University of Connecticut Athletics
Huskies Sweep St. Johns
4/30/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Huskies Sweep St. John’s
GAME 1 - ,
GAME 2 - ,
QUEENS, N.Y. (April 30) – To close out the regular season, the University of Connecticut softball team swept a BIG EAST doubleheader against St. John’s at Red Storm Field on Saturday afternoon, winning the games by the scores of 7-3 and 4-3. The pair of victories moves UConn’s record to 20-25 on the season with an 8-10 mark in conference while the Red Storm fall to 4-10 in the BIG EAST, 18-30-1 overall.
In game one, St. John’s was on the board first with a run in the bottom of the first as Megan Oliver knocked a leadoff single and later scored on a double to left center by Tami Hill.
The Huskies answered, however, plating five runs over the next two innings. In the second, freshman Christine Keeton (Spokane, Wash.) started the inning with a leadoff walk then sophomore Holly Calcagno (Cedar Grove, N.J.) and senior Ashleigh Campen (Rougemont, N.C.) registered back-to-back singles to load the bases. Sophomore Kristina Tolles (Southington, Conn.), who pinch ran for Keeton, Calcagno and Campen all would eventually come around to score on three wild pitches to give Connecticut a 3-0 lead.
UConn then added another pair of runs in the second to secure a 5-1 advantage. Freshman Allie Gendron (Noblesville, Ind.) reached with a leadoff walk and senior Stephanie DiBiase (Hamilton, N.J.) followed with a two-run homer to left field.
The Red Storm would cut the lead to 5-2 with a run in the sixth, but the Huskies cemented the win with two more runs in the seventh inning on an RBI double by Mandy Schettini (Coxsackie, N.Y.) to score Jen Ward (Gales Ferry, Conn.) and sophomore Jessica Quan (Stockton, Calif.) plated senior Jen D’Angelo (Wyomissing, Pa.) with an RBI single to left.
Senior Jessica Gurney (Williamstown, Mass.) pitched all seven innings to record the victory (14-16). She allowed three runs on five hits with one walk and eight strikeouts. Megan Allman started for St. John’s and took the loss (4-7) as she went 1.1 innings and allowed three runs on two hits with two walks and one strikeout. Lisa Greer relieved her and threw five innings, allowing four runs on six hits with six walks and three strikeouts. Brittany Crouch also pitched two-thirds of an inning for the Red Storm and allowed one hit.
In the second game of the doubleheader, St. John’s jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first inning, scoring three runs on three hits. Oliver poked a leadoff single through the left side and later scored on an RBI single by Allina Sainz and then Hill came home on a throwing error.
That would be all the Red Storm would get, however, as Gurney held St. John’s scoreless through the remainder of the contest and UConn mounted its come-from-behind rally with two runs in the second and two more in the fifth. DiBiase singled to open the second then came home on an RBI double by Keeton. Calcagno followed with the Huskies’ second RBI double of the inning to plate the pinch runner Tolles.
In the fifth, Schettini reached on an error, advanced to second on a passed ball and then scored on a single through the left side by DiBiase. Keeton followed with an infield single to plate Quan, the winning run for UConn.
Gurney picked up her second win (15-16) of the afternoon, pitching seven innings and allowing three unearned runs on five hits with no walks and eight strikeouts. Crouch started for St. John’s but did not record the decision as she pitched one inning and allowed two runs on three hits with one walk and no strikeouts. Allman relieved her and suffered the loss (4-8), going six innings and allowing two runs on three hits with two walks and five strikeouts.
