St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
UC Davis
St. John's Falls in Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic Finale
2/25/2018 12:00:00 AM | Softball
CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. - Wrapping up play at one of the nation's premier collegiate tournaments, the St. John's softball team fell in a pair of games vs. Northwestern and UC Davis at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City, Calif.
St. John's (2-9) fell 12-3 in five innings to the Wildcats and 4-3 in a tightly, contested battle against the Aggies.
GAME ONE
In the opener against Northwestern, the Wildcats matched a program single-game record with eight stolen bases to collect the 12-3 victory in five innings.
Krystal Puga was the highlight in the opening game for the Johnnies, finishing 2-for-3 with a homerun and 3 RBIs.
Northwestern got off to a hot start, gaining a base on the game's first five pitches from starter Madison Morris. After a leadoff single, Sabrina Rabin stole second and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt before a hit batter and another swiped bag placed runners on second and third with two outs.
On the next pitch, Lily Novak slapped a two-run single up the middle the plate the game's opening two runs and gave the Wildcats a 2-0 lead.
In the second, Northwestern doubled its lead with a two-run double from Marissa Panko to send the Johnnies to the plate trailing by four.
St. John's threatened in the bottom half of the inning by getting two runners into scoring position, but was unable to drive the runners home.
The Wildcats added six runs in the top of the third to push their lead to 10-0, and added another pair of runs in the fourth to extend the advantage to 12-0 heading to the decisive fifth inning.
Needing five runs in the frame to keep the game going, the Red Storm began to chip away. Kalei Sorensen smashed a hot-shot that the Wildcat shortstop was unable to gather, and Lauren Zick followed with a single to put two on with one away.
Puga stepped to the plate and launched a three-run blast into the seats the pull the Johnnies within nine, and needed just two runs to keep the game alive. However, St. John's was unable to scratch across any more runs as Northwestern held on for the win.
GAME TWO
In the weekend finale, McKenzie Murray took to the circle for the Red Storm, and was thrown into trouble right away.
Following a leadoff walk and a steal, the Aggies put two in scoring position after a single and a second stolen base with no outs. Isabella Leon plated the game's first run after a fielding error, and placed runners on the corners.
The Aggies scored the second run of the first with an RBI groundout, but Gretchen Bowie ended the threat with a great play to turn an unassisted double play from third.
In the bottom of the first, Puga reached base again with a one-out walk and was followed by a Marissa Rizzi single to place runners on first and third with two outs.
Bowie cut the deficit in half with a groundball that eluded the third baseman and allowed Puga to come home, but a strikeout ended the threat.
UC Davis added a third run in the top of the second on an RBI single following a leadoff triple to regain its two-run lead after three innings.
Both teams traded threats over the next innings, but the score remained 3-1 Aggies entering the sixth.
After UC Davis made it 4-1 in the top of the sixth, St. John's started to rally again. Jessi Bryant and Kaitlin Mattera led the inning off with back-to-back singles to begin the threat.
Elyse Morris laid down on a sacrifice bunt, but a throwing error from the third baseman allowed a run to score and moved runners to the corners with still no outs.
Zick followed with another bunt with to score the runner from third, moved the tying run to second, and allowed ZIck to reach. With runners on first and second after a popout, Christina Melendez slapped a single into center field, but Morris was thrown out trying to score from second ended the rally.
St. John's was retired 1-2-3 in the seventh to end the game, and gave UC Davis the 4-3 victory.
