St. John's University Athletics
Softball Reveals 2023 Spring Slate
12/13/2022 12:36:00 PM | Softball
Red Storm will open its season in Clearwater, Fla. on February 10
QUEENS, N.Y. (DEC. 13, 2022) – Head Coach Bob Guerriero has released the 2023 softball schedule on Tuesday.
Coach Guerriero is in his fifth season at the helm of the program. London Jarrard returns for her sophomore season after being named to the All-BIG EAST First Team last year. The Johnnies graduated five players last season.
In a schedule that features one 2022 Women's College World Series finalist, in addition to eight Division I Softball Championship teams, the Red Storm will play in eight states throughout its 56-game schedule. St. John's will face four teams that finished the 2022 campaign ranked in the Top 25 by Softball America. Of the 56 games, 25 will be held at Red Storm Field in Queens.
St. John's will begin its 2023 season with 15-straight road games, opening with five contests in three days at the Lead Off Classic in Clearwater, Fla. The 16-team field features 10 teams from the 2022 NCAA Division I Softball Championship. St. John's will play five of the 15 other teams, starting with a pair of NCAA Regional teams, Kentucky and Auburn, on February 10. The next day, the Johnnies will battle South Alabama and WCWS qualifier Northwestern, led by 2022 NFCA First Team selection Danielle Williams. St. John's will conclude the three-day event with a Sunday morning battle against Southern.
The Red Storm will travel to the University of Georgia for the Red & Black Showcase opening on February 17. Current St. John's assistant coach Marissa Rizzi homered against the Bulldogs in their last meeting in 2019. The squad will play five games in three days once again opening with Charlotte and the host Bulldogs on February 17. The following day, the Red Storm will battle the same two teams before a Sunday morning contest with 2022 NCAA Regional Champion and Super Regional participant Stanford.
The final road tournament of the season for the Johnnies will open February 24 at the University of Virginia, taking on George Washington on Friday evening. On February 25, the Johnnies will play 2022 MEAC Champion Howard in the morning before a contest with the host school, Virginia. The team will travel to Farmville, Va., for a pair of Sunday afternoon contests against Longwood and Maryland Eastern Shore to conclude the road trip.
St. John's will open its home portion of the 2023 campaign with the three-day Red Storm Classic. St. John's will host Drexel and Merrimack on March 3 before back-to-back games against Quinnipiac on March 4 and 5 to close the classic. The Johnnies haven't hosted this event since 2019 when the squad went 3-1 with wins over Hofstra and Holy Cross.
The Red Storm will open the 2023 BIG EAST slate hosting Providence for a three-game set on March 10-12. The team will then host local Monmouth for a weekday doubleheader on Tuesday, March 14. The Johnnies will then travel to Indianapolis, Ind., for their first conference road games of the season against Butler over St. Patrick's Day weekend (March 17-19). Butler finished the 2022 regular season ranked second in the league standings.
On March 22, St. John's will travel to Stony Brook for a midweek game at University Field, before hosting the Blue Demons of DePaul for a three-game series (March 24-26). The Johnnies will then close out the month with a March 29 road match at LIU and a three-game weekend series at Seton Hall, starting March 31 and concluding on April 2. The Pirates return 2022 BIG EAST Freshman of the Year and All-BIG EAST First Team selection Taylor Hill.
St. John's will host Iona on April 5 before embarking on a three-game set against 2022 BIG EAST Regular Season Champion UConn, opening on April 7. UConn returns one of its five 2022 all-conference selections, setting up a new-look Huskies team.
The Johnnies will travel through the city to the Bronx for a contest with reigning Atlantic 10 champion Fordham for a midweek afternoon game (April 12). The crew will then play 12 of its next 13 games in the friendly confines of Queens, opening with a three-game series against Villanova (April 14-16). The midweek match at Fairfield on April 19 marks the last non-conference road game for St. John's. In 2022, the Red Storm won both games of its home-and-home series with the Stags.
Upon returning from the Bronx, the team will host its final BIG EAST home opponent of the season, Georgetown (April 21-23). Following back-to-back weekday games against Manhattan (April 26) and a doubleheader against Sacred Heart (April 27), the Johnnies will celebrate senior day with a doubleheader against Bucknell on March 29. The final Red Storm home game comes on May 3 against Stony Brook.
St. John's will close the regular season with a three-game series in Omaha, Neb., against Creighton on May 5-7. The Bluejays are led by returning senior Kailey Wilson, the 2022 BIG EAST Player of the Year. The Johnnies took two of three in 2022 from Creighton in Queens.
The BIG EAST Softball Championships have expanded to the top six teams at the end of the regular season standings, opposed to four in previous seasons. The six-team bracket will be played at the University of Connecticut on March 10-13. St. John's last appeared in the BIG EAST Championships in 2019, with its lone championship in 2015.
