St. John’s Knocks Off Villanova to Advance to the Softball Championship Title Game
ROSEMONT, IL. – St. John’s got off to fast start and never looked back against Villanova, winning 10-0 in the second semifinal of Friday’s BIG EAST Softball Championship presented by Jeep.
St. John’s, the 2015 BIG EAST Champion, was swept by Villanova in the second week of conference of play. The Wildcats finished the regular season as the No. 2 seed in the conference while the Johnnies finished No. 3.
The Red Storm scored their first run of the day in the first inning, as Yvonne Rericha scurried home from third base after a pitch from Kate Poppe got passed Villanova catcher Jessica Angerbash. They followed that up with four runs in the second after Brittany Garcia laced a two-out triple to right center with the bases loaded, scoring three. After a Villanova pitching change, Krystal Puga singled to bring in Garcia to make it a 5-0 St. John’s lead.
Christina Melendez hit a solo home run in the third and Puga blasted a two-run shot of her own in the fourth, followed by a Melendez double that added another RBI to her stat line. Monique Landini’s sacrifice fly in the fifth brought in Rericha and would mark the end of the Red Storm’s offensive onslaught for the day.
McKenzie Murray pitched beautifully in the circle, allowing just one hit in the five inning shutout. The sophomore fanned two batters and walked only four for the game.
The Red Storm will face Butler tomorrow at 2 p.m. CT in the title game. Butler upset top-seeded DePaul 10-6 in the first semifinal on Friday. St. John’s will look to become the first team to repeat as BIG EAST Champion since Syracuse won in back-to-back years 2010 and 2011.