University of Louisville
St. John's
No. 11 Softball Sweeps St. John's
April 06, 2013 | Softball
April 6, 2013
QUEENS, N.Y. - The No. 11 University of Louisville softball team swept host St. John's 6-4 in eight innings and 15-0 in five in a BIG EAST doubleheader Saturday. Louisville (31-6, 4-1) and St. John's (9-27-2, 3-7) will wrap up the series Sunday at 12 p.m.
"Credit to St. John's they came out right away and put us on our heels in the first game," said U of L head coach Sandy Pearsall. "We came back fighting and did what we needed to do. It was a great job by the team overall in the second game. Rachel threw a great game, and this is where we need her to be at this point in the season. "
Louisville 6 - St. John's 4 (8 innings)
Junior Hannah Kiyohara went 3 for 4 with a three-run homer and four RBIs to help the Cards to a 6-4, eight inning win over the host Red Storm.
St. John's jumped to an early 2-0 lead when Chrissy Montez led off the bottom of the first with a walk and stole second. Yvonne Rericha's single placed runners on the corners for Jackie Reed whose groundout plated Montez to put the Red Storm on the scoreboard. Erin Burner followed with an RBI triple.
The Cards did not generate much offense until the top of the fifth when Maggie Ruckenbrod connected on a leadoff double for her second hit of the game. She was safe at third on Whitney Arion fielder's choice. One out later, Kiyohara crushed the first pitch she saw over the left field fence to give Louisville a 3-2 lead.
Louisville added another run in the sixth when Taner Fowler reached on a fielder's choice and took second on Ruckenbrod's walk to set up Kayla Soles' RBI single.
The Cardinals had a chance to push more runs across in the top of the seventh when hits by Kiyohara, Katie Keller and Alicja Wolny loaded the bases, but they could not capitalize, stranding all three runners.
St. John's scored a pair of runs and left the bases loaded in the seventh. The Red Storm cut the lead to one behind Montez's leadoff home run. A walk to Yvonne Rericha, a hit by Jackie Reed and another walk to Burner loaded the bases for Dominique Marcelino's sacrifice fly which knotted the score at 4-4. A walk to Ashley Beza loaded the bases again, but Caralisa Connell delivered a strikeout send the game into extra innings.
Kiyohara's two-run single put the Cards back on top in the top of the eighth. Soles reached on a fielder's choice and Jasmine Smithson-Willett earned a two-out walk for Kiyohara who delivered her third hit of the game, bringing Soles home from second. St. John's left fielder Yvonne Rericha fired a throw home to but Soles was safe and Smithson-Willett scored when the ball got away from St. John's catcher Dominique Marcelino.
Connell (20-2) got the complete game win, allowing four earned runs on nine hits and striking out nine in eight innings. In addition to Kiyohara's three-hit performance, Ruckenbrod went 2 for 2 with a double and one run. Wolny was also 2 for 4.
Tori Free (3-13) took the loss, allowing one unearned run on one hit in the eighth inning. Montez was 2 for 4 with two runs and an RBI to pace the Red Storm.
Louisville 15 - St. John's 0 (5 innings)
In the second game of the day, senior Jordan Trimble went 3 for 4 with a grand slam and six RBIs and Rachel LeCoq tossed a complete game shutout as the Cards defeated St. John's 15-0.
After holding off the Red Storm in a 6-4, eight-inning decision, the Cards jumped to an early 1-0 lead in the first. Katie Keller led off the game with a walk, took second on a passed ball and came home on a single by Jordan Trimble.
Louisville tacked on another run in the third when Jasmine Smithson-Willett registered leadoff single and came around to score on Katie Keller's double.
U of L used five hits, including Smithson-Willett's two-run double, to score four runs in the fourth. Hannah Kiyohara and Whitney Arion delivered back-to-back singles and Katelyn Mann walked to load the bases for Smithson-Willett whose shot hit the left field wall to bring two runs home. Keller's sacrifice fly plated Mann and Trimble's RBI hit gave the Cards a 6-0 lead.
Trimble's grand slam highlighted a nine-run fifth inning for the Cards. Three straight walks issued to Fowler, Kiyohara and Arion loaded the bases. One out later, Smithson-Willett drew another walk to bring Fowler home. Keller's RBI single sent Kiyohara home. Trimble followed with a shot over centerfield for her second career grand slam to increase the lead to 12-0. Wolny was hit by a pitch and Fowler singled. An RBI double by Kiyohara and Arion's two-run single capped the scoring for a 15-0 final.
LeCoq (11-4) got the win, holding the Red Storm scoreless on four hits and striking out six in 5.0 innings. Smithson-Willett was 2 for 2 with three runs and three RBIs while Keller finished 2 for 2 with three RBIs and two runs. Kiyohara was 2 for 3 with three runs and an RBI and Arion was 2 for 3 with two RBIs and two runs.
Tori Free (3-14) took the loss, allowing six runs, five earned, on six hits and striking out five in 3.1 innings.
NOTES: The Cardinals (31-6) have now won 30 or more games for the 10th straight season.
• Jordan Trimble's grand slam in the 15-0 win over St. John's marked the second of her career - her first was in the 9-0 win over USF on April 18, 2012. She is the only player on Louisville's roster with a grand slam.
