St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Georgetown
St. John's Splits Doubleheader with Georgetown
3/29/2018 12:00:00 AM | Softball
WASHINGTON - The St. John's softball opened up BIG EAST play with a split doubleheader after falling to the Hoyas, 9-5, in game one before regaining momentum in a 12-3 victory to close out the first two contests of the three-game series.
Game One
The Johnnies saw four players record hits in the team's BIG EAST opener with Lauren Zick leading the offense, registering a team-high two base knocks. Marissa Rizzi went 1-for-3 at the plate, delivering an RBI off of her sole hit. Despite the offense scoring five runs, the Hoyas belted two grand slams to lift them to a game one victory to begin the three-game set.
To jump start the first inning, Zick smacked a base hit before advancing to third on a two-base error. The senior rounded home off of a wild pitch to set the Johnnies up for an early 1-0 lead.
Both programs were scoreless over the next frame of play, but the Red Storm busted out the big bats in the top of the third when Kaitlin Mattera led off with a double to left-center.
Elyse Morris came in to pinch run before advancing to third on a single up the middle by Zick, who went on to steal second.
Krystal Puga followed with a walk to load the bases for St. John's before Rizzi reached on an error to plate three more runs and extend the Johnnies' lead to 4-0.
The Hoyas responded with strong plate performance in the bottom of that same inning. Walking in their first run of the game before Sarah Bennett of Georgetown blasted a grand slam to take the lead, 5-4.
The Johnnies plated one more run in the top of the fifth to tie the game at five. However, after a scoreless sixth for both teams, Savannah Jones hit a walk-off grand slam in the seventh to defeat the Red Storm, 9-5.
Game Two
McKenzie Murray picked up her fourth win of the season in a solid pitching effort, allowing five hits and three runs over five innings to lead the Johnnies to a 12-3 victory.
Hannah Anderson, Laura Delgado and Puga were outstanding at the plate for St. John's, delivering a game-high three hits each. In addition, both Delgado and Puga drove in a trio of RBIs to contribute to the nine-run victory.
Freshman Jessi Bryant added to the Johnnies second game success with a two-run bomb in the top of the fifth, for her second homer at the collegiate level.
Following a scoreless first inning from both teams, the Johnnies warmed up their bats in the top of the second. With runners on first and second for the Red Storm, Delgado belted a single deep to right center to plate Bryant and set the Johnnies off to an early 1-0 lead. St. John's tacked on one more run in the second to send the team into the bottom of the same frame with a two-run lead.
The Hoyas responded driving home three runs in the bottom of the second to jump ahead of St. John's, 3-2. That would be Georgetown's only lead of the contest as St. John's added on two more runs off of an Anderson single and a Delgado double to push St. John's ahead, 4-3.
The Red Storm held the Hoyas scoreless in the bottom of the fourth before an eight-run top of the fifth that started when Puga doubled deep to right center, scoring Zick.
In the very next at bat, Christina Melendez lined a base hit to score Puga and extend St. John's lead to 6-3. The squad tacked on one more run before Bryant stepped up to bat and the freshman launched a two-run dinger for her second of the season.
The run streak did not stop there as the Johnnies tacked on three more insurance runs before retiring the Hoyas in a 1-2-3 bottom of the fifth, for the St. John's victory.
The Red Storm returns to the diamond tomorrow for game three against the Hoyas, first pitch is scheduled for noon.
