St. John’s Scores Eight Runs in the Second Inning to Down Mercer, 8-1

Saturday, March 8

Jacksonville, Fla. (UNF Softball Complex)

11:30 a.m.

St. John's University

16-8-1

Mercer

12-12

Mercer

St. John's

St. John’s Scores Eight Runs in the Second Inning to Down Mercer, 8-1

3/8/2025 1:52:00 PM | Softball

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The Red Storm finish its spring break trip with a 9-1 record

By: Josh McLaren

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The St. John's softball team (16-8-1) finished its spring break trip by taking down Mercer, 8-1, at the UNF Softball Complex on Saturday afternoon.

The Red Storm tallied all of its runs in the second inning, scoring eight runs on four hits, two errors and three walks. The win marks the Johnnies' second over the Bears after taking them down on Friday by a score of 4-3.

St. John's finishes its spring break trip with a 9-1 record after going 5-0 at the Kennesaw State Tournament last weekend. The squad has now won 14 of its last 16 contests dating back to Feb. 16.

Inside the circle, Loreley Francia picked up her team-leading ninth victory. The right-hander allowed just one earned run on three hits across 6.1 innings of work. Francia struck out six batters in the contest, bringing her total to 94 punchouts on the season. The junior boasts a team-low 1.36 ERA in 77.1 innings pitched.

Anese Thompson paced the Red Storm offense with two hits on the afternoon, including a two-RBI single. The senior has now racked up 13 hits and nine RBIs to start 2025.

Elanna Lysiak capped the eight-run second inning with a two-RBI double. The outfielder ranks second on the squad with 15 RBIs and now has five two-baggers on the season.

Junior Jess Bianco also chipped in two RBIs with a single in the second. Bianco leads the team with 35 hits and has totaled 11 RBIs.

Francia opened the game by sitting down the first six batters she faced, keeping the game scoreless into the bottom of the second.

The Johnnies' offense came out scorching in the bottom of the second, scoring eight runs in the frame. Thompson recorded the first Red Storm hit by singling up the middle before Lysiak reached on an error and Celia Macari drew a walk, loading the bases with no outs. Melanie Santos and Madison Konopka then drew two more walks to plate a pair of runs and give St. John's a 2-0 lead. Bianco followed up by driving a single up the middle, scoring two more runs, 4-0. London Jarrard walked to load the bases once more for Thompson who recorded her second knock of the inning to bring home two runs, 6-0. Lysiak then capped the scoring by doubling into right-center, extending the St. John's advantage to 8-0.

Mercer got a run back in the top of the third on a Megan Loughren solo home run to lead off the inning, 8-1. Francia then tallied the next three outs to hold a seven-run advantage for the Red Storm.

Francia then rattled off three consecutive scoreless frames, punching out two batters in both the fifth and sixth to keep the score at 8-1.

The Bears put two on with one out in the seventh, but Jailynn Banda entered in relief of Francia to record the final two outs and seal the 8-1 win for St. John's.

The Johnnies will now look forward to opening play at Red Storm Field in Queens against Iona on Wednesday. The contest is slated for a 2 p.m. start and will be streamed on FloSports with Live Stats available at RedStormSports.com.