St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
0-1
Kentucky
1-0
St. John’s Drops to No. 20 Kentucky and No. 21 Auburn to Open the Season
2/10/2023 5:14:00 PM | Softball
The Red Storm will continue the NFCA Leadoff Classic tomorrow against South Alabama and No. 8 Northwestern
Game 1
St. John's (0-2) stormed out of the gates with a three-run first inning. A pair of Johnnies reached base on a walk and a hit-by-pitch. This set the table for freshman Elanna Lysiak to record her first collegiate hit with an RBI double to right field that plated Jess Bianco. The cleanup hitter, Melanie Santos, came to the dish and scored Amy Mallah on a sac fly to straightaway center field. After Anese Thompson successfully moved Lysiak to third with a seeing-eye single through the left side to put runners at the corners with one out, Kentucky pitcher Kennedy Sullivan surrendered a wild pitch scoring the Johnnies' third run of the inning and forcing a pitching change. The new hurler retired the next two St. John's hitters to end the top half in favor of Red Storm, 3-0.
The Wildcats (1-0) quickly responded by loading the bases in the bottom half of the inning with one out. Taylor Ebbs knocked an inside-the-park grand slam to give the Wildcats a 4-3 lead. Kentucky tacked on two more runs on two solo shots.
St. John's threatened in the second inning with two hits, but stranded runners at first and second. The Wildcats added another run on an Erin Coffel home run in bottom portion of the inning.
Kentucky added seven more runs over the next two innings, taking a 14-3 lead into the fifth inning. Bianco led off the top of the fifth with a five-pitch walk and stole second to get into scoring position. After Santos was plunked to put runners at first and second with two outs, Bianco scored from second on a wild pitch to give the Johnnies their final run of the game before falling, 14-4.
Game 2
In a very quick turnaround, the Red Storm continued its day against No. 21 Auburn. The Tigers struck first in the home half of the opening frame with a leadoff home run. Auburn tacked on three more runs in the first inning on a walk and two hits.
Sabrina Seaton laced a single up the middle in the second inning, but was left stranded at first. Hannah Mearns limited the Tigers to five hits in the final five innings, and scoreless until the sixth frame, for her first complete game of the season.
In the top half of the fifth, Natalie Alheidt moved Stouffer to second on a sac bunt, but Stouffer was stranded at third to end the inning. With the bases loaded and one out in the bottom half of the inning, Mearns navigated the next two Tigers hitters to get out of the jam unscathed. Auburn tacked on two unanswered runs in the sixth, to clinch the victory, 6-0.
The Red Storm will be back in action tomorrow for another pair of games. The Johnnies will play South Alabama at 1:30 p.m. and then get a longer break before taking on No. 8 Northwestern at 6:30 p.m. Both games will be streamed by GameChanger with stats available on StatBroadcast.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Alexia Lacatena (1-0)
L: Zamudio, Carolina (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Lysiak, Elanna 1
RBI: Lysiak, Elanna 1 ; Santos, Melanie 1
SH: Casto, Natalie 1
SF: Santos, Melanie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bianco, Jess 2 ; Mallah, Amy 1 ; Lysiak, Elanna 1
SB: Bianco, Jess 1
HBP: Mallah, Amy 1 ; Santos, Melanie 1
Batting:
2B: Meeko Harrison 1
HR: Erin Coffel 2 ; Grace Lorsung 1 ; Taylor Ebbs 1 ; Kennedy Sullivan 1
RBI: Kayla Kowalik 1 ; Rylea Smith 1 ; Erin Coffel 2 ; Grace Lorsung 1 ; Taylor Ebbs 4 ; Kennedy Sullivan 1 ; Karissa Hamilton 1 ; Jenna Blanton 2
SF: Kayla Kowalik 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rylea Smith 1 ; Erin Coffel 3 ; Grace Lorsung 2 ; Taylor Ebbs 1 ; Chelsea Mack 1 ; Kennedy Sullivan 1 ; Vanessa Nesby 1 ; Meeko Harrison 1 ; Erica Thulen 1 ; Margaret Tobias 1 ; Jenna Blanton 1
