St. John’s Comes Back to Defeat Villanova on Senior Day

Softball defeated Villanova 5-2 for a series sweep.

Megan Chapman, Creative Director • April 28, 2025

On Sunday, the St. John’s softball team scored five runs in the fourth inning at Red Storm Field to overcome a two run lead from UConn to complete a series sweep after winning both doubleheader games on Friday.

The Johnnies are now 37-14-1 and 17-4 in Big East play. This has been a historic season for St. John’s, as the team broke the program record of 32 wins.

After the game, the team celebrated their seven seniors Natalie Casto, London Jarrard, Celia Macari, Maeve Marra, Melanie Santos, Anese Thompson and Carolina Zamudio, six of which played for St. John’s all four years.

Villanova began the scoring in the first inning after an error from St. John’s. Kelsey White then singled to bring Ava Mahnken home for the second and final run of the game for Villanova.

St. John’s had a few players reach base in the first three innings, but was not able to score runs until the fourth. A single to center field from Natalie Casto began the scoring, bringing Elanna Lysiak home.

Next, Santos singled to left center to score another run. Jess Bianco walked to record an RBI and Jarrard singled to left field to bring home both Casto and Santos.

The team’s offense was led by Jarrard and Thompson, who were both 2-3 for the day. Jarrard hit a double in the second alongside her double RBI single in the fifth.

Defensively, junior Ana Serafinko pitched all seven innings for the Johnnies. She had ten strikeouts in Sunday’s game, bringing her season total to 137 and breaking the Big East record for strikeouts in a single season.

Ana Serafinko prepares to throw a pitch for the Johnnies. Torch Photo / Megan Chapman

The Red Storm are back in action on May 2, where they begin their final regular season series against UConn.

Currently, St. John’s and UConn tie for first in the Big East Conference. Just a few days later, the Big East Tournament begins in Philadelphia.

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About the Contributor

Megan Chapman, Creative Director

Megan is a junior graphic design major with a creative writing minor. This is her second year with the Torch as the Design Editor. Outside of the Torch, she likes writing, running, playing guitar and reading. Her favorite artists are R.E.M. and Elliot Smith. Megan can be reached at [email protected].