St. John's University Athletics
Varvaro, Wladyka Lead Red Storm Past Lamar, 3-2
2/27/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 27, 2004
Beaumont, Texas - Sophomore Anthony Varvaro (Staten Island, N.Y./Curtis) threw six innings and junior Jim Wladyka (Rutherford, N.J./Rutherford) followed with three innings of shutout ball as the St. John's baseball team beat No. 24 Lamar, 3-2, for its first win of the season on Friday night in front of 512 fans at Vincent-Beck Stadium in Beaumont, Texas.
The Cardinals (6-3) entered the game having won its last four games, including a 5-4 win over seventh-ranked Arizona State last weekend. Lamar is ranked No. 24 in the country by Collegiate Baseball.
Varvaro allowed two runs - both in the third inning - on three hits, walked only two batters and struck out eight to pick up his first win of the season. Wladyka allowed only one hit - a two-out, eighth inning single - walked one batter and struck out two for his first save of the season.
The bottom half of the Red Storm lineup gave Varvaro an early 2-0 lead. In the top of the second inning, sophomore Greg Thomson (Levittown, N.Y./Island Trees) drew a one out walk and moved to third on a double from junior Blake Hershelman (Georgetown, Del./Sussex Central). Junior Jim Martin (Norwood, Mass./Norwood) followed with a single to left, scoring Thomson and putting runners on the corners. After striking out a batter, senior Drew Jackson (Morgantown, W. Va./University) hit a single, scoring Hershelman and giving St. John's a 2-0 lead.
Lamar tied the game up with a pair of runs in the third when Varvaro got into trouble early. Chase Richards hit a leadoff single and moved to second when Adrian Cantu walked. Jeremy Gray followed with a double to left-center, scoring both runners and tying the game. Varvaro, however, induced two outs, followed by a walk and got a ground ball to get out of the inning.
The sophomore was brilliant in his final three innings, retiring the last 10 batters he faced, with five strikeouts in that span. He struck out the side in the sixth inning, before making way for Wladyka with a 3-2 lead.
The Red Storm took the lead for good in the sixth. Thomson again worked the Lamar staff for a walk, stole second, moved to third on a Martin single and then scored when senior Anthony DeRosa (Salem, N.H.) delivered a single to center.
That was all Wladyka would need. He retired the side in order in the seventh and the first two batters in the eighth before giving up a single and a walk to put two runners on base. He forced No. 5 hitter Ryan Finan to foul out to third base to end the threat. He proceeded to retire the side in order in the ninth for the Red Storm's win.
Martin, DeRosa and Jackson - who batted seventh, eighth, and ninth, respectively - combined to go 5-for-11 with three runs batted in for the Red Storm. St. John's pounded four Cardinals' pitchers for 11 hits, with three players have two apiece (Martin, Jackson and senior shortstop Mike Rozema (Fair Lawn, N.J).
St. John's (1-3) will play Lamar again on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. Senior Joe Reid (Rutherford, N.J./St. Mary's) is slated to pitch for the Red Storm.
