Ana Serafinko Tosses No-Hitter in Five Innings Against DePaul, 8-0

Thursday, March 28

Chicago, Ill. (Cacciatore Stadium)

3:30 p.m.

St. John's University

17-16, 0

DePaul

7-21, 0

St. John's

DePaul

Ana Serafinko Tosses No-Hitter in Five Innings Against DePaul, 8-0

3/28/2024 6:51:00 PM | Softball

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Serafinko records first Red Storm run rule no-hitter since 2017

CHICAGO – Sophomore pitcher Ana Serafinko registered the program's first no-hitter since 2017 in the St. John's softball team's 8-0 run rule victory over DePaul on Thursday.

Serafinko's no-hitter marks the first for the Red Storm since March 26, 2017, when Tori Free threw five hitless frames against Providence in an 11-0 win. With the no-no, the Chino Hills, Calif., native earned her fifth victory of the season and lowered her ERA to a team-best 2.11 in 2024.

The two-way player also had a career day at the dish, going 2-for-3 with a grand slam in the first inning. The long ball marked Serafinko's second in just 10 at-bats this season.

Melanie Santos crushed her second home run of the year with a solo bomb in the top of the fifth on her way to finishing the contest 2-for-2 with a hit-by-pitch.

Shortstop London Jarrard smoked her team-leading 11th double in the opening frame, bringing home the first run of the game. The junior now has 34 RBIs on the season while batting .349.

Elanna Lysiak and Sydney Totarsky each chipped in an RBI to round out the scoring for the Johnnies.

The Red Storm (17-16, 6-4) offense came out swinging, plating six runs on six hits in the opening frame. Jess Bianco led off with a single into right field ahead of swiping her 18^thbase of the season. Jarrard then stepped into the box and crushed a double to the right-field wall, bringing home Bianco to crack the scoreboard, 1-0. After back-to-back putouts for DePaul, Lysiak kept the inning going with a clutch RBI single down the left-field line, 2-0. Santos then singled and Amy Mallah was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Serafinko. The sophomore crushed a grand slam over the scoreboard in right-center, helping her own cause and giving St. John's a 6-0 advantage after the top of the first.

In the circle, Serafinko continued to set the tone, striking out a pair over her first two innings of work.

Santos was plunked to open the away half of the third and was pinch ran for by London Slade. Two batters later, Serafinko drilled her second hit in as many at-bats with a sharp single into left field, advancing Slade to third. Totarsky brought Slade around to score shortly after, collecting her eighth RBI of the season with a groundout to third, 7-0.

Serafinko found herself in some trouble with consecutive walks to open the third, putting runners on first and second with no outs. The lefty settled in and retired the next three batters, including a strikeout of Carly Alvers to end the inning and hold the Blue Demons (7-21, 2-5) hitless through four innings.

The Red Storm pitcher retired DePaul in the order with a 1-2-3 fourth inning, marking six straight outs for the left-hander.

On the first pitch in the top of the fifth, Santos clobbered a solo home run over the wall in center field to extend St. John's lead to 8-0.

Serafinko finished off DePaul in the bottom of the fifth, completing the run rule no-hitter with a groundout to third and securing the eight-run victory.

St. John's will continue its BIG EAST road series in the Windy City against DePaul on Friday at Cacciatore Stadium. The first pitch is slated for 2 p.m. on FloSports.