St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Holy Cross
St. John's Earns Doubleheader Split Against Holy Cross
3/15/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Box Score (Game 1) Box Score (Game 2)
SHIRLEY, N.Y. - St. John's stranded eight runners and got shut out, 6-0, in game one, but bounced back in the second game with a 5-2 victory to earn a split in a doubleheader against Holy Cross.
Alex Caruso, Matt Harris and Troy Dixon each went 2-for-4 in the first game, while Cody Stashak (2-3) took the loss after allowing four runs in 5.0 innings of work. Cam O'Neill finished 3-for-3 with two RBI and Donny Murray (1-1) earned the win with 6.0 scoreless innings to lead Holy Cross.
Matt Harris was 1-for-1 with a two-run single and two walks in the second game for St. John's (7-8) and Zach Lauricella went 1-for-4 with an RBI to extend his hitting streak to 13 games. Ryan McCormick (2-1) allowed two runs, one earned, in 5.1 innings to earn the win. Shane Sandoval went 2-for-4 with a run scored in game two for Holy Cross (5-13), while Ben White (1-3) allowed three runs in 4.2 innings in a losing effort.
Stashak struck out the side in a 1-2-3 first frame in game one, but the Crusaders loaded the bases with no outs as part of a two-run second. Jack St. Clair and O'Neill led off with back-to-back singles before Anthony Critelli was plunked to load the bases. Stashak bounced back with a strikeout, but Alex Voitik followed with a two-run single into right and Holy Cross led 2-0.
After St. John's stranded a runner in the bottom of the second, Holy Cross went up 4-0 with two more runs in the third. Nick Lovullo led off with a single and stole second before Evan Ocello walked. After a sacrifice bunt advanced both runners, O'Neill sent a two-run double off the wall in right field.
The Red Storm put the leadoff man on in the fourth, but stranded a runner at third. Michael Donadio singled to lead off the inning and stole second before tagging up and moving to third on a flyout. Murray, however, ended the inning with a groundout.
St. John's had its leadoff man reach again in the fifth, but again stranded a runner at third. Dixon led off with a single up the middle before being erased as Mark Venice reached and took second on a fielder's choice and an error. Venice moved to third on a groundout, but another groundout ended the inning.
The Red Storm went on to strand a runner in the sixth, seventh and eighth frames. Lauricella kept the sixth alive with a two-out single, but was stranded after an inning-ending groundout. Dixon then started things with a one-out single in the seventh, but did not advance as a strikeout and a popup ended the frame. Caruso led off the eighth with a double, but three-straight groundouts kept the Red Storm off the board.
Holy Cross made it 6-0 with a pair of unearned runs in the ninth and the Red Storm stranded another runner in the bottom of the frame as Harris doubled to lead off the inning, but the next three batters were retired to end the game.
St. John's took advantage of a pair of walks to grab a 2-0 lead in the first inning of game two. Donadio and Jesse Berardi drew back-to-back one-out walks and advanced to second and third on a wild pitch before Harris grounded a two-run single through the right side to put the Red Storm on the board.
Holy Cross, however, used an error to tie the game with two runs in the third. A double by Sandoval led things off before Josh Hassell followed with a one-out RBI single. After Lovullo reached on an error, a wild pitch advanced both runners and Ocello tied the game at 2-2 with a sacrifice fly.
The Red Storm manufactured a run in the fourth to take the lead for good. Harris walked to lead off the frame and stole second before advancing to third on a groundout. Robbie Knightes followed with an RBI infield single and St. John's led 3-2.
The Crusaders threatened and chased McCormick in the sixth, but were kept off the board. Ocello led off with a bunt single before St. Clair singled into left field. After a sacrifice bunt moved the runners to second and third with one out, St. John's went to the bullpen. Thomas Hackimer entered and ended the inning with back-to-back strikeouts.
Hackimer had another strikeout as part of a 1-2-3 seventh frame and the Red Storm tacked on two runs in the bottom of the inning. Caruso got things started with a one-out walk before Berardi singled through the right side. Donadio then reached on a fielder's choice, but advanced to second on an error as Caruso came around to score. Lauricella then made it a 5-2 ballgame with an RBI single into center field.
Hackimer went on to retire his first seven batters before issuing a two-out walk in the eighth. The righty retired the next batter to end the frame and got the first two outs in the ninth before Joe Kuzia retired his first batter to finish the game.
St. John's returns to action on March 17 with a 3 p.m. road game against Fairfield.
