St. John's University Athletics
St. John's And Princeton Meet In Tuesday Non-Conference Match-Up
4/25/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 25, 2006
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ST. JOHN'S AND PRINCETON MEET IN TUESDAY NON-CONFERENCE MATCH-UP
- St. John's wraps up a six-game home stand on Tuesday, April 25, at 7 p.m., when it hosts Princeton in a non-conference match-up at The Ballpark at St. John's. The Red Storm enters the contest with wins in nine consecutive non-conference games, including back-to-back shutouts of Fairleigh Dickinson and Hofstra last week.
- Live game statistics and audio broadcast are available for each of the game by visiting RedStormSports.com, the official athletics website of St. John's University.
- St. John's has won the last two meetings against the Tigers and currently holds a 17-15 advantage in an all-time series that dates back to the 1967 season. Only eight of the 32 all-time meetings have come on the Red Storm's home field, with Tuesday's contest being the team's fifth straight home contest against Princeton.
- The Red Storm hits the road this weekend for its final BIG EAST road series of the season, as it travels to Piscataway, N.J., for three games against Rutgers (17-18-1, 7-8 BIG EAST). The Scarlet Knights sit in a tie for sixth place in the conference, 1.5 games back of the third-place Red Storm.
ST. JOHN'S FALLS TO UCONN IN RAIN-SHORTENED SERIES
- Rains and wet conditions tampered with much of St. John's weekend series against visiting Connecticut and was cause for cancellation of the Sunday series finale. The Huskies took a pair of close Friday-Saturday games, beating the Red Storm, 6-3 and 4-2, behind strong performances by starting pitchers Tim Norton and Rich Sirois.
- Sophomore left-hander Matt Tosoni pitched brilliantly in the Saturday loss to the Huskies, allowing just three hits and three runs in a career-high 8.1 innings. Tosoni moved his earned run average to 2.25 and his opposing batting average to .214 in conference play, marks that ranked second in the in the league's latest statistics release.
- Colin Lynch struck out the side in a scoreless inning in the Friday series opener, and Luis Monell allowed three hits and one run in 3.0 scoreless innings of relief. Rob Delaney made his team-leading fifth conference start of the season, allowing 10 hits and five runs and striking out four in 5.0 innings on Friday.
- Four different players went a combined 3-for-8 in the two games to lead the Red Storm offense. Eddie Schultz moved within three doubles of second on the St. John's career doubles list with his 10th in 84 at-bats this season, and Chris Anninos was tied for the team lead with two runs batted in. Sam DeLuca had three hits and scored two of St. John's five runs, and Will Vogl went 2-for-6 with a double and a team-leading .556 on-base percentage in the series.
TOSONI CONTINUES RUN OF BIG EAST SUCCESS
- Redshirt sophomore Matt Tosoni has been among the BIG EAST's best pitchers in league play this season, ranking second in the conference in both earned run average (2.25) and opposing batting average (.214) in league action. The success has been nothing new for Tosoni, who went 3-1 with a 1.90 over the course of the 2004 BIG EAST schedule.
- Tosoni's last two appearances have come in games against Connecticut (April 22) and at then-No. 21 Notre Dame (April 15), the top two teams in the conference standings. The sophomore allowed a combined six hits and three runs in 13.1 innings in those games and extended a streak of 11.1 career innings without an earned run against the Fighting Irish.
- Tosoni has been effective in both conference and non-conference appearances since allowing three runs on five hits in 1.1 innings in his season debut at then-No. 4 Rice. In seven appearances (three starts) since then, the Toronto, Ontario, native has recorded a 1-1 record, one save, a 1.87 ERA and a .212 opposing batting average.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
- Princeton enters Tuesday contest with a 12-21-1 overall record and a 7-9 mark in Ivy League action. The Tigers have played 26 of their 34 games away from home, posting a 10-15-1 road record, and are coming off splits in back-to-back conference doubleheaders against Penn.
· The Princeton offense exploded for 20 hits and 14 runs in a 14-2 win over Penn in the second game of a Monday doubleheader, led by a 3-for-5 day by catcher Zach Wendkos. Wendkos had three RBI and hit his team-leading seventh homer of the season in the win, while outfielder Andrew Salini went 4-for-6 with two doubles and four runs scored.
