BIG EAST Series:             St. John's
DATE:                                  Friday, Mar. 21 – Sunday, Mar. 23
LOCATION:                         Indianapolis, Ind.  / Butler Softball Field
LIVE STATS:                      butlersports.com
LIVE VIDEO:                      (Fri.) FloSports
 
The Butler softball team hosts league-leading St. John's this weekend for a three-game BIG EAST series. The Bulldogs (16-8, 5-1 BIG EAST) went 2-1 last weekend at Providence and lost a midweek game on Tuesday to Ball State. The Red Storm (21-8-1, 3-0 BIG EAST) swept Georgetown last weekend and defeated Manhattan on Tuesday afternoon.
 
Bulldog Bits                                                                                        
        (through games 3/18/25)

• Cate Lehner leads the BIG EAST (12 nationally) with 20 stolen bases. She is third (95th) in batting average (.422) and third (47th) with 38 hits.
• Makena Alexander is second in the BIG EAST (91st nationally) with 7 home runs, fourth with a .704 slugging percentage, and fourth with 25 RBI.
• Ella White is third in the BIG EAST (63rd nationally) with a .529 on base percentage and fifth with 24 RBI.
• Leigh Vande Hei is fifth in the BIG EAST with a .419 batting average.
• Gwen Baker is fourth in the BIG EAST (95th nationally) with 7 wins.
• (as of 3-16-25) Butler leads all BIG EAST teams in batting average (.330) and slugging percentage (.461) and is second in on base percentage (.410), runs scored (136), hits (205), stolen bases (49), and RBI (122).

        vs. Providence

• Leigh Vande Hei led Butler's offense going 6-for-9 (.667) with three stolen bases and two runs scored.
• Paige Dorsett, Makena Alexander, and Olivia Moxley each had a home run in the game-three victory.
   
• After going 6-for-9 (.667) with three stolen bases and two runs scored in the series at Providence, Leigh Vande Hei was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll.
   
• BIG EAST coaches ranked Butler sixth in the 2025 Preseason Poll. The Villanova Wildcats were voted preseason favorites behind six first place votes and a league-best 61 points. UConn followed with 57 points, appearing first on two ballots. St. John's (46) ranked third, and Creighton (43), who garnered the final first-place vote, ranked fourth. Seton Hall (39) landed in the fifth spot and was followed by Butler (28).
   

SCOUTING ST. JOHN'S (21-8-1, 3-0 BIG EAST)
Series- St. John's leads, 20-10

• 2024 (BE Tournament) St. John's 12, Butler 2 (5 in.)
• 2024 (Queens, N.Y.) St. John's 6, Butler 3 |St. John's 6, Butler 1 |St. John's 5, Butler 4
• 2023 (BE Tournament) St. John's 9, Butler 6
• 2022 (Queens, N.Y.) Butler 10, St. John's 1 (5 in.) | Butler 3, St. John's 2 | St. John's 8, Butler 3
• St. John's has won the most recent six meetings, including two in postseason play.
• Butler swept the 2021 three-game series in Indianapolis (the last time the Red Storm visited the Bulldogs).

2025 BIG EAST Series: St. John's 8, Georgetown 2 | St. John's 7, Georgetown 4 | St. John's 12, Georgetown 2 (5 in.)

• Additional wins include: Penn St., Iona, Mercer, Jacksonville, Loyola-Chicago, LeMoyne, Youngstown St., and Saint Louis.
• Additional losses include: No. 1 Texas, Houston, Army, Penn St., Loyola-Chicago, Winthrop, and USF.

St. John's vs. (opponents)              Butler
runs:       163-76                                        136
hits:         241-145                                     212
RBI:         148-64                                       122
SB:           55-37                                          50
ERA:       2.23-4.98                                  3.72
 
 Batting Leaders:

• London Jarrard (.440) 40H, 9-2B, 5HR, 32RBI
• Jess Bianco (.418) 41H, 20SB
• Elanna Lysiak (.322) 6-2B, 4HR, 24RBI
• Cassidy Stouffer (.312) 4-2B, 3HR, 18RBI

Pitching Leaders:  

• Loreley Francia (11-3) 1.49 ERA, 113K
• Ana Serafinko (9-4) 2.30 ERA, 132K
• Jailynn Banda (1-1) 3.50 ERA, 22K