St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
12-1
Liberty
8-6
No. 9 St. John's Splits Saturday Doubleheader with Liberty
3/11/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Game One Box Score (PDF) | Game Two Box Score (PDF)
LYNCHBURG, Va. - After topping the Flames in the first game of the series on Friday evening, the No. 9 Red Storm split a pair of contests with Liberty on Saturday.
The Red Storm downed the Flames, 4-2, in the first game of the twin bill, but fell in the latter game in walk-off fashion, 7-6, after erasing an early four-run deficit.
Game One
Led on the offensive front by a pair of three-hit showings from Robbie Knightes and Gui Gingras, St. John's used a combined five-hitter from Ryan McAuliffe and Joe Kelly to record a 4-2 win over Liberty in the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon.
John Valente registered his 10th multi-hit game of the year, going 2-for-4 with a walk and a run scored. The redshirt junior extended his hitting streak to 25 games dating back to last season.
Knightes (3-for-3) and Gingras (3-for-5) recorded one RBI apiece on the afternoon. Jamie Galazin tallied the team's other RBI, driving a sac fly to left in the sixth.
McAuliffe threw 6.2 innings of five-hit ball to pick up the win and move to 3-0 on the year, surrendering two unearned runs and striking out five. Dating back to Feb. 20, McAuliffe has not allowed an earned run in the last 20 frames he has pitched.
Kelly tossed the final 2.1 innings of the contest to record his first-career save, striking out one and allowing no Flames to reach base.
The Red Storm had no problem getting runners on base in the first few frames, but Liberty always managed to work its way out of a jam, as the Johnnies stranded two in each of the first four frames.
The Johnnies registered their best chance of the early innings in the top of the third, as Michael Donadio drove a ball deep to the gap in right center with runners on first and second, but the Liberty right fielder, Will Shepherd, managed to track it down and end the threat.
The Red Storm finally broke through in the top of the sixth, as Donadio led off the frame with a walk before Robert Boselli III was hit by his second pitch of the day to give the Red Storm runners on first and second with no out. After Knightes advanced the runners 90 feet with a sac bunt, Galazin drove a pitch to the wall in left that was caught for a sac fly, giving the Johnnie a 1-0 lead. After the Flames intentionally walked Valente and issued another base on balls to Jesse Berardi, Anthony Brocato stepped to the plate and hit a high chopper down the line that was misplayed by the third baseman, allowing Boselli to come across and bump the Red Storm lead to a pair.
Josh Shaw led off the top of the seventh with a single through the left side, but was quickly retired when Donadio lined into a double play at first. The Red Storm then needed just two pitches to drive in another run, as Troy Dixon belted a first-pitch double to right center before Knightes knocked an RBI single to right on the following pitch.
The Flames plated a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh with two outs, but Kelly came in with runners on second and third and recorded a critical out, preserving the St. John's lead at 3-2.
Valente led off the top of the eighth by reaching on a throwing error from the shortstop before moving 180 feet over the next two at-bats: a sac bunt from Berardi and a grounder to short by Brocato. Gingras then stepped to the plate with Valente on third and delivered his third hit of the day and fifth RBI of the series with a single to right, putting the Red Storm on top 4-2.
Kelly retired the Flames in order over the next two frames to record the save.
Game Two
Despite chipping away at an early four-run deficit to knot the game at six in the eighth inning, the Red Storm saw Liberty hit a walk-off sac fly in the bottom of the ninth to capture a 7-6 victory and avoid the sweep.
Valente led the way for the Red Storm again, going 3-for-4 with a pair of walks, extending his hitting streak to 26 games and raising his batting average to .533 on the season. The New Rochelle, N.Y., native now has 11 multi-hit games in 14 tries on the year and six outings with at least three hits.
Galazin and Mike Antico each recorded a pair of hits and an RBI in the second game of the twin bill, while Donadio delivered a two-RBI triple. Berardi and Shaw also drove in runs for the Red Storm.
The Johnnies had a pair of runs stolen in the top of the first by a diving snag from D. J. Artis in center. After Valente and Antico reached on singles and advanced to second and third, Shaw poked a two-out ball into center that looked like it would drop before Artis extended and robbed the Red Storm of an early lead.
With one out in the top of the third, Gingras singled up the middle and Shaw drew a walk, putting runners on first and second for Donadio. The senior from Mount Sinai, N.Y., drilled a ball to the wall in right center, legging out a triple and driving in both runners to give the Johnnies an early 2-0 lead.
The Flames erased the early deficit in the home half of the inning, hanging up six runs to take a four-run lead.
The Red Storm wasted no time responding in the top of the fourth, as Valente hit a one-out single to right, his third of the day, before coming around to score on a Berardi double in the following at-bat. Next up was Antico, who singled up the middle to bring home Berardi and cut the deficit to two, 6-4.
In the top of the sixth, the Johnnies loaded the bases with one out after drawing three walks in the inning's first four at-bats, but the Flames escaped the jam thanks to a hard-hit liner to second that they fortuitously turned into a double play.
After Jeff Belge worked his way out of a jam in the home half, the Red Storm trimmed the Liberty advantage to one in the top of the seventh. Donadio walked to lead off the frame before advancing to second on a wild pitch. After Kyle Cunningham moved him over to third with a grounder, Galazin drove Donadio home with a two-out single to center and cut the deficit to one, 6-5, following six and a half innings of action.
The Red Storm pulled even in the top of the eighth, as Berardi and Brocato led off the frame with walks. After Gingras moved them both 90 feet with a sac bunt, Shaw drove home the game-tying run with a deep fly ball to left, tallying his 12th RBI of the year with a sac fly.
The Johnnies nearly pulled ahead in the top of the ninth, as Dixon started off the frame with a single to right before moving to third on a Ryan Markey sac bunt and a Galazin grounder to first in consecutive at-bats. The Flames intentionally walked Valente to put runners on the corners, but Berardi grounded out to the second baseman to end the threat.
Liberty loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the ninth and walked off on a Trey McDyre sac fly to right with one out.
St. John's is set to return to action on Tuesday, traveling to NYIT for a 3:30 p.m. showdown with the Bears.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: McAuliffe, Ryan (3-0)
L: EVANS, C. (2-2)
S: Kelly, Joe (1)
Batting:
2B: Dixon, Troy 1
RBI: Gingras, Gui 1 ; Knightes, Robbie 1 ; Galazin, Jamie 1
SH: Berardi, Jesse 1 ; Knightes, Robbie 1
SF: Galazin, Jamie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Valente, John 1 ; Donadio, Michael 1 ; Boselli III, Robert 1 ; Dixon, Troy 1
HBP: Boselli III, Robert 2
Batting:
2B: MCDYRE, T. 1 ; SCARBROUGH 1
RBI: ARTIS, D.J. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: KOWALO, A. 1 ; SCARBROUGH 1
SB: ARTIS, D.J. 1
CS: KOWALO, A. 1
HBP: KOWALO, A. 1
PO: ARTIS, D.J. 1
