St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Iona
Strong Pitching Leads Red Storm To Doubleheader Split With Iona
3/24/2012 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 24, 2012
- Follow St. John's Softball on Twitter
- Game Notes
- Box Score (STJ 4, Iona 0)
- Box Score (Iona 3, STJ 1 (8))
- Live Stats vs. Marist
QUEENS, N.Y. -- Dominant pitching ruled the day as the St. John's softball team split its doubleheader with local rival Iona. The Red Storm won the first game by a score of 4-0, before dropping game two in extra innings by a score of 3-1. Both freshman Fran Carrullo and sophomore Ashley Beza turned in terrific performances in the circle for the Red Storm.
In the opening game, St. John's was on the board in the bottom of the first inning, courtesy of back-to-back hits from seniors Kristi Cady and Kacee Cox. Cady rocketed a double off the left-center fence. Cox was able to knock her in, with a well placed single up the middle. St. John's wouldn't need any more from the offense because of the superlative performance from Beza.
The ace of the St. John's staff, Beza (6-9, 2.59 ERA) threw her fourth shutout of the season for the Red Storm. She struck out seven, allowing only six hits in seven innings of work. Beza started off the game consistently finding the outside corner of the strike zone, giving her two strikeouts in the first. She maintained her velocity and control throughout the game, striking out Iona's Deanne Algeo to end the game.
St. John's received insurance runs from the bat of Chrissy Montez. Her three-run homerun in the bottom of the fourth inning was the second homerun of the week for the junior second basemen. Earlier in the week, Montez hit a walk-off grand slam to give the Red Storm an 8-4 victory over the Manhattan Jaspers (March 21).
In the second game, the Red Storm lost 3-1 in extra innings despite another phenomenal pitching performance from Carrullo, who dropped her first decision in her last four appearances. Carrullo had a season-high six strikeouts over eight innings of work.
St. John's struck first, after three and a half scoreless innings from both sides. After Cady was able to work a walk, she was able to swipe second base to put herself in scoring position. Cady scored following a Cox double off the fence in left-center field. The Red Storm would carry a 1-0 lead in to the top of the seventh inning, where things would get dramatic.
Iona opened the final frame with a double off the bat of Briana Schauer. A walk, followed by a sacrifice bunt that placed runners on second and third with one out threatened the Red Storm lead. Carrullo was two outs away from victory before giving up a sacrifice fly that tied the game, to send it to extra innings.
Carrullo rebounded at the start of the eighth with her season-high sixth strikeout of the game. Eileen McCann of Iona would double to left field, putting the winning run in scoring position. Following a single, which placed runners on the corners, Katie Jansson of Iona knocked in the winning run with a sacrifice fly to left field. Iona would tack on a third run on an RBI double off the bat of Briana Schauer.
The Gaels' Alyssa Maiese matched Carrullo pitch-for-pitch, throwing all eight innings and recording seven strikeouts.
St. John's (10-17) will travel to Poughkeepsie, N.Y. on Sunday to take on the Marist Red Foxes of the at 1 p.m. in an afternoon doubleheader. St. John's is 3-1 on the season against MAAC opponents and looking for its first true road win of the season.
Gametracker live stats as well as CoverItLive chat will be available for both games against Marist.
For all of the latest news on St. John's softball as it continues the spring season, log on to RedStormSports.com and follow the team (@STJ_Softball) on Twitter. You can join the conversation with the hashtag, #stjsb.
.
