St. John's University Athletics
Friday, March 5
Queens, N.Y. / Red Storm Field
3 p.m.
St. John's University
vs
Rhode Island
St. John’s Softball Set to Open 2021 at Home
3/4/2021 1:30:00 PM | Softball
Johnnies will take on Rhode Island Friday, UMass-Lowell Saturday
QUEENS, N.Y. – For the first time in nearly a year, the St. John's softball team will take the field this weekend when it hosts Rhode Island for a single game on Friday before welcoming UMass-Lowell for a doubleheader on Saturday.
Friday's game against URI is scheduled for 3 p.m. while first pitch for Saturday's doubleheader is slated for 12 p.m. with game two to follow. The URI contest will be broadcast on ESPN3 and Saturday's doubleheader can be heard via an audio-only stream on RedStormSports.com.
This weekend's games will be the first at Red Storm Field for St. John's since April of 2019. The program will open the season at home for the first time in nearly 30 years, as the Red Storm last kicked off a campaign in Queens back in 1992.
The Johnnies last played on March 11, 2020, a 3-2 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson, in Teaneck, N.J. At the time, the Red Storm was 8-15 on the season after taking on some of the top competition in the country, including No. 1/1 UCLA and No. 16/16 Michigan. St. John's was looking to build off of a 2019 season in which they captured the BIG EAST Regular Season Title.
Head Coach Bob Guerriero enters his third season leading the Johnnies and his ninth with the program overall. He will return 18 of the 21 players from his 2020 team, including three of the most decorated players in program history-- Gretchen Bowie, Marissa Rizzi and Kaitlin Mattera-- as graduate students.
Bowie is the only player in program history to earn three All-BIG EAST First Team selections and has hit .316 while slugging 35 home runs over her collegiate career. Rizzi did not suit up a year ago for the Red Storm but is looking to build off of a career year in 2019 where she hit .403 and added 12 round-trippers on her way to the All-BIG EAST First Team. Mattera has found her way onto that team twice in her career as well during her junior and sophomore seasons.
In addition to those three, the Red Storm returns Peyton Cody, who landed on the NFCA Top 25 Freshman of the Year list in 2019 after hitting .375 and smashing 19 extra base hits. Cody was also honored as the conference's co-freshman of the year. Senior Kalei Sorensen was a bright spot for the Johnnies in 2020, hitting a career-high .278 in the shortened campaign.
The Johnnies also return seniors Gabriella Conca, Kayla Kmett and Amelia Ditolvo. Conca started 13 games for the Red Storm a year ago, racking up 11 hits and eight runs, while Ditolvo also had 11 base knocks in her 17 starts. Kmett pitched to a 3.35 ERA in her junior campaign, including an impressive four innings of scoreless relief against No. 16/16 Michigan.
In addition to Kmett, Coach Guerriero's team will return its other three pitchers from a season ago. Sophomore Erin Brown was named Team MVP during her freshman campaign, leading the team in starts with 10 and holding opponents to a .253 batting average over 61.2 innings of work. Junior Angela Saric and sophomore Mia Faieta will round out the rotation in the circle.
URI has seen seven of its first eight games of the 2021 campaign canceled, with their only contest being a 17-1 loss in five innings to Elon. The Johnnies have won their last three meetings with URI dating back to 2004. As for UMass Lowell, Saturday's doubleheader will mark their first games of 2021 and the first meetings all-time between the two programs.
Following Saturday's doubleheader, the Red Storm will look towards a midweek matchup in the Bronx when it visits Fordham, followed by a three-game weekend set at home with DePaul on March 13 and 14.
Friday's game against URI is scheduled for 3 p.m. while first pitch for Saturday's doubleheader is slated for 12 p.m. with game two to follow. The URI contest will be broadcast on ESPN3 and Saturday's doubleheader can be heard via an audio-only stream on RedStormSports.com.
This weekend's games will be the first at Red Storm Field for St. John's since April of 2019. The program will open the season at home for the first time in nearly 30 years, as the Red Storm last kicked off a campaign in Queens back in 1992.
The Johnnies last played on March 11, 2020, a 3-2 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson, in Teaneck, N.J. At the time, the Red Storm was 8-15 on the season after taking on some of the top competition in the country, including No. 1/1 UCLA and No. 16/16 Michigan. St. John's was looking to build off of a 2019 season in which they captured the BIG EAST Regular Season Title.
Head Coach Bob Guerriero enters his third season leading the Johnnies and his ninth with the program overall. He will return 18 of the 21 players from his 2020 team, including three of the most decorated players in program history-- Gretchen Bowie, Marissa Rizzi and Kaitlin Mattera-- as graduate students.
Bowie is the only player in program history to earn three All-BIG EAST First Team selections and has hit .316 while slugging 35 home runs over her collegiate career. Rizzi did not suit up a year ago for the Red Storm but is looking to build off of a career year in 2019 where she hit .403 and added 12 round-trippers on her way to the All-BIG EAST First Team. Mattera has found her way onto that team twice in her career as well during her junior and sophomore seasons.
In addition to those three, the Red Storm returns Peyton Cody, who landed on the NFCA Top 25 Freshman of the Year list in 2019 after hitting .375 and smashing 19 extra base hits. Cody was also honored as the conference's co-freshman of the year. Senior Kalei Sorensen was a bright spot for the Johnnies in 2020, hitting a career-high .278 in the shortened campaign.
The Johnnies also return seniors Gabriella Conca, Kayla Kmett and Amelia Ditolvo. Conca started 13 games for the Red Storm a year ago, racking up 11 hits and eight runs, while Ditolvo also had 11 base knocks in her 17 starts. Kmett pitched to a 3.35 ERA in her junior campaign, including an impressive four innings of scoreless relief against No. 16/16 Michigan.
In addition to Kmett, Coach Guerriero's team will return its other three pitchers from a season ago. Sophomore Erin Brown was named Team MVP during her freshman campaign, leading the team in starts with 10 and holding opponents to a .253 batting average over 61.2 innings of work. Junior Angela Saric and sophomore Mia Faieta will round out the rotation in the circle.
URI has seen seven of its first eight games of the 2021 campaign canceled, with their only contest being a 17-1 loss in five innings to Elon. The Johnnies have won their last three meetings with URI dating back to 2004. As for UMass Lowell, Saturday's doubleheader will mark their first games of 2021 and the first meetings all-time between the two programs.
Following Saturday's doubleheader, the Red Storm will look towards a midweek matchup in the Bronx when it visits Fordham, followed by a three-game weekend set at home with DePaul on March 13 and 14.
Players Mentioned
UTIL
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
C/UTIL
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
P/UTIL
/ Softball
1B/C
/ Softball
UTIL/P
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
OF
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