St. John's University Athletics

St. John’s Ends 23-Win Season on BIG EAST Tournament Loss to DePaul, 8-4
5/11/2023 10:07:00 PM | Softball
The Red Storm were the fifth-team left standing in the BIG EAST overcoming their preseason prediction
STORRS, Conn. – The St. John's softball team season culminated in Storrs after an 8-4 loss to DePaul in the nightcap of the second day of the BIG EAST Tournament.
St. John's (23-29) never quit rallying from eight-down to cutting the deficit to just four runs. The comeback Johnnies were down to their final strike and Peyton Cody extended the season two more innings with her eighth round-tripper of the season.
Four Johnnies belted multi-hit performances in its ten-hit effort against the Blue Demons. Cody and Katie Whittaker belted homers to extend the Red Storm's home run streak to nine straight games.
Neither team was able to tilt the needle in the first two innings. Hannah Mearns sat the Blue Demons down in order in the first frame, and struck out the final two batters in the second. The Red Storm pushed two runners to scoring position in each of the first two frames, but were unable to capitalize.
The Blue Demons broke the scoreless tie in the top of the third. In an inning that saw three different pitchers for the Johnnies, DePaul brought 11 batters to the plate in the inning, scoring five runs on three hits, three walks and two hit batters. Three consecutive singles by Brooke Johnson, Anna Wohlers and Tori Meyer plated four Blue Demons to take a 4-0 lead. Later in the inning, a walk with the bases loaded forced in the fifth run of the game. Loreley Francia entered the circle for the Red Storm and struck out the final Blue Demon of the inning to shut down the rally.
DePaul tacked on another run in the fourth inning. After a lead-off single, back-to-back singles scored the sixth run of the game for the Blue Demons. Francia shut the door on the frame retiring the final two Blue Demons of the inning.
The Blue Demons put up another pair of runs in the fifth, to take an 8-0 lead and force the Johnnies to score in the bottom half or go home. After a lead-off walk, Nicole Sullivan blasted her seventh home run of the season.
The Johnnies faced an early exit from the game trailing by eight, but Cody had something to say about it. With two outs and a 1-2 count, Cody faced the end of the Red Storm season in the fifth inning. But, she blasted the next pitch off the top of the wall in center for a two-run shot to score Whittaker and prolong the game shortening the deficit to six, 8-2.
In relief, Ana Serafinko kept the Johnnies in reach firing the final eight outs of the game, striking out two and allowing just one hit, facing the minimum.
The Johnnies didn't do without a fight as Whittaker belted her 10th home run of the season, a two-run shot to bring the Johnnies with four with two outs. DePaul forced a lineout to end the game, and will advance to the next round on Friday against No. 2 Villanova.
St. John's ends its season showing much promise for the years to come, proving the doubters wrong finishing fifth in the BIG EAST and with its first 20-win season since 2019.
St. John's (23-29) never quit rallying from eight-down to cutting the deficit to just four runs. The comeback Johnnies were down to their final strike and Peyton Cody extended the season two more innings with her eighth round-tripper of the season.
Four Johnnies belted multi-hit performances in its ten-hit effort against the Blue Demons. Cody and Katie Whittaker belted homers to extend the Red Storm's home run streak to nine straight games.
Neither team was able to tilt the needle in the first two innings. Hannah Mearns sat the Blue Demons down in order in the first frame, and struck out the final two batters in the second. The Red Storm pushed two runners to scoring position in each of the first two frames, but were unable to capitalize.
The Blue Demons broke the scoreless tie in the top of the third. In an inning that saw three different pitchers for the Johnnies, DePaul brought 11 batters to the plate in the inning, scoring five runs on three hits, three walks and two hit batters. Three consecutive singles by Brooke Johnson, Anna Wohlers and Tori Meyer plated four Blue Demons to take a 4-0 lead. Later in the inning, a walk with the bases loaded forced in the fifth run of the game. Loreley Francia entered the circle for the Red Storm and struck out the final Blue Demon of the inning to shut down the rally.
DePaul tacked on another run in the fourth inning. After a lead-off single, back-to-back singles scored the sixth run of the game for the Blue Demons. Francia shut the door on the frame retiring the final two Blue Demons of the inning.
The Blue Demons put up another pair of runs in the fifth, to take an 8-0 lead and force the Johnnies to score in the bottom half or go home. After a lead-off walk, Nicole Sullivan blasted her seventh home run of the season.
The Johnnies faced an early exit from the game trailing by eight, but Cody had something to say about it. With two outs and a 1-2 count, Cody faced the end of the Red Storm season in the fifth inning. But, she blasted the next pitch off the top of the wall in center for a two-run shot to score Whittaker and prolong the game shortening the deficit to six, 8-2.
In relief, Ana Serafinko kept the Johnnies in reach firing the final eight outs of the game, striking out two and allowing just one hit, facing the minimum.
The Johnnies didn't do without a fight as Whittaker belted her 10th home run of the season, a two-run shot to bring the Johnnies with four with two outs. DePaul forced a lineout to end the game, and will advance to the next round on Friday against No. 2 Villanova.
St. John's ends its season showing much promise for the years to come, proving the doubters wrong finishing fifth in the BIG EAST and with its first 20-win season since 2019.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: POCHIE, Abbey (3-8)
L: Mearns, Hannah (7-14)
Batting:
HR: SULLIVAN, Nicole 1
RBI: SULLIVAN, Nicole 3 ; JOHNSON, Brooke 1 ; WOHLERS, Anna 1 ; MEYER, Tori 2 ; ALVERS, Carly 1
Base Running:
RUNS: SULLIVAN, Nicole 2 ; JOHNSON, Brooke 2 ; WOHLERS, Anna 1 ; ALVERS, Carly 1 ; TALBOT, Addison 1 ; POCHIE, Abbey 1
HBP: COSGROVE, Baylee 1 ; ALVERS, Carly 1

Batting:
HR: Whittaker, Katie 1 ; Cody, Peyton 1
RBI: Whittaker, Katie 2 ; Cody, Peyton 2
SH: Whittaker, Katie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bianco, Jess 1 ; Whittaker, Katie 1 ; Marra, Maeve 1 ; Cody, Peyton 1
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