St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Rutgers
Red Storm Sweeps Rutgers, Clinches BIG EAST Championship Berth
4/29/2012 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 29, 2012
PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Needing just one win to clinch a berth in the 2012 BIG EAST Championship, the St. John's softball team (22-30, 10-9 BIG EAST) took a 3-2 victory on Sunday to sweep the three game series against Rutgers (24-27, 9-13 BIG EAST) and extend its winning streak to a season-best seven games.
"I couldn't be more proud of our team for achieving its goal of clinching a berth to the BIG EAST tournament with our series sweep of Rutgers," head coach Amy Kvilhaug said. "We are finding ways to win and playing well at the right time of year for sure. There is a calm confidence amongst the group when they step onto the field to compete. They've transformed themselves into believers. We are still very locked in and focused on our next regular-season BIG EAST opponent, which is Louisville next weekend. It will be a great three game series for us to play one of the most competitive teams in the country as prep for post-season play as well as a way to potentially better our seeding in the tournament."
Due to a loss by Providence earlier in the day, the Red Storm guaranteed that it will be seeded no lower than seventh in the conference tournament, and could clinch the sixth seed with a win in its final three games.
The Red Storm got off to a quick start on Rutgers starter Alyssa Landrith. With two outs in the first inning and freshman Ellen Czuba on second, senior Kacee Cox launched her sixth home run of the week with a shot to left center. Sophomore Jackie Reed followed that up with a solo shot of her own--her fourth bomb of the year--as STJ took the early 3-0 lead.
Rutgers would try and rally in the bottom half of the inning, putting runners at the corners with two outs, but freshman starter Fran Carrullo got a crucial foul out to keep the momentum on the Red Storm's side.
The Scarlet Knights would then load the bases in the bottom of the second inning as sophomore Ashley Beza came on in relief. Beza issued a walk to make it a 3-1 game, but was able to escape with minimal damage.
In the bottom of the sixth, Rutgers would cut the St. John's lead to one as with two outs and a runner on first, Beza misfired a throw to first after fielding a bunt, allowing Jackie Bates to come around and score to make it 3-2.
Beza (13-18, 2.73 ERA) would respond to get the final four batters and take home the win, giving up no earned runs and just two hits in 5.1 innings of work.
St. John's will return home to close out the regular season with three home games against BIG EAST leader Louisville May 5-6. Sunday's game will be senior day for Cox, Kristi Cady, Meghan Gwynn and Julia Sanchez.
For all the latest updates on the Johnnies as they continue the spring campaign, log on to RedStormSports.com and follow the team (@STJ_Softball) on Twitter. You can join the conversation with the hashtag, #stjsb.
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