St. John's University Athletics
Saturday, April 10
Omaha, NE
1 p.m.
St. John's University
at
Creighton
Red Storm Travels to Omaha for BIG EAST Series with Creighton
4/9/2021 1:09:00 PM | Softball
St. John’s looks to gain ground in BIG EAST standings
OMAHA, Neb. – The St. John's softball team hits the road for the second consecutive weekend as it travels to Omaha for a three-game BIG EAST set with Creighton.
Games one and two will be played as a doubleheader beginning on Saturday at 1 p.m. E.T. while Sunday's single game is slated for 12 p.m. E.T. All three matchups between the BIG EAST foes will be broadcast via YouTube. Live stats will be available as well throughout the weekend.
The Red Storm (7-11, 4-7 BIG EAST) heads into the matchup with the Bluejays (10-7, 6-3 BIG EAST) coming off a weekend set at Butler in which it was swept. The Johnnies offense fell victim to some strong Bulldogs pitching, as they were only able to push across four runs throughout the weekend. Despite taking a lead in each of the three games, the Johnnies could not grab a victory.
Erin Brown pitched a strong game one on Friday, striking out a career-high eight batters in the circle while surrendering just three runs, all of which were unearned. After a shaky start to the season, the Red Storm sophomore has returned to the form that earned her Team MVP honors as a freshman. In her last five appearances, Brown has surrendered just five earned runs over 22.1 innings pitched while punching out 16 batters.
While the offense was held to four runs at Butler, Kaitlin Mattera put together one of her stronger series of the 2021 season. The graduate student hit .375, going 3-8 at the plate, while just narrowly missing a three-run home run that was hit to the fence and would have given the Red Storm the lead in game one. Mattera added an RBI double as well on the weekend.
Red Storm first baseman Marissa Rizzi continues to pop up across leaderboards both in the BIG EAST and across the NCAA. The graduate student is hitting .438 with an on base percentage of .556, both of which lead the team. Rizzi's runs scored total and on base percentage both lead the BIG EAST, while the first baseman ranks ninth in the country in runs scored per game.
Creighton comes into this series inside the BIG EAST playoff picture in third place following its sweep of Seton Hall last weekend in Omaha. The Bluejays have won two of their three conference sets this season, as they also dropped Providence, two games to one, before falling to Connecticut by the same margin.
This season, Creighton leads the BIG EAST in batting average (.295) thanks in part to the stellar play of sophomore Kailey Wilson. Wilson sits third in the BIG EAST with a .436 batting average while also slugging six home runs in 2021. Right behind her is fifth-year senior Ashley Cantu, who is hitting .421 on the year and sits tied atop the conference in hits with Wilson at 24. The Bluejays haven't been quite as strong in the circle, where they sit sixth in the conference in ERA at 4.30.
The Red Storm is 10-4 all-time against Creighton and has outscored the Bluejays 107-69 over those 14 games. The Johnnies have won ten of their last 11 matchups with Creighton dating back to 2015 as well. When the teams last met in April of 2019, the Red Storm pulled out two one-run victories.
Following the weekend set, the Red Storm will look towards its second matchup with the season against Hofstra on Thursday in Hempstead. Next weekend, the Johnnies schedule does not feature a BIG EAST series as it will be their bye weekend.
Games one and two will be played as a doubleheader beginning on Saturday at 1 p.m. E.T. while Sunday's single game is slated for 12 p.m. E.T. All three matchups between the BIG EAST foes will be broadcast via YouTube. Live stats will be available as well throughout the weekend.
The Red Storm (7-11, 4-7 BIG EAST) heads into the matchup with the Bluejays (10-7, 6-3 BIG EAST) coming off a weekend set at Butler in which it was swept. The Johnnies offense fell victim to some strong Bulldogs pitching, as they were only able to push across four runs throughout the weekend. Despite taking a lead in each of the three games, the Johnnies could not grab a victory.
Erin Brown pitched a strong game one on Friday, striking out a career-high eight batters in the circle while surrendering just three runs, all of which were unearned. After a shaky start to the season, the Red Storm sophomore has returned to the form that earned her Team MVP honors as a freshman. In her last five appearances, Brown has surrendered just five earned runs over 22.1 innings pitched while punching out 16 batters.
While the offense was held to four runs at Butler, Kaitlin Mattera put together one of her stronger series of the 2021 season. The graduate student hit .375, going 3-8 at the plate, while just narrowly missing a three-run home run that was hit to the fence and would have given the Red Storm the lead in game one. Mattera added an RBI double as well on the weekend.
Red Storm first baseman Marissa Rizzi continues to pop up across leaderboards both in the BIG EAST and across the NCAA. The graduate student is hitting .438 with an on base percentage of .556, both of which lead the team. Rizzi's runs scored total and on base percentage both lead the BIG EAST, while the first baseman ranks ninth in the country in runs scored per game.
Creighton comes into this series inside the BIG EAST playoff picture in third place following its sweep of Seton Hall last weekend in Omaha. The Bluejays have won two of their three conference sets this season, as they also dropped Providence, two games to one, before falling to Connecticut by the same margin.
This season, Creighton leads the BIG EAST in batting average (.295) thanks in part to the stellar play of sophomore Kailey Wilson. Wilson sits third in the BIG EAST with a .436 batting average while also slugging six home runs in 2021. Right behind her is fifth-year senior Ashley Cantu, who is hitting .421 on the year and sits tied atop the conference in hits with Wilson at 24. The Bluejays haven't been quite as strong in the circle, where they sit sixth in the conference in ERA at 4.30.
The Red Storm is 10-4 all-time against Creighton and has outscored the Bluejays 107-69 over those 14 games. The Johnnies have won ten of their last 11 matchups with Creighton dating back to 2015 as well. When the teams last met in April of 2019, the Red Storm pulled out two one-run victories.
Following the weekend set, the Red Storm will look towards its second matchup with the season against Hofstra on Thursday in Hempstead. Next weekend, the Johnnies schedule does not feature a BIG EAST series as it will be their bye weekend.
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