tuesday night in the first-ever night game at Hofstra Softball Stadium before a packed house of 1,045.
Hofstra (32-10, 13-1 CAA) took a 1-0 lead over the Red Storm (19-27, 6-9 BIG EAST) in the second inning. With two outs and runners on first and third, the Pride pulled off a double steal as Krista Thorn stole second base and Laura Valentino crossed home plate. Amber Curry put an end to the inning with a terrific leaping catch at short on a sharp liner off the bat of Rachael Senatore, saving a run in the process.
The Pride pushed its lead to 4-0 with a three-run fourth inning. Kat Lawrence opened the inning in relief of STJ starter Linzee Sumrall. With one out and the bases loaded, Jess Zeilman was hit by a pitch, plating Senatore from third base. In the next at-bat, Jess Hirschbuhl hit a two-RBI single to right center.
Looking to respond, St. John's put two on in the top of the fifth. With one out, Dominique Marcelino drew a six-pitch walk off Hofstra starter Olivai Galati and Kelsey Moyer entered to pinch run. Julia Sanchez knocked a single to left center to move Moyer to second with the top of the Red Storm lineup due up. Galati rebounded with a swinging strikeout and a pop-up to third to escape the inning.
Aleshia Link opened the bottom of the fifth in the circle for St. John's. With one out, Thorn doubled down the left field line to score D.J. Slugh from second base and give the Pride a 5-0 advantage.
Fachon Jones, Kristi Cady, Chrissy Montez and Sanchez each went 1-of-3 at the plate.
Sumrall (2-8) took the loss after tossing three innings with one strikeout and one unearned run allowed. Lawrence struck out one and allowed three runs in one inning. Link struck out one and allowed one run in the sixth. Ashley Beza threw a scoreless seventh with one strikeout.
Galati improved to 23-6 with the win. The Pride ace threw a seven shutout frames and struck out 12.
St. John's closes out its BIG EAST regular season schedule this weekend when plays Notre Dame in a three-game road series. The Red Storm will play the Fighting Irish in a doubleheader starting at noon on Saturday, April 30, and close out the series with a single game at 11 a.m. on Sunday, May 1.
NOTES: Amber Curry finished 0-of-3 against the Pride, halting her hitting streak at 13 games … With a one-out infield single to second in the sixth inning, Kristi Cady became St. John's only player to record a hit in all three of the team's games against Hofstra this season … Cady hit .500 (4-of-8) against the Pride this year … Hofstra extended its home winning streak to 25 games.
