St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Virginia Tech
St. John's Sweeps Doubleheader from Virginia Tech
4/3/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 3, 2004
Jamaica, N.Y. - Jamaica, N.Y. -- It's hard to believe that the second weekend series of conference play can be looked at as "must-win" games, but that was the situation for the St. John's baseball team Saturday afternoon. Facing a Virginia Tech team that was swept at home last weekend, the Red Storm knew that in order to keep themselves among the top in the league, taking a doubleheader to start the series would get things off on the right foot.
Senior Mike Rozema (Fair Lawn, N.J.) drove in the game-winning run in the seventh inning as St. John's won the opening game, 3-2, and the Red Storm used a six-run seventh inning en route to a 9-5 win to complete the sweep of the Hokies at The Ballpark. St. John's, winners of 11 of the last 13 games, improved to 14-9 overall and 4-1 in the BIG EAST, while Virginia Tech falls to 12-12 and 0-5 in the league.
Trailing 5-3 in the seventh inning of the nightcap, the Red Storm exploded for six runs, with sophomore Eddie Schultz (Flemington, N.J.) hitting a pinch-hit two-run triple to highlight the inning.
Rozema led the seventh off with a double to left-center and scored when junior Jim Martin (Norwood, Mass.) doubled down the right field line. Junior Blake Hershelman (Georgetown, Del.) followed with a double to left, scoring Martin with the tying run. After the second out was recorded, redshirt freshman Chris Joachim (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) reached on an infield single to put runners on the corners. Schultz laced a 3-1 pitch from Brett Cory down the right field line, scoring Joachim and Hershelman with the go-ahead runs. Senior Anthony DeRosa (Salem, N.H.) reached on a throwing error, allowing Schultz to score, and freshman Eric Grabowski (Spencer, Mass.) tripled to dead center, plating DeRosa and giving the Red Storm a 9-5 lead.
Redshirt freshman Justin Muir (Plainsboro, N.J.) threw the final three innings of the game, walking one and striking out one, as he improved to 2-0 this season.
St. John's had taken a 1-0 lead in the first when Hershelman's ground out scored junior P.J. Atoniato (Levittown, N.Y.), who singled and moved to third on a Martin single. The Hokies, however, came back with a three-run third off of junior starter Jim Wladyka (Rutherford, N.J.). Sean O'Brien's two-run double to right gave the Hokies a 3-1 lead.
It was short-lived, as the Red Storm came right back to tie the game in the bottom of the inning. Antoniato singled, moved to second on a wild pitch, to third on a ground out and scored on a single to right from junior Joe Burke (Brooklyn, N.Y.). Burke moved to third on Joachim's single and scored on a wild pitch.
The Hokies added single runs in the fifth and sixth innings, however, to take a 5-3 lead. Wladyka took a no-decision, throwing six innings and giving up five runs (one earned) on six hits, with two walks and four strikeouts.
In game one, the Red Storm took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning, but the Hokies tacked on two runs in the top of the sixth to tie the game. In the bottom of the seventh, freshman Eric Grabowski (Spencer, Mass.) walked with one out, stole second and moved to third on a throwing error from Virginia Tech pitcher Ryan Kennedy. Senior Mike Rozema (Fair Lawn, N.J.) then laced a single to left, scoring Grabowski with the winning run.
The decision went to sophomore Craig Hansen (Glen Cove, N.Y.), who relieved redshirt freshman Rob Delaney (River Vale, N.J.) in the sixth. Hansen came in with runners on the corners and two out, and struck out the final batter, before retiring the side in the seventh.
After three scoreless innings, the Red Storm broke through for the lead with a pair of runs. Antoniato hit a leadoff single and moved to second on a bunt single from Martin. Hershelman's ground out moved the runners up and a single from junior Joe Burke (Brooklyn, N.Y.) scored the lead run. Redshirt freshman Chris Joachim (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) followed with a double to left, scoring Hershelman and giving St. John's a 2-0 lead.
Senior starter Joe Reid (Rutherford, N.J.) got in trouble in the sixth, walking Sean O'Brien and allowing him to move to second on a wild pitch. He was relieved by Delaney, who gave up a single to Matt Foley, with O'Brien scoring on an error. A single from Warren Schaeffer scored the tying run, but Hansen struck out Hokies second baseman Chris Stanton looking to end the inning.
Antoniato finished the day 5-for-7 and three runs scored, while Rozema went 4-for-9, with one run scored and one RBI and Joachim and Martin each had three hits. The teams close out the series on Sunday, with first pitch slated for noon.
