MIAMI, Fla. – In its final game of the JuiceBlendz FIU Invitational, the Illinois softball were shutout on Valentines Day with a 4-0 defeat to St. John's on an early Sunday (Feb. 14) morning at the FIU Softball Stadium.
With the loss, the Illini move to 2-3 on the season, while St. John's improves to 2-3 with the win.
"Today was a day we could have ended on a high note, however we came out with low energy and played very tentative," said head coach Tyra Perry. "I thought Jade did a good job in the circle, especially from the third inning on by pitching hard and attacking batters. We have to get more aggressive at the plate because when are aggressive at the plate, good things happen for us and we get a lot of hits. This is a constant evolution as far as transitioning into a more aggressive style of play. We will conitinue to keep working at it and next week at practice we are going to work really hard to put everything together and stay composed throughout an entire weekend of games."
The Redstorm struck first in the opening inning after the SJU leadoff batter reached on a throwing error and then scored on an RBI single to right field. It was the first time all weekend the Illini did not score first.
SJU added to its edge two innings later on a two-out, two-run double to the left field gap and followed that up with an RBI-single to left field in the fourth.
The bats for both teams then went quiet as SJU finished off the 4-0 win.
The Illini were held to only two hits, the first time in five games this season UI did not registered at least eight hits in a game, and had one error, while SJU totaled seven hits in the contest. Sophomores Carly Thomas and Leigh Farina posted the Illini hits.
Junior Jade Vecvanags (1-2) gave up four runs, three of them earned, on seven hits, with four walks and three strikeouts in six innings of work.
Grace Kramer (1-0) earned the win with a two-hit, three-strikeout performance in a complete game effort for the Redstorm.
Illinois next heads to Chapel Hill, N.C., for the Big Ten/ACC Challenge on Feb. 19-21 and will take on North Carolina and Boston College at Anderson Softball Stadium.
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