St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Arkansas
Red Storm Wraps Up Arkansas Invitational With Another Split
2/15/2014 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 15, 2014
- BOX SCORE: St. John's vs. Jackson State
- BOX SCORE: St. John's vs. Arkansas
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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The St. John's softball team (4-5) picked up its second split in as many days on Saturday to wrap up the Arkansas Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark.
Junior Erin Burner set the tone in the opening game on Saturday morning for the Red Storm, finishing the St. John's victory with a 3-for-3 performance including a pair of home runs and a double to give St. John's a 4-3 win over Jackson State. The Red Storm were unable to bounce back in the afternoon game, however, as it received its first shutout of the season, falling to host-Arkansas, 10-0, in five innings.
Game One Recap: St. John's 4, Jackson State 3
The Red Storm's early-inning offense continued to impress on Saturday morning as Yvonne Rericha opened the first with a one-out infield single before back-to-back doubles by Burner and Jackie Reed gave St. John's an early 2-0 advantage.
After picking up a strikeout in four of her first seven outs, freshman Grace Kramer allowed the first hit of the game in the top of the third as the Lady Tigers rallied with three hits to knot the game up at 2-2.
Burner wouldn't let the game stay tied long, however, as she opened up the bottom half of the frame with a solo blast to dead center to put the Red Storm back in front, 3-2.
The junior wasn't done there, blasting her second solo shot of the game in the bottom of the fifth to extend the Red Storm lead to 4-2.
Down two runs in the top of the seventh, the Lady Tigers began to threaten back with a leadoff single and a walk to put on a pair before Chelsea Smith was able to hit a one-out RBI single to cut the Red Storm lead down to 4-3.
With the tying run on third base, Kramer was able to pick up her fifth strikeout of the game before getting Lyndsey Colvin to line out to short and end the game, giving St. John's the 4-3 victory.
Ashley Beza (1-1) earned the win after three innings of work, allowing only three hits and one run while striking out a batter. Kramer picked up her first collegiate save after coming in with one out in the seventh to finish the game she started. The freshman finished with 3.2 innings of work, allowing five hits and two runs while striking out five.
Game Two Recap: Arkansas 10, St. John's 0 (5 innings)
After a scoreless first inning where sophomore Tori Free was able to get a pair of strikeouts with the bases loaded to end the inning, the Razorbacks opened the bottom of the second with a line drive that forced the entire Red Storm staff to hold their breaths as it caught Free in the leg, knocking her to the ground in pain.
With one on and nobody out, the Razorbacks were able to take advantage of a walk, stolen base and wild pitch to pick up a run before an RBI groundout gave Arkansas the 2-0 advantage.
St. John's biggest threat came in the top of the second as Reed led off with a single up the middle and Kaitlin Fitzgerald followed it up with a double to the right center gap, but the Red Storm were unable to capitalize as it stranded two runners on base.
The Razorbacks continued to add on to their lead in the fourth, posting up five runs on one hit, one error and four walks to go ahead 7-0. In need of only one run to end the game, the Razorbacks paired up with back-to-back singles before Claire Clark sent a three-run shot over the left-center wall to end the game and give Arkansas a 10-0 win in five innings.
Free (3-3) took the loss after 3.1 innings of work, allowing five earned runs after one hit and nine walks while striking out three.
The Red Storm will take a week hiatus before it heads down to Athens, Ga., for the Sixth-Annual Bulldog Invitational where it will take on UAB, Georgia and Western Carolina, Feb. 28-March 2. After the conclusion of the Bulldog Invitational, the Red Storm heads straight to Clearwater, Fla., for spring break where it will play against the three-time (2009, 2011, 2013) European Champion Dutch National Team in an exhibition game (March 5) before heading to the USF-Under Armour Invitational on March 7-9.
For all the latest news on the St. John's softball team, log on to RedStormSports.com and follow the team (@StJohnsSoftball) on Twitter. You can join the conversation with #SJUSB. If you would like to be added to the St. John's softball mailing list, send an email to stjcommunications@stjohns.edu with the subject line "Softball Mailing List".
