St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Louisville
St. John's Downs Louisville, 19-15, In Slugfest Finale
5/10/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 10, 2009
QUEENS, N.Y. - The St. John's baseball team combined to score 15 runs between the sixth and eighth innings en route to a 19-15 victory against Louisville. Gino Matias was 2-for-2 with a home run and five RBI to lead St. John's (28-18, 15-9). Matt Wessinger added a home run and three RBI, while Jimmy Parque, Paul Karmas and Tim Morris had two RBI apiece. Nate Holland had a grand slam and Ryan Wright added three RBI to pace Louisville (36-14, 16-7).
Louisville took a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Adam Duvall singled with one out, but moved to third after a wild pitch and an errant throw to second. Andrew Clark then put Cardinals on the board with an RBI groundout.
Josh Richmond doubled with one out in the second before moving to third on a balk. John Dao then made it 2-0 with a sacrifice fly.
St. John's got on the board in the second inning. Carlos Del Rosario singled with one and moved to third on a Danny Benedetti single into centerfield. Matias then plated Del Rosario with a sacrifice fly and Louisville led 2-1.
Duvall opened a two-run third with a double before Clark walked. Chris Dominguez then grounded to short, but a muffed throw at second left the bases loaded. A pair of sacrifice flies by Phil Wunderlich and Ryan Wright made it 4-1.
The Red Storm used the long ball to tie the game at 4-4 in the fourth inning. After Matt Wessinger led off with a single, Benedetti drew a two-out walk before Matias launched a three-run home run over the fence in right center.
Wunderlich gave Louisville a 5-4 lead with a solo home run in the sixth.
Greg Hopkins doubled to lead off a seven-run sixth inning before Del Rosario reached on a sacrifice bunt as Louisville elected to throw to third, but the throw was not in time. Del Rosario stole second before St. John's tied the game at 5-5 with a Benedetti sacrifice fly. Matias was plunked and Kemp drew a walk to load the bases before Parque gave the Red Storm a 6-5 lead with an RBI single through the right side. Karmas followed with a two-run single through the right side before Wessinger greeted reliever Tony Zych with a three-run home run to right center.
Nick Luisi relieved starter Nick Cenatiempo in the seventh and pinch hitter Alex Lowery tripled to open a three-run inning for the Cardinals. After a Duvall RBI single, Clark then walked and Dominguez was plunked to load the bases with no outs. Luisi then induced a 4-6-3 double play, allowing Duvall to trot home before Wright singled up the middle to make it 11-8.
The Red Storm answered with a five-run bottom of the seventh. Three-straight RBI doubles by Matias, Kemp and Parque gave St. John's a 14-8 lead. Morris then followed with an RBI single before later scoring on an error.
A walk and a pair of hit batsman loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth before a wild pitch plated a run and left St. John's with runners on second and third. After a strikeout, pinch hitter Kevin Watkins plated a run with an RBI groundout and Morris blooped an RBI single into left center for a 19-8 Red Storm lead.
The Cardinals weren't done, however, as the first seven batters reached base in a seven-run ninth that included a grand slam by Nate Holland.
Cenatiempo (5-2) earned the win, allowing three earned runs in 6.0 innings.
St. John's next takes to the field for a three-game set against Notre Dame beginning on May 14.
