St. John's University Athletics
Friday, February 7
Houston, Texas (Husky Field)
11 a.m.
St. John's University
at
Houston Christian
Softball to Open 2025 Campaign in Texas
2/5/2025 4:03:00 PM | Softball
Game Notes (PDF)Live Stats (Houston Christian)Live Stats (Houston)Watch (Houston)Live Stats (Texas)Live Stats (Lamar)Live Stats (New Mexico)
The Red Storm will face five different opponents across the opening weekend
QUEENS, N.Y. – The St. John's softball team is set to open the 2025 season in Texas, facing five different opponents over the course of three days.
On Friday, the Red Storm will take on Houston Christian at 11 a.m. before battling Houston at 5 p.m. The following day, St. John's squares off with No. 1/1 Texas at 1 p.m. ahead of facing Lamar at 4 p.m. The team's trip to the Lone Star State will conclude with a match-up against New Mexico at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
St. John's contest against Houston will be streamed on ESPN+. Live Stats for all games will be provided on RedStormSports.com.
The opening weekend will mark the first five games of 25 games on the road to start the season for the Red Storm. St. John's will travel to four different states before starting play at Red Storm Field in Queens.
The Johnnies were selected to finish third in the 2025 BIG EAST Preseason Coaches Poll. St. John's sits just behind defending BIG EAST Champion Villanova and the UConn Huskies. The third-place ranking is the program's highest since the 2021 season.
Head Coach Michelle DePolo enters her second season at St. John's and 14th season as a head coach. DePolo has accumulated 374 wins throughout her head coaching career, including 282 wins at Army where she spent nine years.
In 2024, DePolo helped lead the Johnnies to their third-highest win total in program history with a 31-27 overall record. The 31 wins were just one shy of the program record 32, which was set in both the 1990 and 2017 seasons.
St. John's returns three all-conference selections from a year ago, including unanimous All-BIG EAST First Team selection London Jarrard. The Carlsbad, Calif., product ranked top five in conference play in batting average (.405), slugging percentage (.716), on-base percentage (.506), runs scored (19), hits (30) RBIs (22), home runs (6) and total bases (53). In addition, the shortstop set a new single-season program record with 51 RBIs and enters the 2025 season just two doubles shy of the career program record of 46 two-baggers.
All-conference second-team selection Ana Serafinko returns to Queens after a breakout sophomore season from inside the circle and at the dish. The two-way standout led the squad in ERA (2.38), innings pitched (150) and strikeouts (174) while also drilling nine doubles, five home runs and 17 RBIs.
After a stellar sophomore season, Jess Bianco was also named the All-BIG EAST Second Team. Last year's primary lead-off hitter batted .352 with 30 runs scored, 25 stolen bases and 19 walks for the Johnnies. The Cherry Hill, N.J., native has been a threat on the base paths during her first two seasons, tallying 68 stolen bags on 73 attempts. Bianco enters the weekend just four hits shy of reaching the 100-career hit milestone.
Right-handed pitcher Loreley Francia returns to the circle for the Red Storm in 2025. The Spring, Texas product was dominant for the Johnnies, posting a 2.74 ERA and 149 punchouts in 138 innings pitched last season.
St. John's will first take on Houston Christian, who enter 2025 after competing to a 23-27 record last season. The Huskies are led by three-time All-Southland Conference Team selection Haylie Savage leads Houston Christian after batting .301 with eight home runs and 28 RBIs. Along with Savage, AB Garcia and Karlie Barba were named to the 2025 Southland Preseason All-Conference Team.
Following its match-up with the Huskies, the Red Storm will battle the Houston Cougars, who finished their first season in the Big 12 with a 25-30 mark and a 4-23 conference record. Freshman Brooke Wells highlights Houston's roster after being named to both D1Softball's D100 Freshman Watch List and Softball America's Freshman Watch List. Wells was ranked the #26 overall recruit according to Extra Inning Softball.
Friday's contests will mark St. John's first-ever meeting with Houston Christian and Houston.
The Johnnies will kick off play on Saturday when they face off against the nationally No. 1 ranked Texas Longhorns. The Longhorns finished last season with a 55-10 record and were the runner-up to Oklahoma in the Women's College World Series. Texas is led by junior Reese Atwood who has been named to a slew of accolades in her career, including 2024 Softball America's National Player of the Year after batting .423 with 23 home runs and 90 RBIs.
The Red Storm and Longhorns have met two previous times during the Time Warner Cable Texas Invitational during the 2007 season. Texas prevailed in both meetings, taking down St. John's 7-0 before winning 6-4 the following day.
St. John's will then square off with Lamar later that day. The Cardinals tallied a 26-25 overall record and a 12-12 mark in the Southland Conference. In the circle, Lamar is led by sophomore Emma Wardlaw, who produced an impressive freshman season, maintaining a 2.06 ERA to go along with 73 punchouts in 139.1 innings pitched.
The Johnnies and Cardinals will battle for the fourth time in history on Saturday with the previous three meetings coming during the 2020 season. Lamar holds a 3-0 all-time record over St. John's.
St. John's wraps up play in the Lone Star State when it takes on New Mexico at Cougar Softball Stadium on Sunday. The Lobos finished 2024 with a 16-38 record and return junior outfielder Keyannah Chevez, who recorded a .380 batting average, eight home runs, 25 RBIs and a .674 slugging percentage last season.
