St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Toledo
St. John's Walks-Off Against Toledo, Falls to FAU
2/18/2017 12:00:00 AM | Softball
• Game One Box Score (PDF)
• Game Two Box Score (PDF)
• Follow @StJohnsSoftball on Twitter
BOCA RATON, Fla. -- With two on and the score tied in the bottom of the seventh, Kaitlin Mattera ripped a single up the middle to propel the St. John's softball team to a 4-3, walk-off win over Toledo before the Red Storm dropped a 3-0 decision to FAU to split two games for the second-straight day in Boca Raton, Fla.
GAME ONE: St. John's 4, Toledo 3
Grace Kramer (2-2) grabbed the win over Toledo as she tossed 2.0 innings without giving up a run. McKenzie Murray started the game and allowed three runs, one earned, over 5.0 frames.
Alissa Noble (0-3) took the loss as she surrendered the walk-off in her only inning in the circle. Kailey Minarcheck allowed three runs in 6.0 innings.
The Rockets took an early lead when Celeste Fidge drove in Chandler Rice on an infield single in the first inning.
In the second, Toledo took advantage of errors by Hannah Anderson and Gretchen Bowie to extend its lead to two runs.
The Johnnies threatened in the third when Gretchen Bowie ripped her third triple of the season off the fence in center, but back-to-back put outs by Kailey Minarcheck kept the Toledo lead at 2-0.
Sparked by Marissa Rizzi's pinch-hit double, St. John's rallied for two runs to tie game in the fifth. With runners on second and third, Monique Landini scored Lexi Robles on a sacrifice fly to right for her second RBI of the weekend. On the same play, Rizzi was able to score from second on a fielding error by the catcher trying to get Robles out at the plate.
Toledo retook the lead with a run in the sixth. Courtney Heinritz started the inning with a triple off Murray before Kramer relieved the junior. The next at bat, a suicide squeeze bunt by Ashley Rausch scored Heinritz to put her team on top.
St. John's answered back with a run in the bottom half of the sixth to even the score at 3-3. Lauren Zick opened the inning off with a single up the middle and then stole second base to move into scoring position. Two batters later, Brittany Garcia scored Zick on a sacrifice fly to center field.
After Landini doubled to put runners on second and third with only one out in the seventh, Mattera lined a single up the middle for her first-career walk-off as the Red Storm picked up its second win of the weekend.
Garcia and Landini each drove in a run, while Rizzi scored twice and added a hit.
GAME TWO: FAU 3, St. John's 0
Despite outhitting the Owls (7-2) six to three, St. John's was unable to produce with runners on base as the Red Storm fell 3-0 to last year's Conference USA champions.
Three walks in the first inning hurt Tori Free (0-3) in the loss as the senior allowed three runs in 1.1 innings of work. Sophomore Madison Morris was superb in relief as she gave up only one hit and struck out three over 4.2 frames.
Amanda Wilson (2-2) tossed a complete-game shutout to earn her second win of the season.
The Owls went ahead 1-0 in the first, taking advantage of three walks and a hit batter by Free.
In the second, Emily Lochten knocked an RBI single before Morris came in to relieve Free. Next at bat, a sacrifice fly from Delaney Rickey extended the FAU lead to 3-0.
St. John's had its best opportunity in the third when the team loaded the bases with one out after three consecutive hits from Krystal Puga, Anderson and Zick but Wilson was able to get a ground ball and pop out to escape the inning without a blemish.
Puga went 2-for-2 with a walk, while Anderson, Landini, Melendez and Zick all registered hits.
The Red Storm (3-5) closes out the `Strike-Out Cancer' Tournament tomorrow when the team takes on Tulsa at 9 a.m.
