After holding a lead into the fifth inning, the St. John’s softball team looked primed for a win in its home opener until Fordham scored the winning run in the seventh on a throwing error, beating the Red Storm 5-4.
Tied at four entering the bottom of the sixth, Fordham called upon All-American closer Jen Minteau, who allowed just one hit and one walk.
In the bottom of the inning, a trio of Red Storm errors led to the game-winning run for Fordham, as Lindsay Kay Bright scored on a throwing mishap.
The Red Storm fell behind 2-0 in the third when Fordham’s Nicole Callahan hit a sacrifice fly off St. John’s starter Linzee Sumrall to score a runner from third. In Fordham’s next at bat, Samantha Pellecio lined a single up the middle to score Bright from second despite the third out being recorded on the play due to a run-down between second and third.
Sumrall battled all day, pitching a complete game for St. John’s allowing five runs, four of which were earned, on six hits and four walks. She struck out two and took the loss to fall to 2-5.
St. John’s responded an inning later, in the bottom of the second, with a two out run scored after three straight singles by Chelsea Durning, Fachon Jones and Montez off former Red Storm and current Fordham pitcher Chelsea Plimpton.Similar to how Fordham’s first inning ended, St. John’s second ended with a run-down from the RBI hitter of record. This time, Montez the victim of being overly aggressive on the base paths.
Plimpton pitched five innings and allowed four runs, one of them earned, on eight hits and a walk. She struck out one batter. In the top of the third she received a little more support in the form of a lead-off solo home run by Rams’ teammate Beckah Wiggins that made the score 3-1.
There was no further scoring until the fifth, when St. John’s took a 4-3 lead. Junior Julia Sanchez was hit by a pitch, Jones drew a walk two batters later and Montez reached on an error. With the bases loaded and two out, Jackie Reed drilled a double to the left field corner to score Sanchez and Jones. Amber Curry’s single to left plated Montez a batter later.
The Red Storm dropped to 13-17 on the season, their fourth straight loss. Fordham improved to 16-13. The Red Storm next take on Big East foe USF in a double header on March 26 at home.
