St. John's University Athletics
St. John's to Battle LIU Brooklyn on Wednesday
4/18/2017 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Watch
Live Stats
Game Notes
Follow @StJohnsSoftball on Twitter
QUEENS, N.Y. -- Coming off a three game sweep at Butler this weekend, St. John's softball (22-13, 10-2 BIG EAST) travels cross-town to battle LIU Brooklyn (17-26, 3-5 NEC) on Wednesday at 4 p.m.
SERIES HISTORY
The Red Storm is 18-24 all-time against LIU Brooklyn.
St. John's has won three of its last four games against the Blackbirds, including its last contest in Brooklyn (W, 10-7) on April 10, 2014.
LEADING OFF
St. John's went to Indianapolis and took three games against Butler to complete its third conference sweep of the season and improve its record to 22-13, 10-2 BIG EAST.
Christina Melendez was named BIG EAST Player of the Week after posting a 1.500 slugging percentage, tallying three extra base hits. Batting .625, the sophomore went 5-for-8 at the plate with two home runs and four RBIs.
Sporting a 0.00 ERA throughout St. John's series against Butler, McKenzie Murray collected two saves and a 9-0 series finale victory over 6.1 innings to earn a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll.
Freshman Marissa Rizzi had her best showing as a Johnnies last week, smacking her first two-career home runs and driving in a total of eight runs with a hit in all four games.
After another strong weekend at the plate batting .500, Monique Landini has risen to number two on the team in hitting with a .375 batting average to go with 10 multi-hit performances.
Gretchen Bowie paces the squad with 32 RBIs and six home runs as the freshman has strung together 12 multi-hit performances in 35 games.
Senior Tori Free and sophomore Madison Morris both picked up wins against Butler over the weekend after limiting Bulldog batters to .179 and .227, at the plate respectively.
On Sunday, freshman Natalie Giroux recorded her first-collegiate hit in her first at bat.
SCOUTING REPORT: LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds (17-26, 3-5 NEC)
The LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds look to bounce back at home after splitting a conference double-header against Wagner last Friday (W, 8-0; L, 1-2).
In game one against Wagner, the Blackbirds were led by Victoria Zamora. In four at bats the junior catcher had three hits, two runs, and two RBIs. Zamora currently ranks No. 4 in NEC Softball with a .377 batting average and No. 4 in runs scored with 32.
Junior right-handed pitcher Erynn Sobieski earned her 10th victory of the season in game one against Wagner as she only allowed three hits in 5.0 innings. The recent NEC Pitcher of the Week leads the conference in innings pitched with 140.1 and ranks third in conference play after her 10th win against Wagner.
The Blackbirds are also led behind the mound by sophomore, Tallie Woodson. The left-handed pitcher ranks fourth in the conference with 16 strikeouts looking, third in saves with 2, and second in appearances with 28. In 98.1 innings pitched, Woodson has a 5.41 ERA.
As a team, the LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds lead the conference with a .296 batting average and rank second in on base percentage (.365), runs scored (210), and RBI's (190).
The Blackbirds are led by Roy Kortmann who enters his 21st season as head coach. Kortmann has won 10 regular-season NEC titles along with nine NEC Tournament titles and multiple NCAA Regional appearances.
