St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Notre Dame
Notre Dame Rallies To Defeat St. John's, 11-10
5/22/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 22, 2009
CLEARWATER, Fla. - The St. John's baseball team led 10-2 before rain halted play for over two hours and Notre Dame rallied back for an 11-10 win. Brian Kemp and Carlos Del Rosario had three hits apiece to pace St. John's (30-22). Greg Hopkins, Del Rosario and Danny Benedetti added two RBI apiece. David Mills and Cameron McConnell had three RBI apiece to lead Notre Dame (35-22).
After a scoreless first inning, St. John's took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second. After Del Rosario singled to the opposite field with one out, Matt Wessinger was plunked to give the Red Storm runners on first and second. A balk moved both runners up before a Benedetti RBI groundout put St. John's on the board.
The Red Storm added five runs in the third to go up 6-0. Kemp doubled just inside the third base bag to lead off the inning before Jimmy Parque singled just over the head of the shortstop to set up first and third with no outs. Paul Karmas then lined an RBI single through the left side before a Tim Morris single loaded the bases. After a Hopkins sacrifice fly, Del Rosario followed with an RBI groundout and Wessinger lined an RBI double off the wall in left center. Benedetti then gave St. John's a 6-0 lead with an RBI single.
St. John's strung together four-straight two-out hits to add three runs in the fourth. After a double by Karmas, Morris lined an RBI single into center field. Hopkins followed by grounding an RBI double up the third base line before a Del Rosario RBI single chased Dupra from the game.
Notre Dame got on the board in the bottom of the fourth when Evan Sharpley led off the frame with a solo home run. Ryan Connolly followed with a double before scoring on a McConnell RBI single up the middle that made it 9-2.
Kemp added a two-out solo home run in the fifth to give St. John's a 10-2 lead.
The Irish added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth. After Golden Tate was plunked, Jeremy Barnes singled to give Notre Dame a pair of base runners. David Mills then added a two-out, two run double in the bottom of the fifth before bad weather swept in and forced a two hour rain delay. St. John's was forced to go to the bullpen and Stephen Rivera closed out the inning.
Notre Dame loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh, eventually plating four runs in the frame. After a Tate single, Barnes walked and Sharpley was plunked before Mills lifted a sacrifice fly into center field. After Connolly plated two runs with an RBI double, St. John's went to the bullpen and brought in Ryan Cole. After a walk reloaded the bases, McConnell blooped a two-run single into right center and Notre Dame trailed, 10-8.
Notre Dame added two runs in the eighth to tie the game at 10-10. AJ Pollock singled to lead off the eighth and stole second base before Rivera issued back-to-back walks to Tate and Barnes to load the bases with no outs. St. John's went to the bullpern and brought in reliever Nick Luisi. Sharpley drew a walk to force in a run before pinch hitter Brayden Ashdown grounded into a double play that allowed the tying run to score.
Mick Doyle led off with a double to deep right and moved to third on a groundout. After third baseman Hopkins fielded a hard grounder to keep the runner at third, Tate singled through the left side to plate the game-winning run and eliminate St. John's from the tournament.