- Offensively, the Tigers are hitting .271 with 22 home runs, a .393 slugging percentage and a .329 on-base percentage in 34 games. Aaron Prince leads the team with a .363 average and eight stolen bases, Salini has a team-best 33 RBI and Wendkos leads the Tigers with 18 extra-base hits, seven home runs and a .587 slugging percentage.
- Starting pitchers Christian Staehely and Eric Walz both have ERAs under 3.00 in a combined 15 starts to lead a staff that has compiled a 4.19 ERA, .279 opponent batting average, 131 walks and 134 strikeouts in 288.0 innings. Steven Miller has made a team-high 13 appearances out of the bullpen, posting an 0-7 record, three saves and a .340 opponent batting average in 25.2 innings.
THE LINEUP CARD (PROBABLES BY POSITION
- CATCHER: Jarod Hickle has replaced the injured Brendan Monaghan and started the last eight games behind the plate. The pitching staff has not missed the beat with the 6-foot, 208-pound senior receiving, and Hickle has also chipped in with seven hits, a .259 batting average, four doubles and five RBI in the eight starts. Hickle has five doubles in his last 12 games overall and has posted the first two multi-hit games of his career.
- FIRST BASE: Junior co-captain Chris Joachim has been one of the top offensive players in the BIG EAST for the entire 2006 season. Joachim enters this week's action ranked third in the conference in batting average (.423), tied for second in stolen bases (17), tied for third in hits (60) and fourth in on-base percentage (.488). He has already exceeded career-best season totals with 60 hits, 75 total bases and 17 steals, and is working on a current 17-game hit streak.
- SECOND BASE: Sam DeLuca has been a consistent and durable part of the Red Storm offense and defense, hitting .307 with 50 RBI, 26 walks and just 23 strikeouts in 329 career at-bats. DeLuca has annually ranked among the toughest in collegiate baseball to strike out, and has been listed as the 19th toughest to strike out in 2006 (as of April 18). He has been dynamic at the plate as well, hitting .375 with 12 runs scored and a .457 on-base percentage in his last 10 games.
- THIRD BASE: Gil Zayas is in the midst of a career year, hitting .307 with a team-leading 13 doubles, four home runs, 32 RBI and a .486 slugging percentage. The sophomore and first-year starter is tied for eighth on the BIG EAST doubles list, while tying for the team lead with eight multi-RBI games and ranking second with 17 extra-base hits and four home runs.
- SHORTSTOP: Gino Matias seems to be turning a corner as a defensive shortstop and has made four straight starts there in the last week. Matias' speed and ability to get on base at the bottom of the lineup have also put pressure on opposing defenses and set the table for the top of the Red Storm order. In five games last week, though he went 1-for-9 at the plate, Matias walked five times, had a .429 on-base percentage and stole a base.
- LEFT FIELD: With his solid defense and abilities at the plate, Bryan Dirr has been a major contributor since making his first career start on March 5th at East Tennessee State. Dirr has hit .343 with 15 walks, a .421 on-base percentage and 21 runs scored in 29 games. His has played a key role in getting on base and scoring runs, as well as setting up run-scoring opportunities (eight sacrifice hits) for his teammates.
- CENTER FIELD: Will Vogl has been as consistent and dynamic as any hitter in the Red Storm lineup and in the BIG EAST, compiling a .371 batting average, 23 extra-base hits, 36 RBI and a .643 slugging percentage in 38 games. Vogl has 17 games with at least two hits, a team-high eight games with at least two RBI and 23 games with at least one RBI, all while walking 19 times and recording a .448 on-base percentage out of the leadoff position.
- RIGHT FIELD: Sophomore Chris Anninos has been one of the team's top hitters in BIG EAST games this season, recording a .385 batting average and team-highs of three home runs, 15 RBI and 30 total bases in 14 games. Overall, Anninos is hitting .347 with four doubles, three homers, 19 runs scored and 22 RBI, after hitting .412 in 22 plate appearances as a redshirt freshman in 2005.
- DESIGNATED HITTER: Anthony Smith has been the Red Storm's top left-handed hitter, playing in 36 games in right field and as a designated hitter. The junior has .295 with four home runs, 25 RBI and 27 runs scored in those games, and has also added 22 walks and a .415 on-base percentage. In 26 fewer at-bats than in the 2005 season - his first at St. John's - Smith already has more RBI (25) and runs scored (27) and has seen his on-base percentage rise by nearly 100 points (.322 to .415).
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