St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Boston College
St. John's, Boston College Split BIG EAST Doubleheader
3/26/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 26, 2005
Queens, NY - St. John's junior Anthony Varvaro (Staten Island, NY) threw a complete game five-hitter to lead St. John's to a 4-0 win in the opening game a doubleheader split with Boston College in front of 216 fans at The Ballpark on Saturday afternoon. The Eagles scored an unearned run in the top of the 12th inning and got out of a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the inning for a 4-3 win in the nightcap.
St. John's is now 9-9 overall and 1-1 in the BIG EAST, while Boston College is 14-6 overall and 3-1 in league play.
In the nightcap, BC catcher Shawn McGill was hit by Red Storm junior Craig Hansen (Glen Cove, NY) to open the 12th inning. McGill moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and after Hansen recorded his ninth strikeout in five innings, Jonny Weiss reached on an error by Red Storm first baseman Anthony Smith (Katonah, NY), which allowed McGill to score the go-ahead run.
The Red Storm loaded the bases with two out in the bottom of the inning, but Dave Preziosi struck out Joe Burke to end the game.
Hansen (0-2) took the loss for St. John's, throwing 5.0 innings, giving up one hits and walking none with nine strikeouts. Preziosi (0-1), who pitched earlier in the game, threw 2.1 innings, allowing one hit, with two walks and two strikeouts.
The Eagles had taken a 3-0 lead early in the game. Drew Locke hit an RBI groundout in the fourth for a 1-0 lead and in the fifth, Preziosi hit an RBI single and Johnny Ayers drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. The Red Storm clawed back to tie the game in the eighth. Trailing 3-1 in the eighth, junior Chris Joachim (Massapequa Park, NY) got things going with a leadoff single. Sophomore Sam DeLuca (Levittown, NY) walked and both runners moved up on a sacrifice bunt from junior Ken Devenney (Philadelphia, PA). BC closer Kevin Boggan issued an intentional walk to Burke to load the bases with one out. Freshman third baseman Gil Zayas (East New York, NJ) delivered a single just out of the reach of Eagles first baseman Preziosi, scoring both runners and tying the game. Boggan, however, retired the next two batters to escape the jam and sending it to extra innings.
The first game was a pitcher's duel in the early going, as Varvaro and BC starter Nate Jeanes battled back and forth.
The Eagles put a pair of runners on in the first - with Preziosi reaching on a bunt single and Jason Delaney walking - but could not plate a run. Varvaro settled down and retired the next six batters before giving up a single to Jared McGuire in the third. The Eagles appeared ready to take the lead in the fourth when Locke hit a leadoff single and Marco Albano was hit by a pitch, but Varvaro was able to escape. He struck out McGill looking, threw out pinch-runner Ryan Hutchinson and then struck out Mike Flynn to end the inning.
Jeanes, meanwhile, held St. John's without a hit until the fourth inning, when the Red Storm had three and took advantage of an error to take a 2-0 lead. Sophomore Sam DeLuca (Pelham, NY) reached on a throwing error moved to third when senior P.J. Antoniato (Levittown, NY) reached on a bunt single. A sacrifice fly from junior Will Vogl (Pacifica, CA) scored DeLuca with the go-ahead run. Joachim followed with a hard single to left, putting runners on the corners for Burke, who placed a perfect bunt down the third base line, scoring Antoniato and giving St. John's a 2-0 lead.
In the sixth, Antoniato hit a leadoff single and moved to second on Vogl's sacrifice bunt. After Burke was hit by a pitch, both runners moved up on a passed ball. Junior Ken Devenney (Philadelphia, PA) legged out an infield single to first, scoring Antoniato, and Burke charged around and slid ahead of the throw, giving the Red Storm a 4-0 lead.
Varvaro went 7.0 innings, giving up no runs on five hits, with three walks and nine strikeouts as he improved to 3-2 this season. It was the third career win for Varvaro over Boston College, as he has struck out 21 in 23 innings against the Eagles while carrying a 0.78 earned run average.
