St. John's University Athletics
Saturday, April 24
Queens, N.Y. (Red Storm Field)
12 p.m.
St. John's University
vs
Villanova
St. John’s Welcomes Villanova to Queens for Crucial BIG EAST Series
4/23/2021 1:07:00 PM | Softball
Red Storm and Wildcats will square off in the final home series of 2021
QUEENS, N.Y. – The St. John's softball team welcomes Villanova to Queens this weekend for the team's final home BIG EAST series in 2021 with major playoff implications.
The Red Storm (9-14, 6-9 BIG EAST) and Wildcats (23-10, 7-1 BIG EAST) will face off in a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at noon followed by a single game on Sunday also scheduled for 12 p.m. Saturday's contests can be heard via an audio-only broadcast on RedStormSports.com while Sunday's game will be streamed on ESPN3. Live stats will be available throughout the weekend.
Saturday also marks Senior Day for the Red Storm. The ceremony will take place following the completion of game two of the doubleheader as the accomplishments of the Johnnies' eight graduating players; Gretchen Bowie, Gabriella Conca, Amelia Ditolvo, Kayla Kmett, Kaitlin Mattera, Elyse Morris, Marissa Rizzi and Kalei Sorensen, will all be recognized. The ceremony will be streamed via Instagram Live on the @StJohnsSoftball page.
The Red Storm is coming off of a week that saw it split back-to-back matchups with Providence and Stony Brook on Monday and Tuesday in two tightly contested games.
In Monday's makeup game with the Friars, the Johnnies prevailed, 4-1, behind home runs from Bowie and Conca to go along with a complete game victory for Erin Brown in the circle. The win marked a sweep of the team's season series with the Friars and the victory for Brown was her second complete game against Providence this year.
On Tuesday at Stony Brook, the Red Storm, playing with most of its regular starters on the bench, struggled to muster much offense, as it got one hit off the bat of Natalie Alheidt in the 2-0 loss. Angela Saric pitched a strong game in the circle for the Johnnies, going six innings and allowing just the two runs.
This weekend's series marks the first time that the Red Storm and Wildcats have met since the 2019 postseason, when Villanova eliminated St. John's in the BIG EAST Semifinals, 6-4. This battle has crucial playoff implications for both teams, as St. John's currently sits two wins behind Creighton in conference play for the final seed in the playoffs, while the Wildcats are looking to chase down DePaul for the top seed with just two weekends remaining in the regular season.
The Wildcats come into the weekend boasting the top offense in the BIG EAST this season, as they lead the conference with a .300 team batting average and 39 home runs. The offense is powered by Chloe Smith and Paige Rauch, who are hitting .411 and .408 this season respectively, as well as Ryan Henry, who leads the BIG EAST with ten home runs. Rauch has also been getting it done for Villanova in the circle, where she has thrown to a conference-best 1.82 ERA and leads the league with 13 wins.
Villanova leads the all-time series with St. John's, 43-38, but the Johnnies hold the advantage at home, 18-12. The two programs have split their last ten meetings dating back to 2016.
Following the series with Villanova, the Red Storm will look towards another crucial BIG EAST set at Connecticut, who currently holds one of the four playoff spots, next weekend in Storrs. That will mark the final conference series of the season.
The Red Storm (9-14, 6-9 BIG EAST) and Wildcats (23-10, 7-1 BIG EAST) will face off in a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at noon followed by a single game on Sunday also scheduled for 12 p.m. Saturday's contests can be heard via an audio-only broadcast on RedStormSports.com while Sunday's game will be streamed on ESPN3. Live stats will be available throughout the weekend.
Saturday also marks Senior Day for the Red Storm. The ceremony will take place following the completion of game two of the doubleheader as the accomplishments of the Johnnies' eight graduating players; Gretchen Bowie, Gabriella Conca, Amelia Ditolvo, Kayla Kmett, Kaitlin Mattera, Elyse Morris, Marissa Rizzi and Kalei Sorensen, will all be recognized. The ceremony will be streamed via Instagram Live on the @StJohnsSoftball page.
The Red Storm is coming off of a week that saw it split back-to-back matchups with Providence and Stony Brook on Monday and Tuesday in two tightly contested games.
In Monday's makeup game with the Friars, the Johnnies prevailed, 4-1, behind home runs from Bowie and Conca to go along with a complete game victory for Erin Brown in the circle. The win marked a sweep of the team's season series with the Friars and the victory for Brown was her second complete game against Providence this year.
On Tuesday at Stony Brook, the Red Storm, playing with most of its regular starters on the bench, struggled to muster much offense, as it got one hit off the bat of Natalie Alheidt in the 2-0 loss. Angela Saric pitched a strong game in the circle for the Johnnies, going six innings and allowing just the two runs.
This weekend's series marks the first time that the Red Storm and Wildcats have met since the 2019 postseason, when Villanova eliminated St. John's in the BIG EAST Semifinals, 6-4. This battle has crucial playoff implications for both teams, as St. John's currently sits two wins behind Creighton in conference play for the final seed in the playoffs, while the Wildcats are looking to chase down DePaul for the top seed with just two weekends remaining in the regular season.
The Wildcats come into the weekend boasting the top offense in the BIG EAST this season, as they lead the conference with a .300 team batting average and 39 home runs. The offense is powered by Chloe Smith and Paige Rauch, who are hitting .411 and .408 this season respectively, as well as Ryan Henry, who leads the BIG EAST with ten home runs. Rauch has also been getting it done for Villanova in the circle, where she has thrown to a conference-best 1.82 ERA and leads the league with 13 wins.
Villanova leads the all-time series with St. John's, 43-38, but the Johnnies hold the advantage at home, 18-12. The two programs have split their last ten meetings dating back to 2016.
Following the series with Villanova, the Red Storm will look towards another crucial BIG EAST set at Connecticut, who currently holds one of the four playoff spots, next weekend in Storrs. That will mark the final conference series of the season.
Players Mentioned
C/UTIL
/ Softball
UTIL
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
P/UTIL
/ Softball
1B/C
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
UTIL/P
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
OF
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