St. John's University Athletics
St. John's Readies for Tiger Invitational
2/25/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball
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St. John's Game Notes
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AUBURN, Ala. -- After a 1-1 in split in Atlanta, St. John's travels to SEC country to compete in the Auburn Invitational this weekend. The Red Storm will open with Indiana State (11 a.m.) and Western Illinois (4 p.m.) on Friday before taking on Boston College (9 a.m.) and No. 3/3 Auburn (11:30 a.m.) on Saturday.
Series History
St. John's is 1-0 all-time against Indiana State, 1-0 against Western Illinois, 15-43 against Boston College and will be facing Auburn for the first time in program history.
Storm Tracker
St. John's is 3-4 on the young season with wins over Valparaiso (12-0), Illinois (4-0) and Georgia Tech (5-4). The Red Storm split their first two games to open spring break, beating Georgia Tech 5-4 on Tuesday before Georgia State walked-off to win on Wednesday.
The Johnnies offense has been productive during spring break scoring 12 runs, fueled by a .288 batting average.
St. John's pitching has shown signs of being dominant this season, holding opposing hitters to a .226 batting average with 37 strikeouts.
Tori Free, Grace Kramer and McKenzie Murray each have registered 10 or more strikeouts this season.
Tori Free was excellent in relief picking up the win over Georgia Tech on Tuesday. The senior struck out seven in 4.2 shutout innings.
Junior Grace Kramer has appeared in three games with two starts and is 1-0 with a 2.92 ERA. She has only given up nine hits in 12.1 innings.
Brittany Garcia continues to swing a hot stick as she is currently on a seven-game hitting streak. Garcia is hitting .429 with seven runs and three RBI.
Christina Melendez has done nothing but produce in her first seven games as a Johnnie. Melendez has two home runs and seven RBI. Despite playing only four games, Carly Williams has seven RBI.
Melendez and Williams have combined for 14 of the team's 28 RBI.
SCOUTING REPORT: Indiana State Sycamores
Indiana State heads into the weekend with a 2-2 record after defeating the University of Iowa ,3-2, to end play at the Total Control Sports Invitational.
The Sycamores have been led offensively by junior Brooke Riemenschneider who holds a .444 batting average with two doubles and two RBI.
Freshman Shaye Barton is hitting .375 with a double and three RBI's.
Freshman Abby Klopp leads the pitching staff with a 1.12 ERA and is 2-2 over 25.0 innings pitched. Opponents are hitting just .221 against her.
Bailey Benefiel has appeared in three games and has one save. She has given up six runs in 7.2 innings of work.
Last season, the Sycamores went dancing after going 27-31 and beating Missouri State to win the Missouri Valley Conference Championship.
SCOUTING REPORT: Western Illinois Leathernecks
Western Illinois enters the weekend with a 3-6 record following a 1-0 win over Illinois Chicago in its last game on Sunday.
The Leathernecks are hitting .265 as a team and are averaging 3.0 runs per game.
Payton Abbott leads the team with a .417 batting average. The freshman has 10 hits, two doubles, a triple, five runs and three RBI.
Karissa Kouchis is hitting .406 with six runs and two RBI in nine games this season.
Opponents are hitting .261 against the Leathernecks pitching staff as they hold a 4.42 team-ERA. Kaycee Hart leads the staff with a 3.79 ERA and is 2-2 with 16 strikeouts in 24.0 innings of work. Last season, the Leathernecks posted an 18-23 record and 8-10 conference mark before falling to South Dakota State in the Summit League tournament.
SCOUTING REPORT: Boston College Eagles
With 10 games under its belt, Boston College boasts a 4-6 record in 2016. The Eagles are hitting .255 as a team with a .331 on-base percentage. Opponents are outscoring them 31-35.
Four pitchers have appeared for Boston College in the circle this season. Opponents are hitting .232 against the Eagles as the staff holds a 3.55 ERA.
Jessica Dawn leads the team with a 1.63 ERA in eight appearances. She is 1-2 with one save in 27.2 innings pitched.
Allyson Frei has appeared in nine of the team's 10 games and is 3-3 with a 4.80 ERA. She leads the team with 26 strikeouts.
Chloe Sharabba and Loren DiEmmanuele pace the team hitting .379 and .355, respectively. Together the duo have scored 12 runs.
Last season, Boston College went 24-24 overall and 6-15 in conference before falling to Florida State in the ACC quarterfinals.
SCOUTING REPORT: No. 3/3 Auburn Tigers
Auburn enters the weekend as the No. 3 ranked team following an 10-1 mark to open the season.
The Tigers are coming off a pair of 18-run wins over DePaul (18-0) and Fordham (18-1) in its last outings.
Auburn has opened the year with run-rule victories in six of the first 11 games. As a team, Auburn is batting .404 and averages 12.6 runs per contest.
Tiffany Howard leads the Tigers with a .563 batting average and is also tops on the team in runs scored (17). Three Tiger hitters have hit three home runs (Kasey Cooper, Madi Gipson and Whitney Jordan), whole Jordan has a team-high 18 RBI.
Makayla Martin (0.93), Marcy Harper (0.95) and Lexi Davis (0.88) gives Auburn three pitchers with sub-1.00 ERAs. Harper has thrown the most innings on the young season (22) and also has the most strikeouts (17).
Makayla Martin (0.93), Marcy Harper (0.95) and Lexi Davis (0.88) gives Auburn three pitchers with sub-1.00 ERAs. Harper has thrown the most innings (22) and also has the most strikeouts (17).
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 the hashtag, #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".
