St. John's University Athletics
St. John’s Edged by Seton Hall in Series Finale, 4-2
4/2/2023 2:20:00 PM | Softball
Loreley Francia retires 16 of 17 batters faced
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. (April 2, 2023) – The St. John's softball team fell to Seton Hall 4-2 in the series finale on Sunday afternoon at Mike Sheppard, Sr. Field.
Seton Hall improved to 20-11 overall and 9-3 BIG EAST play while the Red Storm dropped to 13-17, 4-5 BIG EAST.
Freshman Loreley Francia held the Pirates to just one base runner in 5.1 innings out of the bullpen. The Spring, Tex. native retired 16 of the 17 batters she faced, striking out six Pirates.
For the third consecutive game, the Pirates struck first in the first inning. After a lead-off bunt single, back-to-back extra-base hits scored the first two runs of the ballgame for The Hall. Later in the inning, Erin Howard's 2-RBI single extended the lead to 4-0. Francia entered in relief of starter Hannah Mearns and struck out the ninth batter of the inning to end the frame.
With two outs in the third inning, Jess Bianco legged an infield hit to the shortstop for the first hit of the game. This set the table for the Queen of Doubles, London Jarrard, to notch her BIG EAST-leading 14th double and 18th RBI scoring Bianco for the first run of the game.
Francia set down the Pirates 1-2-3 in the third to bring up the Johnnies offense up once again. Anese Thompson led off the fourth inning with a line drive off the fence in center for a leadoff single. With two outs, Sydney Totarsky drove her in with a base hit up the middle to cut the deficit to 4-2.
The relief pitchers took over allowing just two baserunners in the final three innings of play. Francia fired four 1-2-3 innings in her appearance. Seton Hall reliever Kelsey Carr allowed just one of her ten batters faced to reach, ending the game with a 1-2-3 seventh inning.
St. John's will host Iona on Wednesday next week before traveling UConn for a three-game Easter Weekend Series starting on Friday in Storrs, Conn.
Seton Hall improved to 20-11 overall and 9-3 BIG EAST play while the Red Storm dropped to 13-17, 4-5 BIG EAST.
Freshman Loreley Francia held the Pirates to just one base runner in 5.1 innings out of the bullpen. The Spring, Tex. native retired 16 of the 17 batters she faced, striking out six Pirates.
For the third consecutive game, the Pirates struck first in the first inning. After a lead-off bunt single, back-to-back extra-base hits scored the first two runs of the ballgame for The Hall. Later in the inning, Erin Howard's 2-RBI single extended the lead to 4-0. Francia entered in relief of starter Hannah Mearns and struck out the ninth batter of the inning to end the frame.
With two outs in the third inning, Jess Bianco legged an infield hit to the shortstop for the first hit of the game. This set the table for the Queen of Doubles, London Jarrard, to notch her BIG EAST-leading 14th double and 18th RBI scoring Bianco for the first run of the game.
Francia set down the Pirates 1-2-3 in the third to bring up the Johnnies offense up once again. Anese Thompson led off the fourth inning with a line drive off the fence in center for a leadoff single. With two outs, Sydney Totarsky drove her in with a base hit up the middle to cut the deficit to 4-2.
The relief pitchers took over allowing just two baserunners in the final three innings of play. Francia fired four 1-2-3 innings in her appearance. Seton Hall reliever Kelsey Carr allowed just one of her ten batters faced to reach, ending the game with a 1-2-3 seventh inning.
St. John's will host Iona on Wednesday next week before traveling UConn for a three-game Easter Weekend Series starting on Friday in Storrs, Conn.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: BABIK, Sydney (5-2)
L: Mearns, Hannah (4-8)
S: CARR, Kelsey (1)

Batting:
2B: Jarrard, London 1
RBI: Jarrard, London 1 ; Totarsky, Sydney 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bianco, Jess 1 ; Thompson, Anese 1

Batting:
2B: SMITH, Shelby 1
3B: ALLEN, Lela 1
RBI: ALLEN, Lela 1 ; SMITH, Shelby 1 ; HOWARD, Erin 2
Base Running:
RUNS: HILL, Taylor 1 ; ALLEN, Lela 1 ; SMITH, Shelby 1 ; WINGO, Abby 1
Game Leaders
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