St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Binghamton
Johnnies Sweep Day One of St. John's Invitational
3/17/2018 12:00:00 AM | Softball
SJU 8, Binghamton 4 box score
SJU 4, BU 3 box score
Photo Gallery
Queens, N.Y. - St. John's softball tallied back-to-back victories on Saturday during the first day of the St. John's Invitational at Red Storm Field, defeating Binghamton, 8-4, and Boston University 4-3.
Game One
Christina Melendez and Gretchen Bowie each had a stellar performance for the Red Storm offensively, as the two Johnnies recorded a pair of early home runs in the bottom of the first to set the momentum for the Red Storm. Bowie went 2-for-3 at the plate, recording a team-high four RBIs, while Melendez registered a team-best three hits and two runs scored.
The Red Storm did damage early, when Krystal Puga singled up the middle to get on at first. In the very next at bat, Melendez blasted a two-run homer over the center field wall to set the Johnnies up for a 2-0 lead, but the homers didn't stop there. Two batters later, Bowie belted a shot to right field for St. John's second two-run homer of the inning and Bowie's first on the season to make it a four-run ball game.
Still in the first, the Red Storm saw Jessi Bryant continue to shine on the season as the freshman hit a double to center field before Kaitlin Mattera ripped a single to right to score Bryant, putting the Johnnies up 5-0 before a ground out ended the top of the first.
Following a 1-2-3 top of the second for Binghamton, the Red Storm continued the scoring streak in the top of the third as Lauren Zick kept the bats going with a leadoff single to third, before stealing second and eventually stealing third. With Zick waiting to make a run for home, Melendez stepped up to bat, delivering a base hit, her second hit of the day to score Zick and extend St. John's lead to 6-0.
Continuing play in the second inning, with two outs and a runner on first for St. John's, a walk by Savannah Warren would move Melendez to second and secure runners on first and second. Bowie then took the plate and the sophomore continued to rain hits with a double to right, scoring Melendez and Warren for the Johnnies' final runs of the game.
Following a scoreless third inning for both teams, Binghamton finally got on the board in the top of the fourth. The Bearcats delivered three more runs in the top of the fifth to cut the deficit to four. St. John's shut down Binghamton over the next two innings to pick up the 8-4 victory to open up the invitational.
Game Two
Madison Morris picked up her fifth win of the season, pitching a complete game where she allowed just a three-run homer to lift the Red Storm to a 4-3 win over Boston University (8-14). The junior surrendered eight hits and one walk, while delivering five strikeouts for the Johnnies.
St. John's settled for nothing less than an out of the park performance offensively in game two as Puga, Marissa Rizzi and Bowie all blasted jacks out of the park to account for all four St. John's runs. Puga went 2-3 from the plate and drove in a team high two RBIs.
All the magic happened for the Red Storm in the first inning as Zick recorded a leadoff single before stealing second and third. The home run machine, Puga was next at bat and she did just that blasting a shot over the right-center wall for her second dinger of the day and 10th on the season, which ranks her inside the top eight in the nation.
Two batters later, it was Rizzi's turn as she found her sweet spot with a solo homer out to left field to extend St. John's lead to 3-0 before they were even out of the first frame. One batter later, with two outs and nobody on base, Bowie crushed her second home run of the day to put the Johnnies up 4-0.
Following a scoreless second inning for both teams, the Terriers were able to get on the board in the top of the third with a three-run homer to cut the lead to just one run.
That would be the extent of Boston University's scoring on the day as the Johnnies held them scoreless over the next four innings to ultimately finish on top, 4-3.
St. John's returns to the diamond tomorrow at for the final day of the St. John's Invitational. The Red Storm will take on Hofstra at 11 a.m. before its showdown with UMass at 3 p.m., which will be aired on ESPN3.
