St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Hofstra
St. John's Topped By Hofstra, 20-13
3/18/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 18, 2009
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. - After falling behind 12-0 in the first inning, the St. John's baseball team charged back to within two runs before dropping a 20-13 contest against Hofstra. For the second-straight game, Tim Morris had four hits and three RBI to lead St. John's (8-7). Greg Hopkins added two home runs and four RBI, while Carlos Del Rosario had two hits and two RBI. Matt Prokopowicz was 4-for-6 with eight RBI to lead Hofstra (1-9).
Hofstra sent 17 men to the plate in a 12-run first inning. After Mark Stuckless drew a lead off walk, Stephen Rivera (1-1) plunked Tom Legregni to give the Pride two on with no outs. Prokopowicz then sent an RBI single up the middle before Chris Mentrasti lined an RBI single into right field and Hofstra led 2-0. The Pride went up 3-0 as Best grounded an RBI single up the middle. After Rivera tallied a strikeout and walked Scott A'Hara to load the bases, Elliot Hagberg lifted a sacrifice fly into right field. Kenny followed with an RBI single down the right field line to give Hofstra a 5-0 lead before St. John's brought reliever Nick Cenatiempo in from the bullpen. After reloading the bases, Legregni lined a two-run single into right field to give Hofstra a 7-0 lead. A Prokopowicz two-RBI double put the Pride up 9-0 before Mentrasti reached on an error. Back-to-back singles by Adam Perlo and A'Hara put the Pride up 12-0 before Cenatiempo induced a pop up to end the frame.
St. John's chipped into the Pride's lead with a six-run third inning. After Joe Witkowski reached on an infield single to lead off the frame, Brian Kemp followed with a one-out infield single. Del Rosario singled through the left side to load the bases before Jimmy Parque plated a run with an RBI fielder's choice. Following a Paul Karmas RBI double with two outs, Morris blasted a three-run home run to make it 12-5. Hopkins made it back-to-back home runs, adding a solo shot over the fence in left field.
In the sixth inning, after Morris singled into center field, Hopkins launched his second home run of the day, a two-run shot to left field that made it 12-8. Witkowski then singled to the opposite field and Gino Matias sent a ball down the line and off of the third base bag for a double. An RBI single by Kemp and an RBI groundout by Del Rosario made it a 12-10 score.
After a one-out infield in the bottom of the sixth, Ryan Cole issued a walk and both runners advanced on a wild pitch. Perlo then grounded to third and Hopkins threw home to Witkowski, who chased the runner up the line and made the tag. Cole kept Hofstra off the board with a strikeout to end the inning.
Hofstra extended its lead to 13-10 after Hagburg led off the bottom of the seventh with a solo home run off reliever Rich Armento. Following a pair of one-out singles, Prokopowicz sent a three-run home run over the fence in center field to give the Pride a 16-10 advantage. After a single, Jim Best followed with an RBI double before righty Gabe Guerrero notched the final two outs of the inning.
Pinch hitter Matt Wessinger singled to lead off the eighth, but reached second on an error by the center fielder. Matias then doubled with one out to a plate a run and Del Rosario singled into left field to make it 17-12.
Prokopowicz added a three-run double in the bottom of the eighth to give the Pride a 20-12 lead.
St. John's would add one more run in the ninth as Morris doubled to lead off the inning, but advanced to third on an error. An RBI groundout by Hopkins then brought Morris home.
The Red Storm opens BIG EAST play this weekend, hosting Villanova in a three-game set.
