Junior outfielder Summer Costock suffered a broken tibia and fibula, according to the USF Oracle, in the last play of the St. John’s Game Two loss in its winless weekend against South Florida on August 6-7.
Trailing 8-1 – one run shy of the mercy rule – in the bottom of the sixth inning with the bases loaded, Costock collided with
senior Kristi Cady while tracking down a fly ball. The Oracle reported that USF players heard a snap and a scream when the players collided.
Cady was treated for five minute with an apparent head injury, the Oracle said, while Costock was loaded into an ambulance after being treated on the field for about 25 minutes.
Even if one of them had caught it, the play likely would have resulted in a game-winning sacrifice fly anyway – a fact not lost on their opposition.
“Those kids played from the heart and I told [Comstock and Cady], ‘Golly, girls, I don’t know what to say except you played from the heart. You went all out the whole game,’” Bulls head coach Ken Eriksen told the USF Oracle. “That run, if you catch it, the kid scores anyway on a sacrifice fly, but they played the game. That’s motivation for anybody. That’s nothing but heart for those two right there.”
St. John’s athletic communications graduate assistant Alex Bryant said that there was no timetable on her return.
In addition to the injury, South Florida’s five-time Big East Pitcher of the Week, Sara Nevins, made this weekend difficult for the Johnnies.
Nevins struck out 16 batters on Friday and kept the Johnnies off the bases until the seventh inning in the second game on Saturday.
USF 6, St. John’s 0
Saturday concluded the three game series with the Red Storm (14-25, 2-6) losing 6-0. The Johnnies didn’t have a baserunner until two outs in the seventh.
The Bulls (36-5, 9-0) opened up the game with five runs in the sixth inning. After loading the bases with two outs, two straight singles extended the lead to three, before a bases-clearing triple by Gina Kafalas made the score 6-0.
Senior catcher Kacee Cox and sophomore first base Jackie Reed finally mounted a threat for the Red Storm in the seventh inning. Cox doubled to right center while Reed singled to put runners at the corners. However, Nevins got the final out and ended any potential late surge by the Johnnies.
USF 9, St. John’s 1
The Johnnies held USF level for six innings Game One of the series on April 6, but an eight-run bottom of the inning led to a mercy rule win for the first-place Bulls
Starting pitcher Ashley Beza got off to a strong start, allowing only one run in the first five innings.
In the sixth, however, the Bulls roared to life, scoring eight runs to end the game. A walk by the leadoff batter Ashli Goff, consecutive singles from Stephanie Medina and Kenshyra Jackson, and a wild pitch gave the Bulls a 2-1 lead. Six straight hits – with two more wild pitches mixed in – and USF invoked the mercy rule. Costock and Cady collided on the last play of the game, a single by pinch hitter Allie Patierno.
USF 5, St. John’s 2
Nevins held St. John’s scoreless for six innings and USF scored in each of the first three innings as the Red Storm fell in the first game of the series on April 6.
Bulls first baseman Stephanie Medina went 3-for-3 with an RBI to lead USF. Sophomore starter Fran Carrullo took the loss for the Johnnies, giving up 10 hits and five runs (four earned) in five innings.
The game got off to an inauspicious start for the Johnnies. After a 30-minute rain delay before the game, junior second baseman Chrissy Montez was hit by a pitch and then caught trying to steal second. In the bottom of the inning, a wild pitch and an error by freshman shortstop Erin Burner allowed an unearned run to score.
The Johnnies wouldn’t record a hit until the fifth inning, and didn’t push across their first run until the seventh, by which point the Bulls had staked themselves to a five-run lead.
