St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Georgia State
Georgia State Edges St. John's, 8-7
2/24/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball
• Final Stats
Box Score
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ATLANTA, Ga. -- Seven runs from the offense was not enough as the Red Storm walked eight Panthers, including a bases loaded walk in the final at-bat to push Georgia State past the Red Storm, 8-7, on Tuesday at the Heck Softball Complex in Atlanta, Ga.
Ivie Drake notched a leadoff home run off St. John's starter Madison Morris in the first to spark a four-run first inning for Georgia State.
The Panthers made it 5-0 in the second when Mandy Blackwell drove in Drake on a single to right field off McKenzie Murray, who relieved the freshman to open the inning.
Freshman Christina Melendez put the Red Storm on the scoreboard in the third with a two-run home run to right center, her second long ball of the season.
In the bottom half of the fourth, Georgia State pushed another run across on a slow roller to third base with the bases loaded to extend the lead to four.
Kaitlyn Wilkens and Yvonne Rericha registered RBI singles in the fifth as the Red Storm took advantage of four Panthers' errors by scoring five runs on Georgia State reliever Annie Davis to take a 7-6 lead.
Murray eased through the next two innings before a single and walk in the final inning set the stage for Taylor Bradley to tie the game on a single off the outstretched glove of Lexi Robles at second base. Back-to-back walks ended up being the difference maker as the Red Storm dropped its fourth game of the season.
Amanda Chance (1-1) cruised through the final two innings to earn her first win of the season for Georgia State. Taylor Thorpe gets the no-decision as the starter gave up two runs on four hits in 4.0 innings in the circle.
Despite a career-high seven strikeouts, Murray (0-2) collected the loss as she walked eight and surrendered four runs on five hits in 5.2 innings out of the bullpen. Morris allowed four runs on four hits in her only inning of work.
Melendez had two hits and tallied her third multi-RBI performance of the season. Rericha, who has hit safely in five of the seven games this season, drove in her first run of the season. Wilkens registered her first run and RBI this season during a 2-for-4 performance at the plate.
The Red Storm travels to Auburn, Ala., for the Tiger Invitational to play four games over the course of two days beginning with a Friday showdown against Indiana State at 11 a.m.
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".
