St. John’s Falls at DePaul, 11-8

Saturday, April 16

Chicago, Ill. (Cacciatore Stadium)

2:30 p.m.

St. John's University

10-30, 4-14

DePaul

20-19, 9-6

St. John's

DePaul

4/16/2022 6:28:00 PM | Softball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Anese Thompson and Natalie Casto post home runs during the series finale

CHICAGO (April 16, 2022) – The St. John's softball team fell, 11-8, in an abbreviated six inning game at DePaul on Saturday afternoon.

Natalie Casto and Anese Thompson both went 1-for-3 at the plate as the freshmen each tallied a homerun. The homers marked Casto's first collegiate dinger and the third for Thompson.

London Jarrard went 2-for-4 as the Carlsbad, Calif., native recorded a three-RBI double, her 10th extra-base hit this year. Meisha Murray and Natalie Alheidt each tallied one hit and scored two runs while Melanie Santos and Carolyn Von Werne both added a hit and a run.

Hannah Mearns fell to 3-15 on the season as the Binghamton transfer gave up six runs on 11 hits. Carolina Zamudio earned the start for the Red Storm (10-30, 4-14 BIG EAST) as the Mexico City native pitched 2.1 innings of four-hit, five-run work.

Julyana Gomez was awarded her first win of the season as she pitched 3.0 innings of relief for the Blue Demons (20-19, 9-6 BIG EAST). The sophomore allowed just two runs and fanned three batters while starter Erin Hocker pitched 3.0 innings, allowing five hits and six runs.

St. John's got on the board early as Thompson shot a two-out blast over the left field fence to give the Johnnies a 1-0 edge. After a scoreless inning for Zamudio in the circle, Casto sent a one-out dinger to left field to put the Johnnies up, 2-0, in the top of the second.

Anna Freveletti kept the rally alive when she earned a base on balls before back-to-back singles from Von Werne and Alheidt loaded the bases. A fielder's choice added the second out in the inning, and Jarrard shot a three-RBI double to center field to give the Red Storm a 5-0 lead.

In the home half of the frame, Anna Wohlers recorded her third home run of the series to put DePaul on the board, 5-1. The DePaul rally did not last long as St. John's added in another tally in the top of third when Von Werne posted a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded to give the Red Storm a five-run lead once more.

The offense came alive for DePaul in the home half of the frame as the Blue Demons loaded the bases in a hurry with a pair of walks and a single. Kate Polucha emptied the bases with a triple, leaving the Johnnies ahead by a pair. After St. John's made a change in the circle, bringing in Mearns to pitch, the rally continued for the opposition as a single and a stolen base put a pair of runners into scoring position. A single from Nicole Sullivan tied the game before Mearns struck out the final two batters to end the third.

Gomez replaced Hocker in the circle in the top of the fourth and retired five of the next eight batters. After pitching a scoreless fourth, Mearns struggled in the fifth, giving up the go-ahead run on an RBI double before a pair of singles plated three more runs for DePaul.

Trailing 10-6, St. John's took back the momentum in the top of the sixth as Alheidt walked before Murray and Jarrard singled to load the bases. Santos smacked a two-RBI double to left field, scoring two, before Jarrard was called out at third on the play.

With the Red Storm trailing 10-8, Tori Meyer homered to right field to extend the DePaul lead. A pair of walks and a single loaded the bases for the Blue Demons. However, time constraints due to travel times forced the game to end, giving DePaul the series sweep over the Johnnies.

St. John's will face Iona at Red Storm Field on Wednesday, starting at 3 p.m. The home game will be streamed on FloSports.