St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Iona
Steady Offense Leads St. John's to 8-2 Victory
3/27/2018 12:00:00 AM | Softball
SJU 8 Iona 2 (PDF)
Highlights
QUEENS, N.Y. - The St. John's softball team saw its bats come alive against local foe Iona on Tuesday, topping the Gaels 8-2 at Red Storm Field.
McKenzie Murray had a striking performance in the circle for the Johnnies, recording her third win of the season after allowing just two earned runs and three hits. In addition, the senior whiffed five batters over six innings of play for the Red Storm while only surrendering a pair of walks.
St. John's saw six players record at least one RBI to contribute to the team's 8-2 victory with Savannah Warren leading the way offensively for the Red Storm. Warren finished 2-for-4 at the plate to record a team-high three RBIs.
Iona jumped out to an early lead in the first, scoring the opening run of the game following an error and RBI groundout scratched across the opening run of the game. Murray limited the damage to just one with a pair of groundouts to end the inning.
St. John's looked to start a rally in the home half of the first, with Marissa Rizzi reaching on a one-out single; however, a caught stealing and groundout kept the Gaels in front.
After Murray cruised through the top of the second, the Johnnies got the bats swinging by plating a pair of runs in the frame. With runners on first and second, Warren stepped up to the plate and laced a two-run double into left center to put the Red Storm in front, 2-1 after two.
In the bottom of the third, St. John's extended its lead with the biggest inning of the day. Lauren Zick opened the frame with a single to before stealing second to quickly place a runner in scoring position for Rizzi. The sophomore answered with the second run-scoring double of the day, scoring Zick and extending the Johnnies lead to 3-1.
Christina Melendez kept the rally going with another two bagger into left center, bringing home Rizzi and pushing the advantage to three with still no outs.
The Johnnies tacked on a final two runs with a pair of the bases-loaded walks by Gabriella Conca and Laura Delgado to bring the inning's total to five and the lead to 7-1 after a trio of frames.
Iona cut into the deficit with a run in the top of the fourth, but a scoreless final three innings kept the Gaels at bay for the remainder of the contest.
The Red Storm secured its final run of the game when Warren picked up her third RBI of the tilt with a single up the middle to score Rizzi and gave the hosts an 8-2 triumph.
St. John's returns to the diamond on Thursday when the squad pays a visit to our nation's capital for a BIG EAST showdown with Georgetown. Thursday's conference-opening doubleheader will begin at noon and the series will conclude with a single game on Friday.
For all the latest news on the St. John's softball team, log on to RedStormSports.com and follow the team (@StJohnsSoftball) on Twitter. If you would like to be added to the St. John's softball mailing list, send an email to stjcommunications@stjohns.edu with the subject line "Softball Mailing List".
