Previewing The 2011 St. John's Baseball Team

2/15/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Feb. 15, 2011

QUEENS, N.Y. - After winning a conference-record sixth BIG EAST Tournament crown, advancing to the Charlottesville Regional finals of the NCAA Tournament and amassing a school-record 43 wins, the St. John's baseball team will look to further continue its run of success with 16th year head coach Ed Blankmeyer at the helm. The four-time BIG EAST and ABCA Northeast Region Coach of the Year has led St. John's to six NCAA Tournament appearances, including five in the past seven seasons, and has brought the squad to 11 BIG EAST Tournaments.

The Red Storm returns 20 letterwinners from a 2010 squad that set new school-records in runs (494), hits (750), doubles (150) and RBI (457), and finished the season 43-20 (16-11 BIG EAST). The squad also welcomes nine new players, including one NJCAA All-American and one player selected in the 2010 MLB draft.

Ranked No. 23 in the Baseball America Preseason Top 25, the Red Storm was also selected second in the annual BIG EAST Preseason Poll. A pair of Preseason All-Americans, sophomores Jeremy Baltz and Kyle Hansen were also both named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST squad.

The team enters the 2010 season with the slogan "Finish The Job."

"We've come up short in taking our game to the next level in terms of advancing to a Super Regional and to Omaha," said Blankmeyer. "But `Finish The Job' means more than just extending a postseason run. We have to finish off games in the late innings, we have to complete sweeps or take two out of three. This motto is about getting it done on the field, which is how you get to Omaha."

Pitching
The pitching staff, which set a new school-record with 455 strikeouts a year ago, welcomes back 10 arms that accounted for 383.0 innings and 292 strikeouts.

A complementary trio of sophomores headline the weekend rotation with Hansen, a freshman All-American and a third team All-BIG EAST selection, leading the way. Named the Most Outstanding Player of the BIG EAST Tournament, the hard-throwing righty went 8-3 with a 3.71 ERA as a rookie and had 85 strikeouts in 94.2 innings of work. A consistent and reliable starter, Hansen allowed two earned runs or less in nine of his 15 starts.

Sean Hagan, a 6-6 lefty, slides into the rotation after going 5-1 with a 4.85 ERA in 20 appearances, including six starts. Hagan also racked up nearly a strikeout per inning, fanning 53 batters in 55.2 innings of work.

Another power arm, sophomore Matt Carasiti rounds out the weekend rotation. The righty went 7-4 with a 5.94 ERA as a rookie and totaled 34 strikeouts in 53.0 innings, while holding the opposition to a .261 average.

A pair of juniors, righty Eddie Medina and lefty Brendan Lobban, are expected to compete for spots in the starting rotation. Medina has a career record of 8-3 in 36 appearances, including eight starts. After going 4-2 as a rookie in 2009, Lobban was limited to just six appearances a year ago after off-season shoulder surgery, but had 13 strikeouts in 14.1 innings.

Junior Kevin Kilpatrick opens the season in the closer's role after leading all bullpen arms with 44.0 innings of work and going 2-1 with a 3.48 ERA. A lefty with impeccable control, Kilpatrick has issued just 22 walks in 101.0 innings of work in his St. John's career.

A strong presence in the bullpen, junior Stephen Rivera led the bullpen in wins, tossed 2.0 or more innings in 11 of his 24 appearances, and was 4-2 with a 3.60 ERA a year ago. The eldest member of the bullpen, redshirt senior Miguel Valcarcel is 9-4 with a 4.49 ERA in his career and has held the opposition to just a .266 average in 53 all-time appearances.

A hard-throwing righty with a closer's mentality, sophomore Anthony Cervone limited the opposition to just a .131 batting average and racked up 20 strikeouts in 18.2 innings as a rookie. Senior Jose Rodriguez made seven appearances as a situational lefty and was 2-0 with a 3.38 ERA in his first season of Division I competition.

After sitting out the 2010 season, redshirt freshman lefty Cameron Black is expected to have an impact on the staff this year. Four newcomers, sophomore righty James Lomangino, freshmen righty Adam Davis, and freshmen lefties Isaac Lippert and Jake Woodward, round out a 15-man pitching staff.

Catching
A well-stocked stable of catchers is led by redshirt senior Joe Witkowski, who returns for his second season as the full-time catcher. A situational hitter that excels at advancing runners, the strong-armed backstop has thrown out 34.1 percent of base stealers in his career.

