St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Georgetown
St. John's Splits Doubleheader with Georgetown
3/28/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 27, 2004
Jamaica, N.Y. - JAMAICA, N.Y. -- St. John's scored six runs in the first inning of game one, but Georgetown freshman Erick Chandler limited the Red Storm to one run on seven hits in the nightcap as the teams split a BIG EAST doubleheader at The Ballpark on Saturday afternoon.
The Red Storm's loss in the nightcap ended a seven-game win streak and dropped St. John's to 10-9 overall and 1-1 in the BIG EAST, while Georgetown improved to 17-12 and 3-2.
Georgetown jumped on top with a three-run second off of St. John's junior starter Jim Wladyka (Rutherford, N.J.). Andrew Cleary was hit by a pitch and advanced to third on a single from Timmy Jones. A bunt single from Matt Johnson brought home the first run. Ron Cano followed with another single, scoring Jones, and Parker Brooks reached base on a fielding error, bringing home the final run.
Cleary hit a leadoff home run in the fifth, but that was all Chandler would need, who retired eight of the first nine batters he faced. The only run he gave up came in the third. Senior Mike Rozema (Fair Lawn, N.J.) walked, stole second and scored on a single from P.J. Antoniato (Levittown, N.Y.), but he was thrown out trying to stretch the hit to a double.
The Red Storm had chances, putting the lead runner on in the fourth, sixth, seventh and eighth innings, but could not plate a run against Chandler, who was relieved in the eighth by Mark Dutmers.
In game one, the Red Storm hit Georgetown starter Warren Sizemore for six runs on seven hits in the bottom of the first inning en route to the win.
Senior starter Joe Reid (Rutherford, N.J.) was not crisp, but helped himself out of several jams and had strong defense up the middle. He loaded the bases with walks in the first inning with one out, but came back to strike out Timmy Jones and Ron Cano, ending the threat. Reid hit the leadoff batter in the second, but a double play quickly ended the threat. A pair of errors and another hit by pitch loaded the bases with none out in the fourth, but Reid struck out Matthew Johnson, Billy Quinn and Parker Brooks to retire the side.
St. John's had four straight hits and scored three runs before Sizemore recorded an out in the first. Rozema and Antoniato hit back-to-back singles and junior Jim Martin (Norwood, Mass.) followed with a single to left, scoring the first run. Junior Blake Hershelman (Georgetown, Del.) then banged a double to the wall in right, scoring Antoniato. A groundout from junior Joe Burke (Brooklyn, N.Y.) scored Martin, giving St. John's a 3-0 lead. Sophomore Ed Schultz (Flemington, N.J.) singled to score Hershelman, while sophomore Chris Joachim (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) reached on a single and Anthony DeRosa reached on a fielder's choice to load the bases. Freshman Eric Grabowski (Spencer, Mass.) reached on a fielder's choice, scoring Schultz, and a throwing error allowed Joachim to come in with the sixth run of the inning.
In the third, DeRosa walked, stole second, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on an Antoniato fly out. The Red Storm added two more runs in the fourth. Hershelman doubled to left, moved to third on Burke's single and scored on Schultz's sacrifice fly. Burke stole second and moved to third on a throwing error before scoring on DeRosa's sac fly.
Reid went 5.2 innings, giving up two earned runs on three hits, with six walks and eight strikeouts. Redshirt freshman Justin Muir (Plainsboro, N.J.) threw the final 1.1 innings in the win.
St. John's closes out its three-game series on Sunday, with a single game slated to start at noon. Sophomore Anthony Varvaro (Staten Island, N.Y.), who is 2-0 this season, will start for the Red Storm.
