St. John’s Sweeps First Day of USF Tournament

Friday, February 25

Tampa, Fla. (USF Softball Stadium)

9 a.m.

St. John's University

1-4

Fairfield

1-5

St. John's

Fairfield

Photo by: Stephen Galvin/St. Johns Athleti

2/25/2022 4:08:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Box Score (Game One)Box Score (Game Two)Photo Gallery

Red Storm picks up wins against Fairfield and Saint Joseph’s

TAMPA, Fla. (Feb. 25, 2022) – The St. John's softball program excelled on the first day of the USF Tournament, picking up two wins on Friday the USF Softball Stadium.

Game One

Powered by a five-run second inning, the Red Storm picked up its first win of the season with a 7-1 decision over Fairfield.

Freshman Carolina Zamudio pitched all seven innings and tallied 12 strikeouts. Her dozen punch-outs mark the first time a Red Storm student-athlete has tallied double-digit strikeouts since Madison Morris struck fanned 11 on April 6, 2019, at Creighton.

London Jarrard, Melanie Santos and Anese Thompson each picked up two hits apiece. Thompson launched her first collegiate homer while Jarrard went 2-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and two runs scored. Santos turned in a 2-for-3 effort with an RBI, a walk and a run scored.

Jumped in front early, as Thompson belted the team's first home run of the season to give the Johnnies a 1-0 lead after one.

In its best offensive inning of the spring, the Johnnies logged five runs on five hits in the top of the second. With runners on first and second, Kamryn Tiumalu sent a single through the right side to bring home Santos. After a Natalie Casto single to load the bases, Jarrard laced a two-bagger down the right-field line to score Tiumalu and Anna Freveletti. Casto scored on a wild pitch before Santos singled home Jarrard for the final run of the inning.

After a scoreless third inning, Jarrard singled, stole second and scored on an error by the catcher, pushing the Red Storm lead to 7-0.

Fairfield's lone run came in the sixth inning when Kaitlin Hoffman singled to bring Ava Cohen home.

Game Two

St. John's notched its second win of the day behind Hannah Mearns' first collegiate shutout, 6-0, against Saint Joseph's.

Jarrard and Meisha Murray both recorded three hits for the Johnnies. Jarrard drove in three runs and scored another while Murray scored three of the team's six runs.

Mearns scattered four hits and three walks over 7.0 scoreless innings and matched a career-high with nine strikeouts.

After stranding two Hawks on base in the top of the first, the Red Storm pushed across two runs in the home half of the frame. Murray led off with a base knock before advancing to third and coming home a Jarrard single to right. The freshman then stole second, took third on a fly ball to right and stole home to push the Red Storm lead to a pair.

Both teams were held scoreless until the bottom of the fifth, when three straight singles to lead off the inning set the table for an Amy Mallah sac fly to center, moving the Red Storm ahead by three.

After holding the Hawks off the board in the top of the sixth, the Red Storm responded with three insurance runs to all but seal the contest. A two-out rally loaded the bases for Jarrard, who poked a two-RBI single to center. After a pitching change, Murray stole home to give the Red Storm its final run of the day.

St. John's will be back in action on Saturday when it takes on Saint Joseph's at 11:30 a.m. and No. 25/25 USF at 4:30 p.m. The game against USF will be streamed live on ESPN+.