By Shirah Wasik

On May 2, 2021, the UConn softball team had a tough battle against the St. John’s softball team at the Burrill Family Field in Storrs. Unfortunately, the Huskies fell to the Red Storm 2-0 in the recent softball game. 

The St. John’s Red Storm came out strong, scoring one run within the top of the first inning, starting with a single hit from Marissa. Rizzi then stole second base and further advanced to third on a wild pitch. Rizzi eventually scored when her teammate Kaitlin Mattera hit a sacrifice fly to second base: Mattera got credit for that RBI. The Huskies didn’t come out too strong, as the first three players were called out in order for a 1-2-3 inning. 

As the game progressed, both teams had a big third inning. In the top of the third, the Red Storm scored three runs. All three of those runs came from Gabriella Conca hitting a three-run home run toward the end of the inning. Conca scored Rizzi as she walked and Mattera as she singled to center field.

Moving on to the bottom of the third inning, UConn was able to score only two runs in the inning. The Huskies started off with Reese Guevarra homering to right field, scoring the first run of the game. The second run came from Briana Marcelino grounding out, scoring Aziah James. James singled toward the beginning of the inning and advanced to third on a double hit by Jana Sanden. Marcelino was credited with the RBI as she scored James. 

Neither team scored in the fourth inning, but St. John’s scored two more runs in the top of the fifth, starting with a Gretchen Bowie homer to right-center field. After, Mattera hit a double, but Natalie Alheidt came into pinch run for Mattera. Alheidt was an exquisite base runner, advancing to third on a strikeout and then stealing home on another strikeout. Alheidt was able to score the sixth run for St. Johns from her base running. The scoring stopped after the top of the fifth inning, as the rest of the game was scoreless. St. John’s was able to pull out the win with a very impressive game.

Each team had eight hits, but St. John’s was able to utilize those hits better. Although St. John’s won the game, they did have two errors.