Central Florida Blanks St. John’s, 6-0

Sunday, March 10

Clearwater, Fla.

11:15 p.m.

St. John's University

8-12

University of Central Florida

17-8

St. John's

UCF

3/10/2019 11:20:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

The Red Storm finishes its road trip with four wins

By: Dylan Smith

Box Score vs. UCF

            CLEARWATER, Fla. (March 10, 2019) – The St. John's softball team dropped its final game of the USF Series to Central Florida, 6-0, at the Eddie C. Moore Complex on Sunday.

            The lone hit of the day came off the bat of Christina Melendez to break up Alea White's perfect game in the second inning.

            In the bottom of the first, Central Florida scored on a Red Storm fielding error to take a 1-0 advantage.

            After a scoreless second frame, the Knights' Tamesha Glover drove a solo homer to left, extending UCF's lead to two, 2-0, after three innings.

            Both squads were retired in order in five-straight half-innings between the top of the fourth to the top of the sixth.

            Central Florida snapped the streak in the home half of the sixth by delivering a four spot on the scoreboard. After back-to-back singles by Tamesha Glover and Cassady Brewer to lead off the inning, Savannah Julylia singled up the middle to extend the Knights' lead to three, 3-0. In the next at-bat, Takiya London hit a three-run home run to center, pushing the Johnnies deficit to six, 6-0.

            St. John's threatened in the final frame with a one-out walk by Melendez. Two batters later, Kaitlin Mattera got hit by a pitch with two outs before UCF shut the door on the Red Storm.

            The Johnnies recorded four wins over spring break, including a come-from-behind victory over USC Upstate, who has one of the top pitching staffs in the country, 10-8, in eight innings. Marissa Rizzi and Madison Morris also swept BIG EAST honors after dominant performances at the Madeira Beach Invitational III.

            One day after receiving her conference player of the week accolade, Rizzi fell a home run shy of the cycle against South Dakota State. The Manorville, N.Y., native went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored. She finished the 11-game slate leading the Johnnies with 14 hits, 11 RBIs and 10 runs scored.

            Morris recorded three wins over spring break, posting a 3.61 ERA and fanning 39 in 40.2 innings of work. The Hampton, Va., native also picked up her 300th career strikeout against Western Michigan on Friday.

            At the USF Series, Laura Delgado paced the Johnnies with a .455 batting average and drove in two crucial runs against USC Upstate. The Hesperia, Calif., native was down to her final strike when she smacked a two-run single down the right field line to extend the game.

            Freshman Peyton Cody led the pack with eight hits while tying junior Gretchen Bowie with six RBIs on the weekend. The rookie catcher knocked in five of her six runs combined against Western Michigan and Toledo on Friday.

            The Red Storm returns to Queens for the St. John's Spring Invite. The Johnnies will host Hofstra, Wagner and Holy Cross on March 15-17.