St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
LIU Brooklyn
Red Storm Drops Two Games on Opening Day
2/12/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Game 1 Box Score (PDF)
Game 2 Box Score (PDF)
Tournament Central
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MIAMI, Fla. -- The St. John's (0-2) offense was unable to get much going on Friday as the Red Storm dropped a pair of contests in its season debut, falling 3-2 to cross-town rival LIU Brooklyn before No. 10 Florida State won a 5-2 decision in the first two games of the FIU Invitational held on Felsburg Field in Miami.
GAME ONE: LIU Brooklyn 3, St. John's 2
After being shut out for the first six innings, the St. John's offense picked up its bats in the bottom of the seventh forcing a rally that was stopped by a diving play from the LIU Brooklyn (2-0) shortstop.
On the verge of being shutout, Christina Melendez inserted her presence in her first game as a Johnnie smashing a two-run double to straight center, driving in Krystal Puga and Brittany Garcia to cut the deficit to one run. In the next at-bat, Yvonne Rericha would be robbed of a potential game-tying RBI single when the shortstop stabbed a line drive up the middle and flipped the ball to second for a game ending double play.
The Blackbirds struck first with an RBI single by Kayla Gloady after Kylie Mulholland reached on a fielding error.
St. John's starter McKenzie Murray (1-0) breezed through the next inning before LIU Brooklyn tacked on a pair of runs in the fourth frame. Mulholland, who reached on a fielder's choice, scored her second run of the game on an error before Whitney West singled up the middle to make it 3-0.
Murray cruised past the next three innings to finish with a stat line of three runs surrendered, zero earned, in seven innings of work. The sophomore collected the loss and posted four strikeouts during the complete game effort.
Puga and Garcia each went 1-for-3 with a run scored for the Red Storm, while Melendez notched a double and two RBI in three at-bats.
Tallie Woodson (2-0) grabbed the win as the freshman pitched 7.0 innings, allowing two runs and four hits in the process.
GAME TWO: No. 10 FSU 5, St. John's 2
Back-to-back singles from Margan Klaevemann and Jessica Warren to begin the game put FSU on the board first.
The Seminoles would extend their lead to three runs in the second inning when Klaevemann notched an RBI single and Tori Free walked in a runner with the bases loaded.
After allowing back-to-back walks to begin the third frame, Grace Kramer would relieve Free with no outs. Despite a pair of runner's on-base with no outs, Kramer would get out of the third inning without any damage as the junior retired the first three batters she faced.
Kramer would cruise for three innings before FSU added a pair of runs in the sixth frame behind an RBI single by Alex Powers and an RBI double from Sydney Broderick.
Once again the Red Storm picked up the offense in the seventh inning. Garcia erased the shutout with an RBI double to centerfield driving in Puga, who walked to leadoff the frame. Garcia gave St. John's its second run when she scored on a passed ball before FSU's Meghan King recorded the final out of the game. Garcia went 1-for-3 with an RBI double and a run scored. Kaitlyn Wilkens finished 1-for-3 with a double, while Rericha and Lexi Robles each added a hit.
Free (0-1) picked up the loss after giving up three runs on three hits with six walks in 2.0 innings, while Kramer registered five strikeouts and allowed two runs on five hits in 4.0 innings of relief work.
King (1-0) tossed a complete game for FSU, surrendering two runs, none earned, on four hits with six strikeouts in her first career start.
The Red Storm returns tomorrow for two more games with a showdown versus Valparaiso at 3 p.m. before clashing against FIU shortly after the first contest. Live stats throughout the tournament will be available on FIU's Tournament Central page and fans can always join in the conversation on Twitter (@StJohnsSoftball) by using #SJUSB.
For all the latest news on the St. John's softball team, log on to RedStormSports.com and follow the team (@StJohnsSoftball) on Twitter. 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".
