JAMAICA, N.Y.  The St. Johns University softball team christened its brand new softball facility Sunday afternoon hosting BIG EAST rival Syracuse in a noon doubleheader. The Red Storm also extended thanks and congratulations to the seven seniors who will be graduating in a few weeks. St. Johns took the first game, 1-0, thanks to a yet another strong pitching performance by senior Gina Calabrese, but fell in the nightcap, 3-1. St. Johns ends the season with a 30-31 overall record and an 8-12 mark in the BIG EAST, while Syracuse wraps up its season at 19-28 and 6-14 in the league.

In game one, Calabrese threw her 16th career shutout for her 14th victory of the season. It was her fifth shutout of the year and her second in as many games, coming off a terrific effort against Connecticut yesterday. Calabrese blanked the Huskies to snap their 22-game winning streak. Against the Orangewomen, she allowed just three hits and struck out two while allowing no walks. The Red Storm scored their only run of the game on the bottom of the fourth. Junior Kelly Houghton lined a one-out single to centerfield, then senior Lauren Fisher advanced her to second with a sacrifice bunt. The next batter, junior Cecelia Baston, delivered what would prove to be the game-winning hit with a line drive up the middle to plate Houghton from second. That would be all Calabrese needed as she kept the Orangewomen at bay.

In the second game, the Orangewomen rallied for three runs off starter Courtney Fitzgerald in the top half of the third inning. Fitzgerald went five innings allowing three runs on five hits, but was relieved by Calabrese in the top of the sixth. Calabrese retired all six batters she faced, striking out two. She finished her career as St. Johns all-time strikeout leader with 553.

Junior Tiffany Howerton led off the bottom of the seventh with her third homerun of the year over the left field fence to account for the bulk of the Red Storm offense. SJU managed just two hits off Syracuse starter Heather Brown. Fitzgerald took the loss, falling to 16-14 on the season.

The 30 Red Storm victories this season are the second-highest single-season total in the programs history, only to the 32 achieved in 1990. The Red Storm set a school record for games played with 61, doubles with 62 and homeruns with 23. Additionally, Houghton broke the single season record for homeruns with nine.