St. John’s Gears Up for a Pair of Midweek Games in Florida

Tuesday, March 5

Clearwater, Fla.

4 p.m.

St. John's University

South Dakota State University

St. John’s Gears Up for a Pair of Midweek Games in Florida

3/4/2019 2:36:00 PM | Softball

The Red Storm will take on South Dakota State and the University of Pennsylvania

By: Dylan Smith

            MADEIRA BEACH, Fla. (March 4, 2019) – The St. John's softball team heads into the midweek portion of its spring break trip, taking on South Dakota State and the University of Pennsylvania at the Eddie C. Moore Complex in Clearwater, Fla.

            The Johnnies will take on the Jackrabbits for the first time in program history when the two teams meet on Tuesday. First pitch is slated for 1:30 p.m. Following its matchup with South Dakota State, the Red Storm takes on Ivy League foe, the University of Pennsylvania, on Wednesday at 1:15 p.m.

            The Red Storm finished the Madeira Beach Invitational III with a 2-2 record. St. John's opened the weekend with a 6-3 victory over Boston College, earning its 16th win in program history against the Eagles. After dropping the next two games to Central Michigan and Chattanooga, the Johnnies bounced back by beating Georgia Southern, 7-3.

            Junior Marissa Rizzi has hot hands heading into St. John's weekday games. The Manorville, N.Y., native produced seven hits in 13 at-bats in Florida. She also recorded three home runs, drove in six runs and scored six of her own over the four-game slate. After her stellar performance this past weekend, the Red Storm's first baseman paces the team in almost every statistical category including, batting average (.444), runs scored (12), home runs (5), RBIs (9), slugging percentage (.917) and on-base percentage (.512).

After her best weekend of the season in Madeira Beach, senior Madison Morris will look to continue her early season success in Clearwater. The right-hander registered a 2-1 record with a 2.45 ERA along with 18 strikeouts in 14.2 innings of work. She allowed four runs on nine hits in her three appearances, holding the opposing team to a .173 batting average. Against Boston College, Morris prevented BC's bottom three batters from reaching base, forcing them to go 0-for-9 with three strikeouts. In the final game versus Georgia Southern, the senior hurler came on to relieve Angela Saric and blanked the Eagles' through the final 4.2 innings. Morris also struck out eight batters to capture her fifth win of the season.

            Sophomore Amelia Ditolvo has registered 10 walks in 2019, six of which came this past weekend. Along with her six free passes to first, the Bordentown, N.J., native had also crossed the plate three times for the Johnnies. Defensively, the starting shortstop added two double plays to her credit while in Madeira Beach.

            South Dakota State, which has posted a 10-4 record to start the 2019 campaign, enters Tuesday's matchup riding a five-game winning streak. The Jackrabbits swept the competition at the 2019 Michelle Short Memorial Classic, outscoring its opponents, 38-11, in its four victories. Ali Herdliska paces the Jackrabbits with a .462 batting average. She also leads the team with 18 hits, 19 RBIs and five home runs while her 1.494 OPS is good enough for tops in the Summit League with a 1.494 OPS.

            Penn kicked off its 2019 season this past weekend at the USF-Clearwater Parks and Recreation Invitational Tournament, posting a 2-3 record and being outscored, 19-14, in its opening slate. Much like the Johnnies, the Quakers defeated 2018 MEAC Champions Bethune-Cookman. Penn's pitching staff recorded a 3.61 ERA, despite the team's ability to hold its opponents to a .234 batting average.

            St. John's and Penn will face off for the first time in exactly 20 years. The programs last met on March 6th, 1999, when the Johnnies took down the Quakers, 4-2.

            This will be the Red Storm's final warm-up before the highly touted USF Series starting on Friday. The Johnnies will travel down to Clearwater for the third time in the last five seasons, with their last trip coming in 2017.