St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
No. 4/3 Florida
Johnnies Open the Season with a Two-Game Split
2/11/2017 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Game One Box Score (PDF)
Game Two Box Score (PDF)
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TAMPA, Fla. -- The St. John's softball team split its first two games of the season as the Red Storm bounced back from a 5-2 defeat to No. 4/3 Florida with an 8-2 victory over Delaware in day one of the USF-Wilson DeMarini tournament in Tampa, Fla.
GAME ONE: No. 4/3 Florida 5, St. John's 2
Aleshia Ocasio's three-run homer was the difference in the opener as St. John's dropped a 5-2 decision to the Gators, who have won two National Championships in three years.
Senior Grace Kramer (0-1) suffered the loss despite a solid outing that included a span where she retired eight-straight batters and did not allow a run in the second, third, fourth and fifth innings.
Ocasio (1-0) collected the win for Florida as she tossed a complete game in her first start of the year.
The long ball hurt the Johnnies in their debut as the Gators opened up the scoring with a two-run blast in the first inning.
St. John's had an opportunity in the second after a leadoff walk by Brittany Garcia and an error by third baseman Jaimie Hoover put a pair of runners on with one out. However, Ocasio was able to get the next two batters and keep the Johnnies off the board.
Assisted by some impressive defensive plays by middle infielders Hannah Anderson and Gretchen Bowie, Kramer silenced the Gators lineup in the middle innings. In the fifth, the Red Storm tied the score at two fueled by the first-career hits from freshmen Kaitlin Mattera and Gretchen Bowie. Mattera notched a pinch-hit single through the left side to put a pair of runners on base. St. John's was then able to score a pair of runs on Bowie's single to right as a collision at third base awarded Anderson home on a fielder's interference call.
The turning point came in the sixth when Ocasio helped her own cause, breaking the tie with a three-run home run over the right-field fence on a 3-2 pitch. After the homer, Tori Free relieved Kramer and recorded a pair of strikeouts in an inning of scoreless relief before Florida sat down St. John's in order to improve to 2-0 on the young season.
The freshmen played well in their debuts as Bowie and Mattera recorded hits, and Marissa Rizzi scored a run. Krystal Puga tallied the other hit for the Johnnies and Hannah Anderson scored.
GAME TWO: St. John's 8, Delaware 2
Tied at two in the sixth, Kaitlyn Wilkens smashed a three-run homer to left field to break the tie before the Johnnies put the game away with three more runs in the seventh to capture their first win of the season by a final score of 8-2.
Junior righty McKenzie Murray looked in midseason form in her first game, tossing a complete game to earn the win. The Longmont, Colo., native fanned six and only one earned run in the effort.
After a scoreless first frame, Delaware jumped on the board in the second. A single and an error put the first two runners before Miranda O'Donald's infield single scored the first run.
The Blue Hens added another run in the third on Devon Steiner's leadoff home run.
St. John's answered back in the fourth with a pair of runs to tie the score at 2-2. Savannah Warren and Monique Landini started a two-out rally with back-to-back singles. Mattera then smacked a two-run double to left-center field for her second and third RBIs of the day.
Hits by Garcia and Landini set the stage for Wilkens in the sixth, who made Jordan Cargile (0-2) pay when she crushed a ball over the wall to break the tie and make it 6-3.
In the seventh, St. John's tacked on three more runs to ensure its first win of the year and fifth win over the Blue Hens in seven games. The first run came on Bowie's first-career RBI, a triple that ricocheted off the top of the fence in left. Later in the inning, Warren drove in a pair of runs on a single up the middle.
After allowing a run in both the second and third innings, Murray cruised through four scoreless frames to end the game.
The Johnnies close out the USF-Wilson DeMarini tournament with a pair of games tomorrow morning beginning with a 9 a.m. tussle against No. 6/6 Michigan (2-1) before an 11:15 a.m. showdown with Illinois State (0-3).
