St. John’s Topples Le Moyne and Youngstown State to Open the Garnet and Gold Tournament

Friday, February 21

Rock Hill, S.C. (Terry Field)

12:30 p.m.

St. John's University

4-6-1

Le Moyne

0-6

St. John's

Dolphins

St. John’s Topples Le Moyne and Youngstown State to Open the Garnet and Gold Tournament

2/21/2025 7:08:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Box Score (Le Moyne)Box Score (Youngstown State)

Serafinko tosses 17 strikeouts against the Penguins, marking the program's highest in a game since 2009

By: Josh McLaren

ROCK HILL, S.C. – The St. John's softball team (5-6-1) toppled both Le Moyne and Youngstown State to pick up two victories on the opening day of Winthrop's Garnet and Gold Tournament on Friday.

The Johnnies opened the afternoon by engineering an eight-run second inning to take down the Dolphins, 12-3, in five innings of play. In the day's second contest, starting pitcher Ana Serafinko struck out 17 batters to lead the Red Storm to a 9-1 triumph over the Penguins in six innings.

The St. John's offense outscored its opponents by a combined score of 21-4 while recording 27 hits in total on the afternoon. Game one starter Loreley Francia and Serafinko combined to strike out 36 batters between the two contests, helping the Red Storm win both games in dominating fashion.

Serafinko's 17 punchouts mark the highest single-game total for the program since Linzee Sumrall struck out 16 batters against Utah on March 13, 2009. The left-hander struck out 17 of the 18 outs recorded while allowing one unearned run on four hits. Serafinko now leads the squad with 46 punchouts in 30.1 innings pitched this season.

London Jarrard tallied seven RBIs between the two contests, going a combined 5-for-9 on the day. The shortstop cranked her first home run of the season with a three-run shot to enforce the run-ahead rule against Youngstown State in the bottom of the sixth. Jarrard also set the new career program record of 46 doubles, breaking Chelsea Durning's mark of 45 two-baggers, which has been held since 2011. The senior is now batting .316 on the season and is leading the team with nine RBIs.

Junior Jess Bianco was on fire from the dish, recording three hits in each of the contests to go a combined 6-for-7 with four RBIs and a pair of doubles. The Cherry Hill, N.J., product leads the Johnnies with 15 hits and three two-baggers on the year.

Francia picked up her team-leading third win in the opening game against Le Moyne. The right-hander tossed four scoreless innings while punching out nine batters to help lead the Red Storm to the win. Francia improved her team-best ERA to 1.53 and has 43 strikeouts in 36.2 innings pitched.

Freshman Madison Konopka continued to impress with a pair of two-hit performances. In the latter game, Konopka drilled the second double of her career into the left-center gap to bring home two runs. The third baseman is now batting .310 with 13 hits and five RBIs through the first 12 games of her career.

Game 1

The Red Storm jumped out to an early lead in the opening contest when Bianco singled to third and swiped second before Jarrard lined an RBI single back up the middle, 1-0. After Le Moyne (0-7) recorded the second out of the inning, Anese Thompson, Celia Macari and Melanie Santos were consecutively hit by a pitch to bring home Jarrard and give the Johnnies a two-run advantage after the top of the first.

In the bottom half, Francia started the contest with a pair of punchouts before Arianna Exarchakis hit a double to center field. Francia stranded the runner, recording her third strikeout of the opening frame, 2-0.

St. John's continued its attack in the top of the second, plating eight runs in the inning. Elanna Lysiak started the frame by drawing a walk before Bianco and Konopka both singled to load the bases. Jarrard then delivered her second RBI hit in as many innings with a two-RBI single through the right side, 4-0. Cassidy Stouffer then joined the fun, lacing an RBI single into right-center, scoring Konopka, 5-0. Santos brought home two more with a base hit into left field and Lysiak recorded an infield single to plate another, 8-0. Bianco capped the inning with a two-RBI double into left-center, giving the Red Storm a 10-0 lead after the first two and a half innings of play.

Francia kept it rolling inside the circle, striking out the side in the bottom of the second before three more punchouts between the third and fourth inning, bringing her total to nine and holding the Red Storm's 10-run advantage.

Macari led off the fifth with a single before redshirt freshman Sarah Post recorded her first career hit with a pinch-hit single to center field. After an out, Lysiak and Bianco both drew walks to bring home another run, 11-0. Konopka then grounded out to second, scoring Post to provide the Johnnies with a 12-run lead.

Carolina Zamudio entered in relief for Francia in the bottom of the fifth. Le Moyne finally cracked the scoreboard with three runs, including an Exarchakis two-RBI single, but Zamudio recorded the final out to enforce the run-ahead rule and give the Red Storm a 12-3 victory after five innings of play.

Game 2

Youngstown State (0-7) struck early in game two with Ayla Ray plating the first run of the game on a wild pitch to give the Penguins an early 1-0 lead.

The Red Storm responded right back with a Stouffer RBI single into left field, bringing home Jarrard who recorded a base hit earlier in the frame to knot the contest at 1-1 after the first inning of play.

Serafinko settled in after the opening frame, striking out the side in the second before adding two more punchouts in the third to bring her total to eight strikeouts through three, 1-1.

Konopka led off the home half of the third with a single down the left-field line and advanced to second on a fielding error. After moving to third on a groundout, Konopka was brought home on a Stouffer sacrifice fly to center field, breaking the tie, 2-1.

In the top of the fourth, Serafinko continued her dominance in the circle, striking out the side for the third time in the ballgame to give her 11 punchouts through four innings of work, maintaining St. John's one-run edge.

The St. John's offense stayed hot in the home half of the fourth, with Macari starting it off with a single before Natalie Castosingled to right-center, putting two on with one out. After the second out was recorded, Bianco slapped a two-RBI double down the left-field line, 4-1. Konopka and Jarrard then followed up with RBI doubles of their own, bringing home a run each to give St. John's a 6-1 lead after four innings of play.

Serafinko continued to have her way with the Penguin's lineup, striking out the side in both the fifth and sixth inning, upping her total in the contest to 17 punchouts.

Lysiak led off the bottom of the sixth with a walk before Bianco tallied her third hit of the contest, bunting for a single to put two on. Jarrard then drilled a three-run home run over the right-field wall to enforce the run-ahead rule and give the Red Storm a 9-1 win.

St. John's will continue to play in the Garnet and Gold Tournament when it takes on Brown at 12:30 p.m., followed by Winthrop at 3 p.m. Live Stats for both games will be available on RedStormSports.com and the Red Storm's contest with the Eagles will be streamed on ESPN+.