St. John's University Athletics
Sunday, April 28
Queens, N.Y.
12:00 p.m.
St. John's University
25-19, 0
12
vs
6
Villanova
26-22, 0
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2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Villanova
0
0
2
3
1
0
0
6
6
2
St. John's
0
0
2
7
3
0
0
12
12
0
St. John’s Downs Villanova, 12-6, on Senior Day, Clinches Playoff Berth
4/28/2019 6:44:00 PM | Softball
The Red Storm takes the weekend series against the Wildcats, 2-1
QUEENS, N.Y. (April 28, 2019) – The St. John's softball team sent its seniors out in style, taking down Villanova, 12-6, on Sunday afternoon and solidifying a spot in the BIG EAST Softball Championship.
The Red Storm has clinched its sixth-straight berth into the conference tournament and will hold one of the top two seeds in the conference. With second place DePaul losing a pair of games to Creighton this afternoon, the Red Storm sits in first place heading into the last weekend of the regular season.
Seniors Madison Morris and Christina Melendez played in their final game at Red Storm Field, both leaving Queens with a win. Morris struck out her 400th career batter while picking up her career-high 17th victory of the season against Villanova. Melendez recorded her 26th career home run, drilling a two-run shot to left-center, putting the game out of reach.
Juniors Marissa Rizzi and Gretchen Bowie both finished this afternoon's contest with a perfect day at the dish and a triple shy of the cycle. Rizzi registered a career-high four hits and five RBIs while scoring twice on Sunday. The Manorville, N.Y., native finished the series with a team-leading .700 batting average and seven hits.
After putting forth a stellar effort in Saturday's doubleheader, Bowie posted a 3-for-3 performance while driving in four runs and scoring three times. The Johnnies' third baseman hit .667 with a team-high nine RBIs and five runs scored through the three-game tilt.
After exchanging a pair of scoreless innings to start the rubber match, the Johnnies and the Wildcats combined for 18 runs over the next three innings.
In the top of the third inning, Villanova (26-22, 8-7 BIG EAST) knocked in a pair of runs on Angela Giampolo's home run, taking a 2-0 advantage.
St. John's (25-19, 13-3 BIG EAST) responded in the home half of the frame when Rizzi knotted the game at two with one swing of the bat. The Manorville, N.Y., native roped her team-leading 12th home run of the season to left-center after Bowie singled to right.
The tie did not last long as Villanova strung together three hits and a couple of walks to put a three-spot on the board in the top of the fourth to take a 5-2 lead.
In the following half inning, the Red Storm cracked the game wide open with a seven-run frame. The Johnnies loaded the bases with no outs after Kaitlin Mattera worked a four-pitch walk, Laura Delgado reached on a Villanova error and Amelia Ditolvo singled to left. Sophomore Kalei Sorensen knocked in St. John's first run after being plunked, scoring Mattera from third and cutting the lead to two, 5-3. Following a Bowie walk to drive in Delgado, Rizzi cleared the bases with a three-run double, turning the scoreboard in the Johnnies' favor, 6-5. Two batters later, Melendez belted her seventh homer of the season to extend the team's lead to four, 9-5.
Villanova pushed one run across in the top of the fifth to cut its deficit to three, 9-6, on a single before the Red Storm doubled its advantage in the home half.
With runners on first and second, Bowie drilled her second three-run homer of the weekend to left, increasing the Johnnies' margin to six, 12-6, before Angela Saric shut out the Wildcats in the final two innings.
St. John's hits the road for its final week of the regular season, heading to Fordham on Wednesday, May 1. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Morris, Madison (17-5)
L: RAUCH, Paige (11-11)
Batting:
HR: GIAMPOLO, Angela 1
RBI: GIAMPOLO, Angela 2 ; JONES, Caroline 1 ; DACOSTA, Julia 2 ; DUCAR, Becky 1
SF: DACOSTA, Julia 1
Base Running:
RUNS: GIAMPOLO, Angela 1 ; ESTROFF, Emily 1 ; OHMAN, Kendall 1 ; JONES, Caroline 1 ; RUIZ, Megan 1 ; HAYES, Sydney 1
HBP: HENRY, Ryan 2
Batting:
2B: Bowie, Gretchen 1 ; Rizzi, Marissa 2
HR: Bowie, Gretchen 1 ; Rizzi, Marissa 1 ; Melendez, Christina 1
RBI: Bowie, Gretchen 4 ; Rizzi, Marissa 5 ; Melendez, Christina 2 ; Sorensen, Kalei 1
SH: Ditolvo, Amelia 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bowie, Gretchen 3 ; Rizzi, Marissa 2 ; Melendez, Christina 1 ; Mattera, Kaitlin 1 ; Delgado, Laura 2 ; Ditolvo, Amelia 1 ; Sorensen, Kalei 1 ; Murray, Meisha 1
SB: Murray, Meisha 1
HBP: Melendez, Christina 1 ; Sorensen, Kalei 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
2
H
4
RBI
5
AB
3
R
3
H
3
RBI
4
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
UTIL
/ Softball
UTIL
/ SoftballIF
/ Softball
1B/C
/ SoftballUTIL
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballUTIL/P
/ Softball
P
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