St. John’s Softball Falls to Hofstra in High-Scoring Midweek Affair

Wednesday, March 17

Queens, N.Y. (Red Storm Field)

3 p.m.

St. John's University

3-6

Hofstra

2-4

Hofstra Pride

St. John's

St. John’s Softball Falls to Hofstra in High-Scoring Midweek Affair

3/17/2021 6:52:00 PM | Softball

Box Score Photo Gallery

Pride drop Red Storm, 11-10, in a game that featured 24 hits

By: Kenny Conrade

QUEENS, N.Y. – The St. John's softball team fell to Hofstra on Wednesday afternoon, 11-10, at Red Storm Field in a matchup that featured come-from-behind rallies from both teams and 24 hits over seven innings.

The Red Storm (3-6, 0-3 BIG EAST) dug themselves out of a 6-2 hole with a seven-run rally in the fourth inning to go up, 9-6, but the Pride (2-4, 0-0 CAA) scored five runs over the final two innings of play to grab the victory, 11-10.

Gretchen Bowie was one of two Red Storm hitters with multiple base knocks on the afternoon, as her third inning triple gave her 12 in her illustrious career, good enough to set a new program record. Gabriella Conca also picked up two of the Johnnies' ten hits on the day while tallying two RBIs. Marissa Rizzi drove in three to continue her hot start to the year, while freshman Melanie Santos recorded two RBIs in her second career start behind home plate.

Hofstra kicked off the afternoon in a big way, as they tallied four runs over the first two innings off of St. John's starter Angela Saric to grab an early lead, 4-0. In the third, the Pride threatened again, scoring two more runs, both of which were charged to Saric, before Kayla Kmett came in to stop the Hofstra rally. After two and a half innings of play, the visitors led, 6-0.

The Red Storm offense got to work in the home half of the third, breaking through against starter Maddie Burns, as Elyse Morris reached base and scored on Bowie's triple, which was followed up by a Rizzi sac fly to narrow the deficit to 6-2 after three innings of play.

After Kmett worked a scoreless fourth, the Red Storm exploded for its biggest inning of the season, sending ten batters to the plate and tallying seven runs on four hits. Each of the first five batters of the inning scored, as Conca led off with a single which was followed up by three of the next four batters being issued free passes either via walk or hit by pitch. A Rizzi two-RBI double in the midst of the inning was the big blow, as the Johnnies led by three, 9-6, after four and had chased Burns from the game.

The only scoreless frame of the contest came in the fifth, as Kmett and Pride reliever Isabella Pisapia, who picked up her first collegiate win, quieted both offenses. In the road half of the sixth, Hofstra's first three batters reached base and they were able to push three runs across off of Kmett to knot the game at nine before Erin Brown came on and slowed the Pride rally.

With the game tied at nine in the seventh, Brown allowed the lead-off hitter to reach but retired the next two batters. With two outs, it was back to the top of the order where Kristin Hallam singled, which was followed by a walk and a two-RBI single from Jaycee Ruberti to give the Pride the lead, 11-9.

The Red Storm threatened in the seventh, as Conca and Kalei Sorensen each reached base to start the inning and an error loaded the bases with one out. Morris delivered a ball into right that was dropped with two outs, scoring Conca and bringing the score to 11-10. With the tying run 60-feet away, Burns, who re-entered the game in the seventh, thwarted the Johnnies' rally to pick up the save and the win for the Pride.

This weekend, the Johnnies will travel to South Orange, N.J. for their first road BIG EAST series of the season as they take on Seton Hall. Saturday's doubleheader will start at 12 p.m. with Sunday's single game slated for noon as well.