The match-up between the Red Storm and the Lobos will be the first meeting between the two programs.
After its time in Texas, St. John's will look ahead to the USF Softball Tournament in Tampa, Fla., where it will square off against Penn State, Loyola-Chicago and USF.
On Friday, the Red Storm will take on Houston Christian at 11 a.m. before battling Houston at 5 p.m. The following day, St. John's squares off with No. 1/1 Texas at 1 p.m. ahead of facing Lamar at 4 p.m. The team's trip to the Lone Star State will conclude with a match-up against New Mexico at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
St. John's contest against Houston will be streamed on ESPN+. Live Stats for all games will be provided on RedStormSports.com.
The opening weekend will mark the first five games of 25 games on the road to start the season for the Red Storm. St. John's will travel to four different states before starting play at Red Storm Field in Queens.
The Johnnies were selected to finish third in the 2025 BIG EAST Preseason Coaches Poll. St. John's sits just behind defending BIG EAST Champion Villanova and the UConn Huskies. The third-place ranking is the program's highest since the 2021 season.
Head Coach Michelle DePolo enters her second season at St. John's and 14th season as a head coach. DePolo has accumulated 374 wins throughout her head coaching career, including 282 wins at Army where she spent nine years.
In 2024, DePolo helped lead the Johnnies to their third-highest win total in program history with a 31-27 overall record. The 31 wins were just one shy of the program record 32, which was set in both the 1990 and 2017 seasons.
St. John's returns three all-conference selections from a year ago, including unanimous All-BIG EAST First Team selection London Jarrard. The Carlsbad, Calif., product ranked top five in conference play in batting average (.405), slugging percentage (.716), on-base percentage (.506), runs scored (19), hits (30) RBIs (22), home runs (6) and total bases (53). In addition, the shortstop set a new single-season program record with 51 RBIs and enters the 2025 season just two doubles shy of the career program record of 46 two-baggers.
All-conference second-team selection Ana Serafinko returns to Queens after a breakout sophomore season from inside the circle and at the dish. The two-way standout led the squad in ERA (2.38), innings pitched (150) and strikeouts (174) while also drilling nine doubles, five home runs and 17 RBIs.
After a stellar sophomore season, Jess Bianco was also named the All-BIG EAST Second Team. Last year's primary lead-off hitter batted .352 with 30 runs scored, 25 stolen bases and 19 walks for the Johnnies. The Cherry Hill, N.J., native has been a threat on the base paths during her first two seasons, tallying 68 stolen bags on 73 attempts. Bianco enters the weekend just four hits shy of reaching the 100-career hit milestone.
Right-handed pitcher Loreley Francia returns to the circle for the Red Storm in 2025. The Spring, Texas product was dominant for the Johnnies, posting a 2.74 ERA and 149 punchouts in 138 innings pitched last season.
St. John's will first take on Houston Christian, who enter 2025 after competing to a 23-27 record last season. The Huskies are led by three-time All-Southland Conference Team selection Haylie Savage leads Houston Christian after batting .301 with eight home runs and 28 RBIs. Along with Savage, AB Garcia and Karlie Barba were named to the 2025 Southland Preseason All-Conference Team.
Following its match-up with the Huskies, the Red Storm will battle the Houston Cougars, who finished their first season in the Big 12 with a 25-30 mark and a 4-23 conference record. Freshman Brooke Wells highlights Houston's roster after being named to both D1Softball's D100 Freshman Watch List and Softball America's Freshman Watch List. Wells was ranked the #26 overall recruit according to Extra Inning Softball.
Friday's contests will mark St. John's first-ever meeting with Houston Christian and Houston.
The Johnnies will kick off play on Saturday when they face off against the nationally No. 1 ranked Texas Longhorns. The Longhorns finished last season with a 55-10 record and were the runner-up to Oklahoma in the Women's College World Series. Texas is led by junior Reese Atwood who has been named to a slew of accolades in her career, including 2024 Softball America's National Player of the Year after batting .423 with 23 home runs and 90 RBIs.
The Red Storm and Longhorns have met two previous times during the Time Warner Cable Texas Invitational during the 2007 season. Texas prevailed in both meetings, taking down St. John's 7-0 before winning 6-4 the following day.
St. John's will then square off with Lamar later that day. The Cardinals tallied a 26-25 overall record and a 12-12 mark in the Southland Conference. In the circle, Lamar is led by sophomore Emma Wardlaw, who produced an impressive freshman season, maintaining a 2.06 ERA to go along with 73 punchouts in 139.1 innings pitched.
The Johnnies and Cardinals will battle for the fourth time in history on Saturday with the previous three meetings coming during the 2020 season. Lamar holds a 3-0 all-time record over St. John's.
St. John's wraps up play in the Lone Star State when it takes on New Mexico at Cougar Softball Stadium on Sunday. The Lobos finished 2024 with a 16-38 record and return junior outfielder Keyannah Chevez, who recorded a .380 batting average, eight home runs, 25 RBIs and a .674 slugging percentage last season.
The match-up between the Red Storm and the Lobos will be the first meeting between the two programs.
After its time in Texas, St. John's will look ahead to the USF Softball Tournament in Tampa, Fla., where it will square off against Penn State, Loyola-Chicago and USF.
Players Mentioned
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