St. John's Downs Richmond, 7-3, to Remain Unbeaten

Sunday, February 19

Myrtle Beach, S.C. (TicketReturn.com Field at Pelicans Park)

11:00 AM

St. John's University

3-0

Richmond

1-2

St. John's

Richmond

Jesse Berardi put the Red Storm up with a two-run single in the fifth

2/19/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

Feb. 19, 2017

Final Stats | Box Score (PDF)

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - Led by a potent pitching attack that limited the Spiders to just five hits on the game, St. John's won its third-straight contest to start the season, topping Richmond, 7-3, at TicketReturn.com Field.

Freshman Nick Mondak pitched the first 3.2 innings of the game, striking out five and allowing just one run on two hits. Fellow left-handed rookie Jeff Belge came in to relieve Mondak in the fourth and went on to throw 3.1 stellar innings, no-hitting the Spiders (1-2) over that stretch and picking up the win. Turner French recorded the final six outs of the contest, forcing a pair of crucial double-play balls to preserve the lead.

Seven different St. John's players recorded hits on the game, led by Jesse Berardi and Gui Gingras with a pair of two-RBI knocks. Michael Donadio, Robert Boselli III and Jamie Galazin also recorded RBIs for the Johnnies (3-0), highlighted by Boselli's first St. John's hit, a roundtripper in the third inning.

Josh Shaw and John Valente also recorded hits for the Red Storm. Dating back to last season, a campaign that he capped with a 12-game hitting streak, Valente has now registered a hit in 15-straight contests.

The win marks the first time since 2010 that the Red Storm has started a season with three-straight victories. That year, the Johnnies won their first seven games en route to a BIG EAST title.

Boselli put St. John's on the board in the top of the third, sending a solo shot sailing over the leftfield wall for his first hit as a member of the Red Storm.

After Richmond tied the game at one apiece in the home half of the fourth, the St. John's bats exploded in the fifth to put the Red Storm up 5-1. Aidan McDermott led off the frame with a double of the wall in left followed by a Robbie Knightes bunt that resulted with McDermott on third and Knightes reaching first on a throwing error by the pitcher. Boselli walked to load the bases before Galazin battled to work a base-on-balls, bringing home the run and putting the Red Storm on top 2-1. After Valente had a bloop single robbed in shallow center, Berardi stepped to the plate and delivered a two-RBI single through the right side, extending the Red Storm lead to three. A Shaw walked loaded the bases two batters later and Donadio brought home Galazin from third with an infield single, the last run of the frame for the Red Storm, as the Johnnies took a 5-1 lead after four and a half.

The Spiders plated a run in bottom of the sixth to pull within three, 5-2, but the Johnnies responded with a pair of insurance runs in the top of the eighth. Shaw hit a lead-off single followed by a Donadio walk, giving the Red Storm two on with none out. After Kevin Buckley popped out and the runners advanced 90 feet on a wild pitch, Knightes grounded out to the third for the second out of the inning. Gingras came in to pitch hit and sent a rocket into center field that one-hopped over the wall, scoring Shaw and Donadio to put the Johnnies ahead 7-2.

Richmond would score another run to pull within four, 7-3, in the bottom of the eighth, but French allowed no runs over the game's final six outs to secure the St. John's victory.

St. John's will close out its first trip of the season to the Palmetto State tomorrow, traveling to Coastal Carolina for a 12 p.m. matchup with the defending national champions.