St. John's University Athletics
Sunday, April 27
Queens, N.Y. (Red Storm Field)
12 p.m.
St. John's University
37-14-1, 0
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Villanova
24-23-1, 0
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Villanova
2
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St. John's
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5
8
2
St. John’s Completes Series Sweep on Senior Day; Downs Villanova, 5-2
4/27/2025 3:52:00 PM | Softball
The Red Storm finish a perfect 12-0 in conference play at Red Storm Field
QUEENS, N.Y. – The St. John's softball team (37-14-1, 17-4 BIG EAST) completed the series sweep over Villanova with a 5-2 victory on Sunday afternoon at Red Storm Field.
The Johnnies took the opening two games of the series in Friday's doubleheader with a 3-1 victory before toppling the Wildcats 11-2 in the latter contest. The Red Storm now finishes the season perfect 12-0 in conference play at home after sweeping Georgetown, Providence and DePaul earlier this season in Queens.
With 17 wins overall in BIG EAST play, the squad has matched the program record set in 2017 when the team finished 17-4 in the conference to win the BIG EAST. St. John's has already set a new program record with 37 overall wins on the season, breaking the prior record of 32.
Following the contest, the program recognized its graduating class of Natalie Casto, Celia Macari, Carolina Zamudio, Melanie Santos, Maeve Marra, Anese Thompson and London Jarrard with a senior day ceremony, honoring each of them for their contributions to St. John's.
Some of the seniors played a key role in the victory, as Jarrard and Thompson paced the Red Storm lineup with two hits apiece. Jarrard notched a double along with a crucial two-RBI single in the fourth inning.
Santos and Casto also delivered a pair of key hits, with back-to-back RBI singles in the fourth to tie the contest at the time. Jess Bianco recorded an RBI as well to round out the scoring for the Johnnies.
Ana Serafinko provided the Red Storm with another brilliant outing inside the circle, allowing just two unearned runs on four hits while punching out 10 batters in her 19th victory of the year. The left-hander broke the BIG EAST record for single-season strikeouts in the contest, as she has totaled 137 punchouts and counting throughout conference play.
Villanova (24-23-1, 12-9 BIG EAST) struck early in the top of the first due to a couple of miscues on the Red Storm defense and a Kelsey White RBI single to take a 2-0 lead.
Jarrard put a runner in scoring position with one out in the bottom of the first by pulling a double to right field. However, Wildcats' starter Kat Gallant recorded the next two outs to leave the frame unscathed, 2-0.
Serafinko settled back in on the rubber in the second and third innings, allowing just one hit while punching out four batters to raise her strikeout total to five, 2-0.
In the bottom of the third, Madison Konopka doubled down the left-field line to give the Red Storm another runner in scoring position, but Gallant got out of the jam again to preserve Villanova's two-run advantage.
After Serafinko notched a 1-2-3 frame in the top of the fourth, the Red Storm offense struck in a big way by plating five runs in the latter half of the inning. Elanna Lysiak kicked it off with a single through the left side before Serafinko reached on an error, and a Thompson single to load the bases with no outs. An out later, Santos and Casto delivered back-to-back RBI singles to even the score, 2-2. With two outs now in the frame, Bianco walked with the bases loaded ahead of Jarrard slapping a two-RBI single into left field to provide the Johnnies with a 5-2 lead.
The score remained as Serafinko navigated her way in and out of the Villanova lineup, generating a double play in a 1-2-3 fifth before striking out a pair after a lead-off single in the sixth to maintain the Red Storm's three-run edge into the seventh.
Serafinko made quick work of the Wildcats in the seventh, sitting them down 1-2-3 while finishing the game with her 10thstrikeout to seal the 5-2 win and seal the series sweep over Villanova.
The Red Storm will now look ahead to next weekend when it travels to battle UConn in a series that will decide the BIG EAST Regular Season Championship. The opening game is slated for 7 p.m. on Friday night.
