St. John's University Athletics
Red Storm Baseball Splits Doubleheader with West Virginia
4/27/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Trailing 4-0 after the top half of the first inning, the Red Storm eventually tied the game in the fourth, but the Mountaineers scored single runs in the fifth and seventh innings, respectively, taking a 6-4 lead. Junior shortstop Mike Rozema (Fair Lawn, N.J.) reached on an error to lead off the inning, stole second and scored when junior Drew Jackson (Morgantown, W. Va.) singled to right. Senior Asa Grunenwald (Boalsburg, Pa.) followed with a single to center, putting runners on the corners, and Thomson drilled a triple to left-center, bringing home both runners and giving St. Johns a 7-6 lead.
Klemm, who relieved freshman Anthony Varvaro (Staten Island, N.Y.) in the fifth, retired the side in order in the eighth before giving way to senior Mike Tamulionis (West Bridgewater, Mass.), who shut down the Mountaineers in the ninth. Klemm improved to 4-2 with the win, while Tamulionis earned his first save of the season.
The Mountaineers had taken a 4-0 lead after the top of the second, with two runs in the first and two more in the second off Varvaro. The Red Storm, however, chipped away, scoring one in the second, one in the third and tying it two in the fourth.
Graiser went 3-for-5 with an RBI, while Sullivan and Hardie each had two hits.
In the second inning, sophomore Brett Hardie (Toms River, N.J.) drove in Jackson with a run-scoring double, and in the third, junior first baseman Jesus Bravo (San Jose, Calif.) doubled to right, scoring Rozema, who had singled. In the fourth, Thomson struck out and reached on a wild pitch, stole second, moved to third on Hardies single and scored when senior Billy Graiser (Muttontown, N.Y.) delivered a single to right. That put runners on the corners for junior Derek Sullivan (Lincoln, Calif.), who singled through the left side, scoring Hardie and tying the game.
In game one, it was a pitchers duel, as Red Storm junior Joe Reid (Rutherford, N.J.) and West Virginia sophomore Shawn Miller battled it out for nine innings.
Reid held the Mountaineers in check until the sixth inning, retiring 15 of the first 17 batters he faced, walking two. West Virginias Travis DAmico doubled to left to lead off the sixth for the teams first hit, ending the no-hit bid. A sacrifice bunt moved DAmico to third and a walk put runners on the corners with one out, but Reid struck out Lee Fritz and Eric Grimm was thrown out stealing to end the inning.
St. Johns, meanwhile, had runners in scoring position in the second, fifth and seventh innings, respectively, but Miller, who struck out nine, got out of the jam each time. Tamulionis relieved Reid in the ninth and loaded the bases after Fritz reached on a bunt, a walk to Tim McCabe and an intentional walk to Kurtis Clinton with one out. Grant Psomas sacrifice fly brought in Fritz with what proved to be the decisive run, giving WVU a 1-0 lead. Stan Posluszny drove in one with a single and DAmico hit a two-run single to close out the scoring.
Reid went eight innings, giving up only two hits, with four walks and five strikeouts.
NOTES: St. Johns now stands at 23-19 overall and 9-7 in the BIG EAST, while the Mountaineers are now 28-12 and 11-3 BIG EAST The teams wrap up their three-games series at The Ballpark on Monday, with first pitch slated for 2 p.m. Junior shortstop Mike Rozema had a 22-game hit streak end in the first game Junior first baseman Jesus Bravo had hits in both game, extending his hit streak to 18 games.