St. John’s Drops Doubleheader to UC San Diego

Tuesday, February 27

La Jolla, Calif. (Triton Softball Field)

4 p.m.

St. John's University

5-7

UC San Diego

2-10

St. John's

UC San Diego

2/27/2024 9:49:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Box Score (Game 1)Box Score (Game 2)

The Red Storm fell, 6-2, in game one before dropping game two, 7-5

LA JOLLA, Calif. – The St. John's softball team (5-8) dropped both games of the doubleheader against UC San Diego (3-10) on Tuesday. The Red Storm fell, 6-2, in game one before dropping game two, 7-5.

Jess Bianco finished the afternoon a combined 4-for-7 with a run scored and a walk to lead the Red Storm offense.

Shortstop London Jarrard launched her second home run of the season and finished the day with three RBIs to take the team lead with nine on the season.

Elanna Lysiak and Natalie Casto each recorded two hits and a combined three RBIs for the Johnnies.

Game 1

St. John's Hannah Mearns and UC San Diego's India Caldwell engaged in an early pitcher's duel to start game one. The two pitchers completed two scoreless frames, keeping the score at 0-0 into the third.

Bianco led off the third with an infield single after an eight-pitch at-bat to tally her second hit of the game. Jarrard did not waste time bringing Bianco home, launching a two-run home run into right field for her second round-tripper of the season to give St. John's a 2-0 lead.

The Tritons responded in the home half with two runners on and two outs, Gabby Williams, Alexa DeMarse and Brooklyn Lee recorded three consecutive RBI hits to give UCSD the 4-2 lead.

Lysiak drilled a single up the middle to start the top of the fourth for St. John's. An out later, Bianco drew a walk to reach base for the third time in as many at-bats to put two on with one out. After a wild pitch advancing the runners to second and third, Tritons' Caldwell battled back to get the next two batters and leave the inning unscathed, 4-2.

UC San Diego's Deena Pederson hit an RBI double in the bottom of the fourth to tack on another Triton run, 5-2. Reliever Carolina Zamudio fought back to record the final out of the frame, leaving the runner stranded.

The scoreboard remained the same until the bottom of the sixth when Pederson added another run for the Tritons on a fielder's choice, 6-2.

Caldwell finished the complete game in the top of the seventh to give the Tritons a 6-2 victory in game one.

Game 2

After a 1-2-3 top of the first, UC San Diego's starter Gabby Williams helped her cause with an RBI single to give the Tritons an early 1-0 lead in game two.

The Red Storm offense came to life in the second inning, taking a 4-1 lead after bringing nine batters to the plate. Catcher Anese Thompson started the spark with a single between short and third. Amy Mallah then lined a ball into center that glanced off the fielder's glove on its way to the wall, advancing Thompson to third and herself to second. Lysiak plated Thompson after reaching first on an error by the first baseman before leading a double-steal play that brought Mallah home and gave St. John's the 2-1 advantage. The St. John's offense was not done as Casto sliced a single into right field bringing home Lysiak, 3-1. Bianco followed up by slapping a single over third before Jarrard drove Casto home on an RBI single up the gut, 4-1.

UC San Diego responded quickly, generating two baserunners with a walk and a St. John's miscue. The runners advanced to second and third on a groundout ahead of Lexi O'Gorman driving the pair in on a single up the middle, 4-3. Right fielder Deena Pederson knotted the game, 4-4, by singling to right and plating O'Gorman.

In the top of the third, Lysiak mashed a two-out RBI double into right-center after Mallah reached on a hit-by-pitch and advanced to second on a wild pitch to give the Red Storm the lead once again, 5-4.

The Tritons answered in the home half with Williams hitting a solo home run to center to even the game at five apiece. Alexa Demarse continued the inning with a single before being brought home on an RBI double to left center by Hailey Mulligan to give UCSD the 6-5 lead after three.

After a scoreless fourth, Thompson smoked a double over the left fielder's head to start the fifth. Triton reliever Shelby Thompson worked her way out of the threat, recording three consecutive outs.

Sophomore Loreley Francia pitched her second consecutive blank inning of relief, striking out the final Triton in the bottom of the fifth to hold the UCSD to just one, 6-5.

The score remained until the bottom of the sixth when DeMarse singled to tack on an insurance run for the Tritons, 7-5.

UC San Diego's lead proved to be too much for the Johnnies in the top of the seventh as the game finished with the Tritons on top, 7-5.

St. John's will be back in action tomorrow against UC Riverside at 5 p.m. ET. The Red Storm will conclude their West Coast swing at the Lancers Invite hosted by California Baptist from March 1-3.