The Johnnies took the opening two games of the series in Friday's doubleheader with a 3-1 victory before toppling the Wildcats 11-2 in the latter contest. The Red Storm now finishes the season perfect 12-0 in conference play at home after sweeping Georgetown, Providence and DePaul earlier this season in Queens.
With 17 wins overall in BIG EAST play, the squad has matched the program record set in 2017 when the team finished 17-4 in the conference to win the BIG EAST. St. John's has already set a new program record with 37 overall wins on the season, breaking the prior record of 32.
Following the contest, the program recognized its graduating class of Natalie Casto, Celia Macari, Carolina Zamudio, Melanie Santos, Maeve Marra, Anese Thompson and London Jarrard with a senior day ceremony, honoring each of them for their contributions to St. John's.
Some of the seniors played a key role in the victory, as Jarrard and Thompson paced the Red Storm lineup with two hits apiece. Jarrard notched a double along with a crucial two-RBI single in the fourth inning.
Santos and Casto also delivered a pair of key hits, with back-to-back RBI singles in the fourth to tie the contest at the time. Jess Bianco recorded an RBI as well to round out the scoring for the Johnnies.
Ana Serafinko provided the Red Storm with another brilliant outing inside the circle, allowing just two unearned runs on four hits while punching out 10 batters in her 19th victory of the year. The left-hander broke the BIG EAST record for single-season strikeouts in the contest, as she has totaled 137 punchouts and counting throughout conference play.
Villanova (24-23-1, 12-9 BIG EAST) struck early in the top of the first due to a couple of miscues on the Red Storm defense and a Kelsey White RBI single to take a 2-0 lead.
Jarrard put a runner in scoring position with one out in the bottom of the first by pulling a double to right field. However, Wildcats' starter Kat Gallant recorded the next two outs to leave the frame unscathed, 2-0.
Serafinko settled back in on the rubber in the second and third innings, allowing just one hit while punching out four batters to raise her strikeout total to five, 2-0.
In the bottom of the third, Madison Konopka doubled down the left-field line to give the Red Storm another runner in scoring position, but Gallant got out of the jam again to preserve Villanova's two-run advantage.
After Serafinko notched a 1-2-3 frame in the top of the fourth, the Red Storm offense struck in a big way by plating five runs in the latter half of the inning. Elanna Lysiak kicked it off with a single through the left side before Serafinko reached on an error, and a Thompson single to load the bases with no outs. An out later, Santos and Casto delivered back-to-back RBI singles to even the score, 2-2. With two outs now in the frame, Bianco walked with the bases loaded ahead of Jarrard slapping a two-RBI single into left field to provide the Johnnies with a 5-2 lead.
The score remained as Serafinko navigated her way in and out of the Villanova lineup, generating a double play in a 1-2-3 fifth before striking out a pair after a lead-off single in the sixth to maintain the Red Storm's three-run edge into the seventh.
Serafinko made quick work of the Wildcats in the seventh, sitting them down 1-2-3 while finishing the game with her 10thstrikeout to seal the 5-2 win and seal the series sweep over Villanova.
The Red Storm will now look ahead to next weekend when it travels to battle UConn in a series that will decide the BIG EAST Regular Season Championship. The opening game is slated for 7 p.m. on Friday night.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Serafinko, Ana (19-7)
L: GALLANT, Kat (11-9)
Batting:
RBI: WHITE, Kelsey 1
Base Running:
RUNS: FRANZ, Ava 1 ; MAHNKEN, Ava 1
SB: MAHNKEN, Ava 1 ; WHITE, Kelsey 1
HBP: FRANZ, Ava 1
Batting:
2B: Jarrard, London 1 ; Konopka, Madison 1
RBI: Bianco, Jess 1 ; Jarrard, London 2 ; Santos, Melanie 1 ; Casto, Natalie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Lysiak, Elanna 1 ; Sterling, Paige 1 ; Thompson, Anese 1 ; Santos, Melanie 1 ; Casto, Natalie 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
SS/OF
/ Softball
UTIL
/ Softball
UTIL
/ Softball
MIF
/ Softball
3B/OF
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
C/1B
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballSt. John's Softball Highlights at UConn 5.4
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