St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Kennesaw State
St. John's Splits Doubleheader At No. 19 Kennesaw State
2/14/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
KENNESAW, Ga. - Junior transfer Cody Stashak worked into the eighth in his Division I debut as St. John's defeated No. 19 Kennesaw State, 6-2, in game one and earned a split with the Owls following a 10-5 loss in game two.
Stashak (1-0) allowed just four hits in 7.1 innings of one-run ball to earn the win. The righty struck out two and issued one walk. Anthony Brocato finished 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBI, while Tyler Sanchez went 1-for-3 with a home run and two RBI to lead the offense in game one. Starter Travis Bergen (0-1) allowed five runs, three earned, in 4.0 innings of work for Kennesaw State.
Jarred Mederos went 2-for-5 with three RBI and Zach Lauricella finished 2-for-2 with an RBI for St. John's (1-2) in game two. Starter Kevin Magee (0-1) took the loss after allowing four runs, two earned, in 2.1 innings. Corey Greeson had a three-run home run for Kennesaw State (2-1), while Gabe Friese (1-0) tossed 5.0 scoreless frames for the win.
After Stashak worked a quick 1-2-3 bottom of the first inning in the opener, St. John's used the long ball to take a 2-0 lead in the top of the second. Brocato set the table with a leadoff single up the middle before Sanchez launched a two-out, two-run home run to right field for his second homer of the season.
Kennesaw State had the leadoff man reach in the second on an infield single, but Stashak rolled a 4-6-3 double play and ended the inning with a groundout.
The Red Storm took advantage of an error and used another two-out home run to make it a 4-0 ballgame in the third. A strikeout opened the inning before Michael Donadio reached on an error and advanced to second on the play. Brocato then blasted his first-career home run, a two-out, two-run shot to left field.
A leadoff single from Bret Dennis set the table for a run in the fourth. Sanchez followed with a walk before a Ty Blankmeyer groundout advanced the runners to second and third. Alex Caruso then lifted a sacrifice fly into center field to give the Red Storm a 5-0 lead.
Stashak allowed a leadoff double in the fourth and had a runner on third with one out, but the righty worked out of the jam and kept the Owls off the board.
Kennesaw State went to the bullpen in the fifth and AJ Moore struck out the side in order, but Stashak answered with a 1-2-3 fifth of his own. Moore followed with a 1-2-3 sixth, but Stashak answered again with a 1-2-3 inning.
St. John's then strung together a two-out rally to add a run in the seventh. After Moore had retired the first two batters, Donadio worked a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Mederos then sent an RBI single up the middle to make it a 6-1 ballgame.
Stashak added a 1-2-3 seventh and eventually retired 11-straight batters before being lifted following a one-out double in the eighth. Thomas Hackimer entered and walked his first batter before Nixon made it 6-1 with an RBI single into right field.
The Owls added a run in the ninth on a Chris McGowan RBI double for the final 6-2 margin.
St. John's threatened in the top of the first inning in game two after back-to-back one-out singles by Robert Wayman and Donadio, but Friese got out of the jam with a 6-3 double play.
Kennesaw State also threatened in its half of the first as a leadoff walk and a one-out single gave the Owls runners on first and second. A fielder's choice set up runners on the corners with two outs, but Magee ended the inning with a strikeout.
The Owls broke into the scoring column and chased Magee with four runs in third. Drew Davis set the table with a leadoff single before Kal Simmons doubled with one out to give Kennesaw State runners on second and third. Colin Bennett followed with an RBI single up the middle and McGowan added an RBI single into right, but an error allowed a second run to score. Chris Kalica then took the mound and Greeson made it 4-0 with a sacrifice fly.
Kalica had two strikeouts in a 1-2-3 fourth before St. John's tried to build a two-out rally in the fifth. Robbie Knightes started things with a two-out single into right before Caruso singled into left, but a groundout ended the inning.
After Kalica ended a 1-2-3 fifth inning with a strike-`em-out-throw-`em-out double play, Kennesaw State added three runs in the sixth against reliever Kevin Torres. McGowan led off the frame with a triple before Alex Liquori lined a one-out RBI single into left field. Griffin Helms then connected for a two-run home run to left center field to make it 7-0 before Matt Clancy came on and retired the first two batters he faced to end the inning.
The Owls made it 10-0 in the seventh on a Greeson three-run home run.
St. John's got on the board with a run in the eighth after loading the bases with no outs. Lauricella led off with a pinch hit single before Donadio walked and Mederos singled to load the bases. Brocato then reached on a fielder's choice as the Owls turned a double play, but Lauricella scored from third to make it 10-1.
The Red Storm made things interesting in the ninth, plating four unearned runs. Pinch hitter Anthony Fava reached on an error to open the frame before John Valente singled with one out to give the Red Storm runners on the corners. Lauricella followed with a two-out RBI single up the middle and Donadio walked before Mederos cleared the bases and made it 10-5.
St. John's returns to action on Feb. 20, opening play at the Keith LeClair Classic with a 4 p.m. game against host-school East Carolina.
