St. John’s Splits Day Two of Cardinal Classic

Saturday, February 22

Beaumont, Texas (Lamar Softball Complex)

4:00 p.m.

St. John's University

2-11

Lamar

8-6

St. John's

Lamar University

2/22/2020 9:17:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Box Score vs. Lamar (PDF)Box Score vs. Northern Colorado (PDF)

Natalie Giroux records back-to-back multi-hit games

By: Dylan Smith

            BEAUMONT, Texas (Feb. 22, 2020) – Following a rough opening day to the Cardinal Classic, the St. John's softball team split day two in Beaumont with a win over Northern Colorado after falling to Lamar on Saturday.

Game 1

            The Red Storm dropped its first game of the afternoon to the Cardinals, 6-1, despite a 2-for-3 showing from Natalie Giroux at the dish.

            St. John's (3-11) and Lamar (8-6) exchanged a scoreless first inning before the Red Storm threatened in the second. Kaitlyn Lologo hit a scorcher at the pitcher, ricocheting off of Lamar's Aaliyah Ruiz towards the third base line to register the first base runner of the game. After the sophomore stole second, Giroux moved Lologo over to third on a single through the left side. However, the Cardinals kept the St. John's off the board.

            Lamar jumped out to an early one-run lead after two innings before tagging the Johnnies with five runs in the third to take a 6-0 advantage.

            The Red Storm registered a score in the top of the fifth, cutting its deficit to five, 6-1. Amy Mallah reached base for her second-straight game with a leadoff walk, followed by a single to left from Gretchen Bowie. After Kaitlin Mattera was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Elyse Morris dropped down a bunt to bring Mallah home from third.

            The Johnnies and the Cardinals were blanked in the final two frames, ending the game with a final of 6-1.

Game 2

            St. John's picked up its first win of the weekend with a 3-2 victory over Northern Colorado after a dominant performance by the Johnnies' first four batters.

            Lologo, Bowie, Mattera and Giroux all registered a pair of hits in the Red Storm's victory. The foursome went a combined 8-for-15 at the dish, driving in and scoring all three of the Johnnies' runs. Gabriella Conca also recorded a base knock in the night cap.

            Erin Brown picked up her second complete game victory of the season, allowing just one earned run and striking out five batters.

            The Red Storm opened the game's scoring with a one-run first inning. Lologo reached on a leadoff single, only to swipe second and tag up on a fly ball to right. In the following at-bat, Mattera roped a single to left, driving Lologo in from third and giving the Johnnies a 1-0 advantage.

            Brown held Northern Colorado (3-11) to no runs on a pair of hits through the first two frames.

            St. John's increased its lead to two, 2-0, in the top of the third inning on sacrifice fly off the bat of Giroux. Bowie smacked a double to left-center to start the frame, only to advance to third on a Mattera single. In the next at-bat, Giroux launched a deep fly ball to the right-center fence, giving Bowie more than enough time to cross the plate.

            Following a scoreless fourth inning, Northern Colorado registered its first run of the contest in the fifth on an RBI double, cutting the Red Storm's lead in half, 2-1. The Bears eventually tied the game at two in the sixth, threatening the Johnnies' chances at their first win of the weekend.

            In the top of the seventh, Lologo slapped a one-out triple into the right-center gap. On the ensuing at-bat, Bowie played hero by sending a double over the shallow centerfielder's head and lifting the Johnnies to a 3-2 advantage.

            The Bears battled back in the bottom half of the final frame, putting a pair of runners on base with two outs before Brown shut the door and picked up her second win of the season.

            St. John's will look to end its weekend on a high note when the team returns to Beaumont for the Cardinal Classic finale with Northern Colorado at 11:00 a.m. ET.