St. John’s Drops Two to Connecticut in Saturday Doubleheader

Saturday, May 1

Storrs, CT

12 p.m.

St. John's University

9-18, 0

Connecticut

17-13, 0

St. John's

UConn

St. John’s Drops Two to Connecticut in Saturday Doubleheader

5/1/2021 4:27:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Red Storm falls in walk-off fashion in game one before losing game two

By: Kenny Conrade

STORRS, Conn. – The St. John's softball team was swept in its Saturday doubleheader at Connecticut, falling in walk-off fashion in game one, 4-3, before dropping game two, 9-1, five innings.

The Red Storm (9-19, 6-14 BIG EAST) was kept off balance by the Huskies (18-13, 10-4 BIG EAST) pitching all afternoon, as three of its four runs came in the seventh inning of game one where it took the lead, 3-2, before losing on a walk-off error with two outs in the home half of the frame.

The Johnnies were held to 11 hits over the twin bill, registering five in the first contest and six in the second. Gretchen Bowie, Kaitlin Mattera and Marissa Rizzi each recorded multiple hits over the two contests, as Bowie and Kamryn Tiumalu added one and two RBIs in that seventh inning, respectively.

Game One

Much of game one was a pitcher's duel between Erin Brown and UConn starter Marybeth Olson outside of five runs scored by both sides in the seventh inning. The Huskies got off to a strong start offensively, as after a perfect top of the first, the home team scored two runs on five hits to grab a lead, 2-0, after the opening frame.

Following the rocky start, Brown began matching her counterpart Olson's zeroes in the circle, as she did not allow a UConn hit from the second until the sixth inning, retiring 15 of the next 16 Huskies hitters that she faced aside from one of three costly Red Storm errors in game one.

Offensively, the Johnnies could not solve Olson, as they were held hitless until a base knock by Mattera to kick off the fourth inning ended the drought. Following the hit by Mattera, the Red Storm was set down in order as the game headed to the fifth with the Johnnies trailing, 2-0.

Elyse Morris would reach on a walk in the fifth and Rizzi doubled in the sixth, but the Red Storm was unable to push any offense across against Olson, as it was down to its final three outs of the contest trailing, 2-0.

The Red Storm generated some offense immediately in the seventh as Kalei Sorensen and Gabriella Conca each reached base via a hit by pitch and single which chased O'Neil from the game. UConn turned to Meghan O'Neil and the first batter she faced, Amelia Ditolvo, laid down a sacrifice bunt before Morris was hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out. The next batter was Tiumalu, who delivered a two-RBI double to knot the score at two.

Following that, Bowie stepped up and singled to left field, plating Morris, as the Red Storm's three run, three hit rally was good enough to put it ahead, 3-2, heading to the home half of the seventh.

UConn led off its final time up with a single followed by a sacrifice bunt, which left the tying run on second base with one out. The next ball in play was a grounder to second base which was booted by Tiumalu, setting up first and third with one out. An RBI single off Brown would then tie the game at three. The Red Storm righthander would get a second out and with the bases loaded and the game knotted at three, a costly throwing error by Ditolvo, the second of the inning, would allow the Huskies to walk it off in game one, 4-3.

Game Two

O'Neil got the start in game two for the Huskies opposed by Angela Saric for the Red Storm and the two had varied results. After Mattera had a hit in the top of the first, UConn jumped all over Saric in the home half of the inning, batting around and pushing across five runs on four hits helped in part by two Red Storm errors in the frame.

Morris would pick up another hit in the second inning before the Huskies once again broke out for three runs on two hits, chasing Saric from the game in favor of Kayla Kmett, to grab an 8-0 lead after two.

UConn would tack on one more in the third before the Red Storm would load the bases in the fourth thanks to hits from Rizzi and Melanie Santos as well as a hit by pitch, but could not push a run across.

Down to their final three outs and looking to stave off the mercy rule in the top of the fifth, Amy Mallah and Bowie led off the inning with hits. With runners on second and third, Carolyn Von Werne picked up her first career RBI on a sacrifice fly, but that was all the Johnnies would get, as they dropped game two, 9-1, in five innings.

Tomorrow's game three between the Red Storm and Huskies is slated for 12 p.m. The contest will be streamed live via Huskies All Access and live stats will be available for what will mark the final BIG EAST contest of 2021 for the Johnnies.