St. John's University Athletics
Saturday, March 16
Queens, N.Y. (Red Storm Field)
1 p.m.
St. John's University
12-13, 0
6
vs
1
Butler
13-14, 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Butler
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
6
1
St. John's
0
2
2
1
1
0
X
6
9
2
St. John’s Downs Butler, 6-1
3/16/2024 4:42:00 PM | Softball
Five extra-base hits allow the Red Storm to take game two of the series with Bulldogs
QUEENS, N.Y. – The St. John's softball team (12-13, 3-2) took down Butler (13-13, 2-3), 6-1, for the second consecutive day in Queens on Saturday.
The Red Storm offense tallied two home runs and five total extra-base hits to win game two of the series against the Bulldogs.
Starter Loreley Francia was terrific in the circle, notching her fourth complete game of the season while only allowing one run on six hits with 10 strikeouts. The Spring, Texas native leads the St. John's pitching staff with 67 punchouts in 60.2 innings of work this season.
Melanie Santos drilled her first home run of the season off of the left-field scoreboard during the second inning. The first baseman finished the day 2-for-3 from the dish with two RBIs.
Shortstop London Jarrard launched her team-leading fifth home run over the center-field wall in the third inning. The junior now has reached 30 RBIs in 2024 to lead the BIG EAST Conference.
Jess Bianco and Amy Mallah each tallied two hits and a run scored apiece to spark the Red Storm offense at the top and bottom of the lineup.
Francia helped set the tone early for St. John's, striking out three through two innings to keep the score blank at 0-0.
With two outs in the bottom of the second, Mallah drove a double into right-center before Santos came to the dish and crushed a two-run homer off to left, providing the Johnnies with a 2-0 advantage.
After another scoreless inning of work from Francia, the Red Storm offense struck quickly in the bottom of the third. Bianco led off the frame with a single up the middle ahead of Jarrard launching the second two-run shot in as many innings over the wall in center, 4-0.
The Bulldogs found themselves with a scoring opportunity in the top of the fourth when Paige Dorsett led off the inning with a double to right-center. However, Francia remained unphased and sat down the next three batters, punching out two, to keep the score, 4-0.
Natalie Casto started off the bottom of the fourth by rocketing a double off the center field wall to give St. John's a runner-in-scoring position once again. Mallah then laid down a perfect bunt in front of home plate to put runners on the corners with no outs. An out later, Sydney Totarsky picked up the RBI with a fielder's choice to shortstop, plating Casto and extending St. John's lead to 5-0.
Francia continued to deal in the fifth, recording a 1-2-3 inning while picking up her eighth strikeout of the ballgame.
The Johnnies rallied with two outs in the bottom of the fifth to plate one more run. Katie Whittaker sparked the rally by pulling a double down the left-field line ahead of Ana Serafinko drawing a walk to put two runners on. Paige Sterling and London Slade then entered the game as pinch runners for Whittaker and Serafinko, respectively. Sterling stole third before Slade faked out the Bulldogs catcher on a double-steal play, allowing Sterling to swipe home, 6-0.
In the top of the sixth, Butler finally cracked the scoreboard following a Makena Alexander RBI single that plated Ella White, who was hit by a pitch earlier in the inning, 6-1.
The Bulldogs flirted with a potential rally in the top of the seventh, getting two runners on with one out, but Francia was able to seal the 6-1 Red Storm victory by recording the final two outs.
St. John's will look to complete the series sweep of Butler at Red Storm Field on Sunday at noon.
The Red Storm offense tallied two home runs and five total extra-base hits to win game two of the series against the Bulldogs.
Starter Loreley Francia was terrific in the circle, notching her fourth complete game of the season while only allowing one run on six hits with 10 strikeouts. The Spring, Texas native leads the St. John's pitching staff with 67 punchouts in 60.2 innings of work this season.
Melanie Santos drilled her first home run of the season off of the left-field scoreboard during the second inning. The first baseman finished the day 2-for-3 from the dish with two RBIs.
Shortstop London Jarrard launched her team-leading fifth home run over the center-field wall in the third inning. The junior now has reached 30 RBIs in 2024 to lead the BIG EAST Conference.
Jess Bianco and Amy Mallah each tallied two hits and a run scored apiece to spark the Red Storm offense at the top and bottom of the lineup.
Francia helped set the tone early for St. John's, striking out three through two innings to keep the score blank at 0-0.
With two outs in the bottom of the second, Mallah drove a double into right-center before Santos came to the dish and crushed a two-run homer off to left, providing the Johnnies with a 2-0 advantage.
After another scoreless inning of work from Francia, the Red Storm offense struck quickly in the bottom of the third. Bianco led off the frame with a single up the middle ahead of Jarrard launching the second two-run shot in as many innings over the wall in center, 4-0.
The Bulldogs found themselves with a scoring opportunity in the top of the fourth when Paige Dorsett led off the inning with a double to right-center. However, Francia remained unphased and sat down the next three batters, punching out two, to keep the score, 4-0.
Natalie Casto started off the bottom of the fourth by rocketing a double off the center field wall to give St. John's a runner-in-scoring position once again. Mallah then laid down a perfect bunt in front of home plate to put runners on the corners with no outs. An out later, Sydney Totarsky picked up the RBI with a fielder's choice to shortstop, plating Casto and extending St. John's lead to 5-0.
Francia continued to deal in the fifth, recording a 1-2-3 inning while picking up her eighth strikeout of the ballgame.
The Johnnies rallied with two outs in the bottom of the fifth to plate one more run. Katie Whittaker sparked the rally by pulling a double down the left-field line ahead of Ana Serafinko drawing a walk to put two runners on. Paige Sterling and London Slade then entered the game as pinch runners for Whittaker and Serafinko, respectively. Sterling stole third before Slade faked out the Bulldogs catcher on a double-steal play, allowing Sterling to swipe home, 6-0.
In the top of the sixth, Butler finally cracked the scoreboard following a Makena Alexander RBI single that plated Ella White, who was hit by a pitch earlier in the inning, 6-1.
The Bulldogs flirted with a potential rally in the top of the seventh, getting two runners on with one out, but Francia was able to seal the 6-1 Red Storm victory by recording the final two outs.
St. John's will look to complete the series sweep of Butler at Red Storm Field on Sunday at noon.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Francia, Loreley (5-3)
L: PETRAN, Katie (8-2)
Batting:
2B: DORSETT, Paige 1 ; HOOSEN, Monique 1 ; CARTER, Sydney 1
RBI: ALEXANDER, Makena 1
SH: LEHNER, Cate 1
Base Running:
RUNS: WHITE, Ella 1
HBP: WHITE, Ella 1
Batting:
2B: Whittaker, Katie 1 ; Casto, Natalie 1 ; Mallah, Amy 1
HR: Jarrard, London 1 ; Santos, Melanie 1
RBI: Jarrard, London 2 ; Santos, Melanie 2 ; Totarsky, Sydney 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bianco, Jess 1 ; Jarrard, London 1 ; Sterling, Paige 1 ; Casto, Natalie 1 ; Mallah, Amy 1 ; Santos, Melanie 1
SB: Sterling, Paige 2 ; Totarsky, Sydney 1
CS: Casto, Natalie 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
SS/OF
/ Softball
UTIL
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
UTIL
/ Softball
UTIL
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
SS/UT
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
C/UT
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