St. John’s Falls to No. 1 UConn in Day Two of BIG EAST Tournament, 3-2

Thursday, May 11

Storrs, CT (Burrill Family Field)

12 p.m.

St. John's University

23-28

No. 1 Connecticut

34-13

St. John's

UConn

Photo by: Photographer / Clarus Multimedia Group

St. John’s Falls to No. 1 UConn in Day Two of BIG EAST Tournament, 3-2

5/11/2023 3:11:00 PM | Softball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)BIG EAST Championship Central

The Red Storm will take on No. 6 DePaul at 6 p.m. tonight

By: Andrew Loewe

STORRS, Conn. – The fifth-seeded St. John's softball team dropped a tight battle against top-seeded UConn, 3-2 in the second day of the BIG EAST Tournament on Thursday at Burrill Family Field.

The Red Storm's (23-28) season is still alive as the BIG EAST Tournament features a double-elimination style. However, the Johnnies will now be required to win their next five contests to bring home the BIG EAST crown. With the win, UConn (34-13) advances to the semifinals and will take on the winner of No. 2 Villanova and No. 3 Seton Hall on Friday at noon.

Sydney Totarsky notched half of the team's four hits, knocking a single and two-run homer. The freshman accounted for both of the Johnnies runs.

After giving up three runs in two innings, Loreley Francia blanked the Huskies in the next four frames. The freshman struck out six, walked a pair and allowed eight hits in her six innings.

In the bottom of the first inning, the Huskies jumped on the board first. The speedy Husky leadoff hitters each reach and stole a base to set up second and third with no outs. The pair scored standing up on a pair of singles by the fourth and five-hole hitters, to give UConn a 2-0 lead after one.

The Red Storm knotted the game at two on Totarsky's two-run shot in the second inning. With one out, Cassidy Stouffer laced a double into the left-center gap setting the table for Totarsky. On the very next pitch, Totarsky blasted her third collegiate home run to tie the game at two.

The score would not be deadlocked for long as the Huskies retook the lead in the bottom of the second. A lead-off walk proved to be costly, as she scored on a sac fly a few batters later in the inning. Francia did not give up a hit in the frame, but two walks and a fielding error pushed the lead-off runner to third and scored on a sac fly to left.

After the first two innings, the pitchers stole the show. UConn's starter Hope Jenkins was removed in the third for Payton Kinney. Kinney struck out six of the 11 batters she faced in three innings.

Francia fell into a groove after the first two frames and did not allow a run in the final four. A single Husky did not reach third after the second inning.

In the sixth inning, defense helped Francia prevent an insurance runs by the Huskies. A diving catch by Jess Bianco in left was recorded for the second out. Katie Whittaker nabbed UConn's prolific base stealer, Lexi Hastings, for the final out of the frame after the original call on the field of safe was overturned.

With one last chance in the seventh, UConn's closer Meghan O'Neil entered the circle. The senior fired a 1-2-3 inning with two punch-outs to clinch the 3-2 UConn victory.

St. John's will play for the second time of the day, 50 minutes after the conclusion of the 3 p.m. game. The Red Storm will face sixth-seeded DePaul, who enters the nightcap 1-1 in the tournament.

Earlier in the season, the Johnnies knocked off DePaul in two of three at Red Storm Field. It was the second conference series for the Red Storm. The preseason favorite, Blue Demons, struggled early in the season, but strung together wins at the end of the season to finish 9-15 in the BIG EAST and earn the sixth seed.

DePaul won five of its last six conference games to end the regular season. In the first day of the tournament, DePaul lost a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the sixth to fall 5-4 against No. 3 Seton Hall. The Blue Demons were then forced to play right after and eliminated No. 4 Butler, 4-1 in the night cap.