No. 5 St. John’s Falls Short in Extra Innings to No. 1 Villanova, 5-4

Thursday, May 9

Providence, R.I. (Glay Field)

1 p.m.

St. John's University

30-26

Villanova

29-22

St. John's

Villanova

Photo by: Foley-Photography.com

No. 5 St. John’s Falls Short in Extra Innings to No. 1 Villanova, 5-4

5/9/2024 4:45:00 PM | Softball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

The Red Storm will now take on sixth-seeded Butler tonight at 7 p.m.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The St. John's softball team fell in extra innings to top-seeded Villanova, 5-4, on day two of the 2024 BIG EAST Softball Championships presented by JEEP.

After falling behind in the first, the Red Storm (30-26, 13-11 BIG EAST) plated four runs in the second inning to take a three-run lead. The Wildcats (29-22, 19-5 BIG EAST) knotted the game in the sixth before eventually walking it off in the eighth.

Sydney Totarsky helped lead the Red Storm offense, reaching base three times with a double, single and a walk, while scoring once. The outfielder has been on fire to start the tournament, recording four hits in the two games.

Cassidy Stouffer delivered the biggest hit of the day for St. John's, drilling a two-RBI double off the wall in left-center field to spark the two-out rally in the second frame.

London Slade and Jess Bianco each notched an RBI single in the second to round out the scoring for the Johnnies.

Villanova jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the first after an Elaina Wagner walk and Ally Jones single put two on with one out. Lily St. Jean then grounded out to bring home the first run of the game, 1-0. With a runner now on third, Serafinko limited the damage, generating a groundball to second base for the third out.

The Red Storm answered back in a big way in the top of the second, continuing its hot hitting from yesterday. Totarsky crushed a lead-off double to the wall in center field before Amy Mallah walked to put two on with one out. An out later, Stouffer delivered a clutch two-out double off the wall in the left-center field gap to give the Johnnies their first lead, 2-1. The two-out rally continued with both Slade and Bianco sending RBI singles into left field to extend St. John's edge to 4-1.

Starter Ana Serafinko settled into the circle after the rocky first, tossing three straight hitless frames to preserve St. John's three-run advantage after four innings of play.

The Wildcats' offense found life again in the bottom of the fifth, plating three runs capped by a St. Jean RBI double to knot the game, 4-4.

In the home half of the sixth and seventh, Serafinko battled back, notching a pair of blank frames to send the game into extra innings.

Villanova's Kelsey White broke the tie with a walk-off RBI double in the bottom of the eighth to secure a 5-4 victory for the Wildcats.

St. John's will continue tournament play against the sixth-seeded Butler Bulldogs tonight at approximately 7 p.m. on the BIG EAST Digital Network (BEDN). The Bulldogs won the first game today against Seton Hall, 9-0, in five innings, after dropping their opening game to Creighton last night.