St. John's University Athletics
Warren, Garcia and Murray Earn All-BIG EAST Honors
5/11/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball
• BIG EAST Release
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QUEENS, N.Y. -- After helping the Red Storm earn its third-straight BIG EAST Tournament berth, three St. John's softball players received all-conference honors as Savannah Warren earned First Team All-BIG EAST recognition, while Brittany Garcia and McKenzie Murray landed on the All-BIG EAST Second Team.
Selected as a utility player, Warren received her first-career BIG EAST award after hitting .327 with five home runs, 23 RBI and 25 runs scored. The sophomore played several different roles for the Red Storm, including stints at catcher, third base and designated player. Warren played her best during league play, leading the team with a .371 batting average, in addition to finishing third in the BIG EAST in slugging (.698), fifth in runs scored (15) and sixth in walks (11).
On March 28, Warren obtained her first BIG EAST Player of the Week award after hitting .625 and recording seven RBI and three runs over three games against Georgetown. In the conference opener, she tallied a career-high five RBI and erased a 5-3 deficit in the fourth with her first-career grand slam to lift St. John's to victory.
For the third-straight season, Garcia was awarded All-BIG EAST honors as an outfielder. The junior from Orlando, Fla., paced the league's second best offensive attack with a .361 batting average, which ranked ninth in the conference. On top of driving in 29 runs and scoring 23 times, Garcia finished third in the league in walks (28), fourth in on-base percentage (.472), fifth in doubles (12) and eighth in slugging (.549).
Garcia started all 47 games at centerfield for St. John's and reached base safely in 38 of those contests. She also led the team with 13 multi-hit games and 11 multi-RBI contests. In 19 conference games, Garcia registered 14 RBI, 11 runs, five doubles, two triples and a home run with a .327 batting average. The three-time All-BIG EAST recipient was named BIG EAST Player of the Week this past Monday (May 9) and logged one appearance on the Honor Roll (Feb. 15).
Murray was dominant in the circle down the stretch for the Johnnies, closing out the season with a 5-0 record, 0.85 ERA and 32 strikeouts in her last 41.1 innings. During those eight appearances, Murray collected two BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week awards (April 25/May 2) as she tossed four complete games and two shutouts in six starts and held opposing batters to a .199 batting average.
In conference play, the right-handed sophomore from Longmont, Colo., went 4-0 with a league-best 1.51 ERA. Murray also finished fifth in opposing batting average holding hitters to a .245 clip, seventh in wins and ninth in strikeouts with 30. In a series-clinching victory over Creighton on April 30, Murray allowed no earned runs and recorded a career-high 10 strikeouts in a complete-game effort.
St. John's (28-19, 12-7 BIG EAST) will begin its title defense on Friday against No. 2 seed Villanova (32-17, 14-6 BIG EAST) in the BIG EAST Semifinals at The Ballpark at Rosemont. First pitch is set for 4 p.m. (ET) and will be aired on FS2.
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".
