St. John's University Athletics
Three Players Garner ABCA All-Northeast Region Accolades
6/16/2014 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 16, 2014
QUEENS, N.Y. - A trio of Red Storm players have earned American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) All-Northeast Region honors as junior Joe Kuzia earned first team accolades, while freshmen Michael Donadio and Robbie Knightes were both selected to the second team.
Kuzia, a first team All-BIG EAST honoree, led the league with 13 saves and finished the season with a 0.97 ERA. The righty made 28 appearances, tied for fifth in the league, and struck out 29 batters to go with just nine walks in 37.0 innings of work. Kuzia surrendered only three extra-base hits, while allowing just a .179 opponent batting average.
A Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American and the BIG EAST Rookie of the Year, Donadio also garnered first team All-BIG EAST honors this past season. The outfielder finished the year with a league-leading 50 runs scored and ranked fifth in the league in both RBI (45) and slugging percentage (.487). Donadio ranked ninth in the league with a .328 average and also finished fourth in both on-base percentage (.434) and walks (31). In addition to collecting seven doubles, Donadio ranked tied for second in the BIG EAST in triples (4), tied for fifth in home runs (5) and sixth in total bases (92).
Another Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American, Knightes earned second team All-BIG EAST honors and capped his rookie campaign by winning the BIG EAST batting title with a .399 (55-for-138) average that ranks eighth in the country. The third baseman also ranked second in the league with a .458 on-base percentage, while adding a .457 slugging percentage. Knightes, who collected 15 multi-hit games, finished with six doubles, one triple and 26 RBI, while adding 20 runs scored.
St. John's concluded the 2014 season with a 35-20 overall record. The Red Storm went 13-5 in BIG EAST play to finish one game out of first in the conference standings, and also matched a program-record with a league-high eight All-BIG EAST selections.
