St. John's University Athletics
Red Storm Thumps Cincinnati, 10-0, In Series Opener
5/11/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Sophomore Scott Barnes blanked Cincinnati over seven innings and registered his second double-digit strikeout game of the year, as the Red Storm handled the Bearcats, 10-0, in the opener of a three-game BIG EAST Conference series on Friday night. Barnes and freshman Nick Cenatiempo combined on the team's fifth shutout of the season, while the offense went for 10 runs on 15 hits and the defense played its 17th errorless game of the year.
With the win, St. John's improved to 35-13 on the season and 17-5 in BIG EAST play, while Cincinnati fell to 26-24 overall, 8-13 in league action.
Barnes allowed four hits, while striking out 10 and walking one, over seven scoreless innings to win his fourth consecutive decision. He retired eight straight batters beginning in the third inning, as St. John's built a 7-0 lead. With his 10 strikeouts, Barnes moved into a seventh place tie with Craig Hansen (2005) on the school's single-season strikeouts list with 85 and into a tie for 10th place with Kenneth Wirell (1963-65) on the career list with 159.
Cenatiempo threw two scoreless innings out of the bullpen to close out the win, and in the process moved his scoreless streak to 23 innings. His earned run average, which was 19.29 at the start of the streak, continued its fall, as he ended the night with a season-low 3.25 ERA.
Balance was again key for the Red Storm offense, as 10 different players recorded hits and six accounted for the team's 10 runs. Ryan Mahoney and Jeff Grantham, the No. 8 and No. 9 hitters in the order, combined to go 4-for-6 with two RBI and three runs scored, while Sam DeLuca extended his season-long hitting streak to nine games with two hits and a run.
Freshman Brian Kemp, the BIG EAST leader with 36 hits during conference play, singled twice and scored two runs, and junior Gil Zayas moved into a tie for seventh place on St. John's single-season doubles list with his 16th and 17th of the season. Sophomore Gino Matias, a defensive substitute in the contest, hit a two-run single to move his hitting streak to seven games, over which he has hit an incredible .692 (9-for-13).
St. John's loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the first and scored the game's first run on a single into left field by Anthony Smith. Chris Joachim, who reached on a fielding error by shortstop Adam Yeager, crossed the plate on Smith's 37th RBI of the season.
The Red Storm tacked on another run in the bottom of the second, then broke the game open with a five-run fourth.
Mahoney tripled off the left-center field wall and scored on a two-out single by Kemp to give St. John's a 2-0 lead in the second. In the fourth, Grantham, Joachim and Chris Anninos delivered RBI base hits, and Kemp scored on a wild pitch as the Red Storm took a decisive 7-0 lead.
Barnes mowed through the Bearcats lineup, but ran into trouble in the seventh, allowing back-to-back singles to Josh Harrison and Neall French to open the inning with runners on first and third and no out. The sophomore took matters into his own hands from there, striking out the next three batters to keep the shutout intact.
Barnes left after the seventh and gave way to Cenatiempo, who retired the Bearcats in order in the eighth and worked a scoreless ninth to close out the win.
The two teams meet again on Saturday in the second of a three-game series. First pitch from Jack Kaiser Stadium is scheduled for 1 p.m.
