St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
UNCW
St. John's Topped By UNCW, 16-1
2/20/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
WILMINGTON, N.C. - The St. John's offense was held to just three singles, while UNCW used a 17-hit attack to defeat the Red Storm, 16-1, at the Buffalo Wild Wings Battle at the Beach.
Aidan McDermott went 1-for-2 with a run scored for St. John's (0-2), while Josh Shaw finished 1-for-4 and Mark Venice went 1-for-2 with a pinch-hit single. Ty Blankmeyer finished 0-for-2 with one RBI. Starter Kevin Magee (0-1) took the loss after allowing eight runs, six earned, in 2.1 innings of work. Relievers David Moyer (2.2 IP) and Matt Messier (1.2 IP) each had scoreless outings.
Gavin Stupienski, Daniel Stack and Kennard McDowell had three RBI apiece for UNCW (2-0). Starter Alex Royalty (1-0) allowed one unearned run in 5.0 innings of work for the victory.
UNCW manufactured a run in the bottom of the first inning to take the early lead. Steven Linkous led off with an infield single and stole second before a Brian Mims single quickly set up runners on the corners. Stupienski followed with an RBI groundout and the Seahawks led 1-0.
The Seahawks took advantage of an unearned run to make it a 2-0 ballgame in the second. Stack reached on a one-out error and moved to second on a groundout before scoring on a Robbie Thorburn RBI single.
St. John's then benefitted from an error to get on the board with an unearned run in the third. McDermott led off with a single and advanced to second on an errant pickoff attempt. After McDermott took third on a wild pitch, a Blankmeyer RBI groundout made it 2-1.
The Seahawks, however, chased Magee as part of a six-run third frame. Mims set the table with a one-out single before Stupienski and Nick Feight followed with back-to-back RBI doubles. An error allowed Feight to score and Stack added an RBI single before McDowell made it 8-1 with a two-run single. St. John's went to the bullpen and Jamie Galazin got out of the inning.
A leadoff walk got things started in the fourth as UNCW tacked on five more runs. After a Stupienski RBI triple, Terence Connelly added an RBI single and Stack connected for a two-run home run. Galazin was lifted in favor of Moyer and McDowell gave the Seahawks a 13-1 lead with an RBI groundout.
Moyer tossed a scoreless fifth before striking out two batters in a 1-2-3 sixth frame.
Three runs in the seventh against Mike Sheppard III gave UNCW a 16-1 lead before Messier ended the frame with a 6-4-3 double play. Messier stayed in the game and worked a scoreless eighth.
St. John's returns to action on Feb. 21 with a 10 a.m. game against Western Carolina.
