St. John’s Defeats Southern Mississippi, 7-6, for Best Start in Program History

Sunday, February 15

Leesburg, Fla. (Sleepy Hollow Complex)

10 a.m.

St. John's University

9-1

Southern Mississippi

6-5

St. John's (N.Y.)

Southern Miss.

St. John’s Defeats Southern Mississippi, 7-6, for Best Start in Program History

2/15/2026 1:55:00 PM | Softball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

This is the Red Storm's best start through ten games since the 1998 season

LEESBURG, Fla. — The St. John's softball team closed out The Spring Games with a 7-6 victory over Southern Mississippi on Sunday morning at Sleepy Hollow Complex, completing a perfect 5-0 weekend in Leesburg.

The Johnnies (9-1, 0-0 BIG EAST) are off to the best 10-game start in program history, surpassing the 1998 squad, which opened the season at 7-3.

The Red Storm trailed early but answered with timely hitting and a dominant relief effort from Ana Serafinko to secure the comeback win. St. John's finished with 10 hits and drew eight walks in the contest.

Serafinko earned the victory after tossing 5.2 innings of scoreless relief, allowing three hits while striking out nine. London Slade paced the offense with a 4-for-5 performance. Natasha Limbani drove in three runs, and Jess Bianco added two RBIs in the win.

St. John's opened the scoring with a single from Bianco, who came home on a sacrifice fly from Limbani to give the Red Storm a 1-0 lead.

Southern Mississippi responded with four runs in the bottom of the first to take a 4-1 advantage.

The Red Storm answered immediately in the top of the second. After Bianco reached and Slade singled, Limbani delivered a two-run single to trim the deficit to 4-3.

The Golden Eagles added two runs in the bottom of the second to extend their lead to 6-3.

St. John's responded again in the third inning with a Cassidy Stouffer RBI single before Bianco lined a two-run single to left field, evening the score at 6-6.

The Red Storm took the lead for good in the top of the fifth. Ava Fierst worked a walk and advanced on a passed ball. After Bianco walked and Slade laid down a bunt single to load the bases, Elanna Lysiak was hit by a pitch to force home the go-ahead run and give St. John's a 7-6 edge.

Serafinko shut the door from there and struck out the final hitter of the game to seal the victory.

St. John's returns home before heading back to the Sunshine State on Feb. 20 for the Stetson Invitational in DeLand, Fla., where the Johnnies will face host Stetson twice and Columbia three times.