St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Saint Peter's
St. John's Powers Past St. Peter's, 14-3
4/29/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 29, 2004
Jersey City, N.J. - St. John's scored four runs in the fourth inning and added four more in the fifth, with sophomore Ken Devenney (Philadelphia, Pa.) and junior Blake Hershelman (Georgetown, Del.) each hitting home runs, en route to an 14-3 non-league win over St. Peter's on Thursday afternoon at Jaroschak Field.
The Red Storm, winners of 24 of their last 31 games, improve to 27-14 win the win, while the Peacocks fall to 6-22 overall.
Leading 3-1 in the top of the fifth inning, the Red Storm blew the game open with a four-run inning. Junior P.J. Antoniato (Levittown, N.Y.) hit a leadoff single and scored on a double to left-center from senior Mike Rozema (Fair Lawn, N.J.). Hershelman followed with a single to right, putting runners on the corners, Rozema scored on a wild pitch from St. Peter's reliever Dave Sangster. Devenney followed with a blast to left, his second career home run, giving St. John's a 7-1 lead.
The Red Storm widened the lead to 11-1 in the sixth with four runs off of Peacocks reliever John Nicholson. Antoniato hit a leadoff triple to left-center and Rozema walked to put runners on the corners for sophomore Eddie Schultz (Flemington, N.J.), who lofted a fly ball to left, but it was misplayed by St. Peter's Jeff Prosdocimo, allowing one run to score. Hershelman followed with a three-run blast - his sixth of the season, clearing the 410-foot marker easily - as St. John's took an 11-1 lead.
St. John's had taken a 2-0 lead in the first, with Antoniato hitting a single, moving to second on a wild pitch and scoring on Rozema's single. Rozema would follow with a pair of stolen bases, and score on Schutlz's sacrifice to left.
St. Peter's scored a run in the bottom of the inning off of Red Storm starter Anthony Sullivan (Arlington, Mass.), but the visitors loaded the bases after senior Anthony DeRosa (Salem, N.H.) and Devenney walked, and freshman Brendan Monaghan (Wayne, N.J.) reached on a fielder's choice. Freshman Ryan Crespi (Sparta, N.J.) was then hit by a pitch to walk in the third run.
Sullivan threw six innings, giving up two runs on four hits, with five walks and four strikeouts, as he improved to 4-4 this season. Freshman Frank Brogna (Clifton Park, N.Y.) struck out the side in the eighth inning, and sophomore Craig Hansen (Glen Cove, N.Y.) closed out the game by striking out the side in the ninth.
St. John's scored 14 runs on 15 hits, with 11 different Red Storm players getting at least one hit. Antoniato finished 3-for-4 with three runs scored, while Hershelman and Rozema each had two hits. Redshirt freshman Chris Joachim (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) hit his third home run of the season in the eighth inning.
St. John's travels this weekend for a BIG EAST series at West Virginia.
