St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Rice
St. John's Falls At No. 4 Rice, 14-7
2/24/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 24, 2006
HOUSTON - An offensive outburst by the No. 2 Rice Owls proved too much for the St. John's baseball team, as the Red Storm fell, 14-7 at the Rice Invitational on Friday evening. Anthony Smith and Will Vogl each homered in the loss, as St. John's fell to 0-2 on the young season.
Vogl added a triple in going 2-for-4 with two runs and three RBI, and Smith finished 1-for-3 with two RBI. Chris Anninos and Ryan Mahoney also collected RBI, while Chris Joachim, Gino Matias and Gil Zayas all scored runs in the game. Two Red Storm pitchers, Scott Barnes and Justin Gutsie, made their collegiate debuts, and redshirt sophomore Matt Tosoni made his first appearance since the 2004 season.
Center fielder Tyler Henley led the Owls, going 4-for-4 with two walks, three RBI and four runs scored. Designated hitter Josh Rodriguez went 3-for-5 with four RBI, and reliever Cole St. Clair picked up the win for the Owl pitching staff with 1.1 scoreless innings of relief.
The Red Storm took an early lead in the game with two runs in the top of the first inning. Vogl was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, Joachim followed with a single up the middle and Sam DeLuca walked to load the bases with no outs. Anthony Smith walked to plate Vogl, and Ryan Mahoney walked to force in Joachim and give St. John's a 2-0 lead.
Starter Rob Delaney held the Rice offense scoreless over the first 2.2 innings, but the Owls pushed a run across in the bottom of the third inning to cut the Red Storm lead to 2-1. First baseman Joe Savery doubled in Tyler Henley, who had reached on a single and stole a base.
The game was delayed for just over an hour in the top of the fourth and resumed with one out in the top half of the inning. New Rice pitcher Kyle Gunderson worked through the inning without any damage, and the Owls came back with three runs in the fourth. Henley hit a two-run single, and Greg Buchanan hit an RBI single as Rice took a 4-3 lead.
Delaney came back out after the rain delay, but was lifted with two outs in the fourth inning. The junior threw 3.2 innings, giving up four hits and four runs and striking out three.
The Owls added two more runs in their half of the fifth to stretch their lead to 6-3, but St. John's responded in a big way in the top of the sixth. Smith led off the inning with a solo homer - the first Red Storm home run of the season - to right field, and the blast started a seven-hit, five-run rally. Gil Zayas and Chris Anninos each singled, putting runners on first and second base for leadoff hitter Vogl, who blasted the first pitch he saw from Gunderson over the left-center field wall.
Rice scored three more runs in the sixth and two in the seventh and three in the eighth to take a 14-7 lead, the eventual final score. St. Clair and Bryce Cox closed the door for the Owls with a combined 2.1 scoreless innings of relief.
The Red Storm is back in action tomorrow, with a 4:30 p.m. game against Texas State and will close the Rice Invitational with a Sunday game against No. 3 Nebraska at noon. Nebraska defeated Texas State, 10-3, in the first game of the Friday doubleheader.
