St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Boston College
St. John's Drops Two to Close Out Tiger Invitational
2/27/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball
• Final Stats
• Game 1 Box Score (PDF)
• Game 2 Box Score (PDF)
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AUBURN, Ala. -- Following back-to-back wins to open the Tiger Invitational, St. John's dropped its final two games of the tournament on Saturday as Boston College edged the Red Storm, 5-4, before No. 3/3 Auburn picked up its 11th win in 12 games with a 9-0 win over the Johnnies in the finale.
GAME 1: Boston College 5, St. John's 4
Multi-hit performances from Hannah Anderson, Krystal Puga and Brittany Garcia was offset by four errors from the St. John's defense as Boston College (6-8) scored all five of its runs in the fourth and fifth innings to grab the victory.
The Red Storm (5-6) scored two quick runs on three-straight hits in its first at-bats to go-ahead, 2-0. Anderson doubled down the right field line to drive in Rericha for her first RBI of the season before Puga drove in her eighth run of the tournament on a single up the middle.
The Eagles answered back to tie the game in the fourth, taking advantage of an RBI double from Jessie Daulton and an error at shortstop with one out off St. John's starter McKenzie Murray.
Jessica Dreswick, who came in for Boston College starter Allyson Frei after 0.1 innings, did not allow a run until the bottom of the fourth when Yvonne Rericha drew a bases loaded walk to put St. John's back on top, 3-2.
Boston College went ahead in the top of the fifth with three-straight hits off Murray to force head coach Amy Kvilhaug to bring in Grace Kramer from the bullpen. Kramer was able to get out of the inning, but not before the Eagles scored three-runs, all charged to Murray, to take a 5-3 lead.
The Red Storm added another run in the fifth when Christina Melendez doubled and scored on a Landini single, her first RBI of the season. That was the last run St. John's would score as Dreswick closed out her second victory of the year.
Murray (0-3) gets the loss after allowing five runs on eight hits in 4.0 innings of work. Kramer tossed 3.0 innings of shutout ball to lower her ERA to 1.54 on the season. Puga now has five-multi hit games on the year after going 2-for-4 with an RBI. Anderson and Garcia each tallied two hits, while Landini was responsible for driving in a run. Rericha had a hit, scored, drove in a run and stole her fifth base of the year.
Dreswick (2-2) earns her second win in the circle after surrendering two runs on five hits in 6.2 innings of work.
GAME 2: No. 3/3 Auburn 9, St. John's 0
Auburn (13-1) got the scoring going when Kasey Cooper hit a two-run blast in the first off St. John's starter Tori Free to put the Tigers up, 2-0.
A two-run homer from Courtney Shea and a three-run double by Jade Rhodes in the second helped spark a seven-run rally for Auburn, which proved to be the difference.
St. John's had its opportunities, but Auburn's Kaylee Carlson squandered those chances as the Red Storm left runners-on base in four of five innings.
The Tigers bats were slowed after the first two innings as Kramer and freshman Madison Morris were excellent in relief for the Red Storm.
Kramer only faced three batters, but tallied two strikeouts in 0.2 innings of scoreless relief, while Morris gave up only one hit in 2.0 innings of shutout ball.
Carlson (4-0) picked up her fourth win in the shutout. The sophomore struck out four and allowed three hits in 5.0 innings as Auburn improved to 13-1 on the season.
Puga has now reached safely in all 11 games this season as she notched one of St. John's three hits on the day. Garcia and Kaitlyn Wilkens registered the other two base-hits for the Johnnies.
The Red Storm enjoys a week off before traveling to Knoxville, Tenn., to face another top-ranked SEC squad at the Tennessee Invitational (March 4-6). St. John's will play a tournament-style bracket against UAB, Green Bay and No. 14/19 Tennessee.
For all the latest news on the St. John's softball team, log on to RedStormSports.com and follow the team (@StJohnsSoftball) on Twitter. Fans can always join in the conversation on Twitter by using #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".