Sophomore Robert Case will open the season as the backup catcher after batting .318 in 23 appearances, including 10 starts, as a rookie. Case had five doubles and slugged .432 in 44 at-bats. Senior Josh Daniel, meanwhile, batted .250 with six RBI in 30 appearances in his first season at the Division I level.

Frankie Schwindel adds to the depth at catcher, but could crack into the lineup as the designated hitter this season and could also see time at first base. Redshirt freshman Mike Lonsdale and freshman Dan Roland are also in the mix at a very deep position.

Infield
St. John's boasts a talented and experienced infield. A two-time All-BIG EAST selection and a Freshman All-American in 2008, senior Paul Karmas returns at first base after batting .321 with 14 doubles, a career-high nine home runs and a career-best 56 RBI. A consistent run-producer, Karmas enters the season already ranked in the career top ten in both RBI and doubles.

Second baseman Matt Wessinger caught fire in the 2010 postseason, hitting safely in all nine games of the BIG EAST and NCAA Tournaments, batting a combined .556 (20-for-36) and earning NCAA Charlottesville Regional All-Tournament Team honors. For the season, the junior batted .312 and set new career-highs in doubles (16), home runs (6) and RBI (52).

An All-BIG EAST selection and a member of the BIG EAST All-Tournament Team a year ago, shortstop Joe Panik set new career-highs in average (.374), doubles (18), home runs (10) and RBI (53). Rated by Baseball America as the No. 38 collegiate prospect for the 2011 draft, the former Freshman All-American has just 33 strikeouts in 414 career at-bats and has led the team in walks in each of the past two seasons.

Sophomore Sean O'Hare will get the nod at the hot corner after earning third team All-BIG EAST honors a year ago. Serving primarily as the designated hitter as a rookie, O'Hare batted .347 with 16 doubles, 30 RBI and 24 multi-hit efforts. A versatile infielder, O'Hare started games at all four positions, including 13 at first base, five at shortstop, two at second base and one at third base.

The squad's utility infielder, sophomore Pat Talbut scored seven runs in 17 appearances, including two starts, a year ago. Freshman Lincoln Sanborn adds infield depth and can play both third base and shortstop.

Outfield
Baltz, the program's first consensus All-American, returns to patrol left field and lead a young and speedy outfield. After leading the nation's freshmen in both home runs (24) and RBI (85), Baltz was named both the NCBWA National Freshman Hitter of the Year and the Louisville Slugger National Freshman Player of the Year. The BIG EAST Rookie of the Year, a unanimous first team All-BIG EAST selection and the NCAA Charlottesville Regional MVP, Baltz also batted .396, posted a .771 slugging percentage and broke St. John's single-season records in both home runs and RBI.

Sophomore Jimmy Brennan, who started 32 games as a freshman, will man center field. Brennan batted .276 with seven doubles and 20 RBI and was a perfect 5-for-5 in stolen bases. An NJCAA All-American and the Mountain Valley Conference Player of Year as a sophomore at Mohawk Valley C.C., junior Kyle Richardson swiped 44 bases in two seasons with the Hawks and could work into a platoon in center.

The right field spot will also see a pair of players battling for the starting nod in redshirt freshman Kevin Grove and freshman Rowan Wick. Grove sat out the 2010 season, but flourished in the summer and was named a top ten prospect in the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League (ACBL) by Baseball America. Wick, meanwhile was a 19th round draft pick of the Milwaukee Brewers and batted .310 with two home runs for the Canadian Junior National Team at the 2010 IBAF World Junior Baseball Championships.

Schedule
A 56-game slate includes the third annual BIG EAST-Big Ten Challenge in Florida and features a total of 11 games against five teams that played in the 2010 NCAA Tournament, including a pair of squads, Louisville and Georgia Tech, that earned national seeds.

"This is a very tough schedule," said Blankmeyer. "We are going to be tested right from the start as we line up against three of the top teams at the BIG EAST-Big Ten Challenge and then go up against a Georgia Tech team that was ranked as high as No. 2 last year. These early season tests will prepare us well for an always difficult BIG EAST schedule."

After 15 road games to open the season, St. John's will host Albany on March 16 in the home-opener at Jack Kaiser Stadium.

The BIG EAST schedule has the Red Storm hosting Cincinnati, Louisville, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh and Villanova. St. John's will travel to play conference foes Connecticut, Seton Hall, USF and Georgetown.