St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
7-0
UMBC
0-3
St. John's Wins Seventh Straight, 8-0, over UMBC
2/26/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
LEXINGTON, S.C. - Following four and a half frames of scoreless baseball, the St. John's Red Storm broke the game open in the middle innings before cruising to a 8-0 win over UMBC for its seventh-straight victory to start the season.
With the win, the Red Storm (7-0) has matched their best start since 2010, as that squad won seven in a row to start the season before going on to win a school-record 43 games and claim the program's sixth of eight BIG EAST Championships. A win in the team's next game would secure the Red Storm's best start to a campaign since 1981, when the then-Redmen won their first 14 contests of the year led by a pair of future MLB stars in Frank Viola and John Franco.
Ryan McAuliffe tossed 6.1 scoreless innings to record his first win of the season. The 6-foot-4 senior from North Reading, Mass., struck out five Retrievers and allowed six hits on the day. Gavin Hollowell no-hit UMBC over 1.2 innings of scoreless relief, striking out four and getting the Red Storm out of a tough jam in the seventh. Turner French closed out the game with a scoreless ninth inning.
Redshirt junior John Valente led the way for the Red Storm once again, extending his hitting streak to 19 games dating back to last season and raising his batting average to .516 with a 2-for-3, two-RBI outing.
Shortstop Jesse Berardi drove in three runs with a bases-clearing double in the eighth, while seniors Michael Donadio and Troy Dixon also brought home a run apiece.
Jamie Galazin went a perfect 3-for-3 at the dish and scored three runs, raising his batting average to .464.
Making his second career start, Mike Antico went 1-for-2 with a pair of walks and two runs scored.
After four and a half quick-moving scoreless frames, the Johnnies broke through in the bottom of the fifth thanks to a pair of UMBC defensive lapses. With no one on-base and two outs, Robbie Knightes hit a grounder to the right side that was fielded cleanly by the first baseman but fumbled by the covering pitcher, Matt Chanin, on the toss. Next up was Galazin, who skied a pop-up between the plate and the mound. Four Retrievers converged on the area, but none of them made the catch, as Galazin safely reached first and Knightes advanced to third thanks to heads-up base running. With Antico at the plate, Chanin let one get away and Knightes came home to score on the wild pitch. Ever the prescient base runner, Galazin advanced to third on the play. After Antico drew a walk to put runners on the corners, Valente delivered his second hit of the day, an RBI base knock into left.
The Red Storm added another in the home half of the sixth, as Dixon launched a one-out ground rule double over the wall in center to give the Johnnies a runner in scoring position. After Josh Shaw was robbed of a hit on a diving stop by the third baseman, Donadio stepped to the dish and delivered an RBI single up the middle to give the Johnnies a 3-0 advantage.
McAuliffe left the game after surrendering consecutive one-out hits in the seventh and Hollowell entered with runners on the corners. Following a walk to load the bases, the towering 6-foot-7 righty retired back-to-back batters on strikes, getting Mitchell Carroll looking before fanning AJ Wright to end the inning.
The Johnnies brought home a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh, as Galazin was hit by a pitch to start the inning before going first to third on an Antico single to center. Next up was Valente, who hit a sacrifice fly to right to score Galazin for his second RBI of the day. With Antico on second two batters later, Dixon delivered an RBI single up the middle to make it 5-0 in favor of the Red Storm.
The Red Storm put any hopes of a UMBC comeback to rest in the bottom of the eighth, as the Johnnies plated three more. With two outs and no one on, Galazin sparked a rally with a single through the left side before Antico drew a walk and Valente was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Berardi then stepped to plate and belted a ball deep to the right field corner, clearing the bags and putting St. John's on top 8-0.
French came into the game for the ninth and retired the side on one hit.
The Red Storm returns to action on Wednesday, taking on No. 13 North Carolina at 3 p.m. in Chapel Hill
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: McAuliffe, Ryan (1-0)
L: Matt Chanin (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Zack DeThomasis 1
Batting:
2B: Berardi, Jesse 1 ; Dixon, Troy 1
RBI: Valente, John 2 ; Berardi, Jesse 3 ; Dixon, Troy 1 ; Donadio, Michael 1
SF: Valente, John 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Valente, John 1 ; Dixon, Troy 1 ; Knightes, Robbie 1 ; Galazin, Jamie 3 ; Antico, Mike 2
SB: Galazin, Jamie 1 ; Antico, Mike 1
CS: Greene, Josh 1
HBP: Valente, John 1 ; Galazin, Jamie 1
