St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Cincinnati
St. John's Drops Series-Opener At Cincinnati, 4-2
4/16/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 16, 2010
CINCINNATI, Ohio - St. John's was held scoreless for the final four innings and was edged by Cincinnati, 4-2, in the opener of a three-game BIG EAST series. Joe Panik was 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBI, while Scott Ferrara was 2-for-5 with a stolen base to pace St. John's (19-12, 5-5). Bruce Kern took the loss (5-3), allowing four runs and striking out eight in 5.1 innings. Mikel Huston was 2-for-3 with an RBI, while Dan Jensen (4-1) earned the win after allowing two runs in 5.0 innings of work.
Kern set the Bearcats down in order in the first inning and allowed just one hit through the first three innings, but Cincinnati sent seven men to the plate in a two-run fourth inning. Kendal Coleman singled with one out and stole second base before scoring on a Jimmy Jacquot RBI double. After a walk, Huston followed with an RBI single and the Bearcats led 2-0.
St. John's came right back to tie the game at 2-2 in the fifth. After Ferrara singled with one out and stole second, Panik launched a two-out, two-run home run off the scoreboard in right field.
Cincinnati, however, responded to retake the lead with two runs in the bottom of the fifth. After reaching on a bloop single with one out, Jamel Scott scored from first on a T.J. Jones RBI double. Jones then advanced to third on a groundout before Jacquot was plunked and Chris Peters followed with an RBI single. A walk to Huston loaded the bases with two outs, but Kern got a strikeout to end the threat.
Jensen was lifted after 5.0 innings and Jimmy Parque led off the sixth with a single. The Red Storm would eventually put runners on first and third with two outs, but reliever Brian Garman kept St. John's off the board.
Kern was lifted after striking out the lead off man in the sixth. Stephen Rivera walked the first batter he faced before retiring the next four batters. A two-out walk to Peters in the seventh, however, would chase Rivera. Kevin Kilpatrick entered and Peters was caught stealing to end the inning.
Andrew Burkett worked a 1-2-3 inning to close out the game with his eighth save.
St. John's returns to action against Cincinnati with a 4 p.m. game on April 17.
