St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
14-2
UMass-Lowell
9-7
No. 9 St. John's Downs UMass Lowell, 6-3
3/18/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
NORFOLK, Va. - Led again by standout pitching performances from its freshmen, No. 9 St. John's won its second game in as many days on Saturday, improving to 14-2 on the season with a 6-3 win over UMass Lowell at Virginia Wesleyan College.
Freshman Jeff Belge improved to 2-0 on the season, striking out seven batters in six innings of work to pick up the win. The southpaw did not allow a runner to reach base until his fifth frame on the hill.
A rookie also recorded his first career save for the second-straight day, as Gavin Hollowell no-hit the River Hawks over the final two innings of the contest and sealed the victory.
Offensively, senior catcher Troy Dixon led the way for the Johnnies by going 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs and a walk.
Josh Shaw, Mark Venice and Michael Donadio also drove in runs for the Red Storm, while John Valente extended his hitting streak to 28 games with a leadoff single in the first inning.
Jamie Galazin drew three walks on the afternoon for the Red Storm and stole his team-leading sixth base of the season.
After three scoreless frames, the Red Storm struck first in the top of the fourth. With one out, Jesse Berardi smashed a double to the gap in left center to give the Johnnies a runner in scoring position. Following a strikeout to put the second out of the inning on the board, Dixon delivered a single through the right side, scoring Berardi and giving the Red Storm a 1-0 advantage. Next up was Shaw, who drove a ball to the same spot in left center as Berardi's ball, scoring Dixon from first before advancing to third on the throw. Venice continued the trend in the following at-bat, muscling a ball to the gap in left center for a two-bagger of his own, easily scoring Shaw from third and giving the Red Storm a 3-0 lead after three and a half innings.
The River Hawks (9-7) narrowed the deficit to two in the bottom of the sixth, using a pair of singles to push across their first run of the afternoon.
After UMass Lowell pulled even at three with a pair of runs in the home half of the following frame, the Johnnies wasted no time delivering a counter punch in the top of the eighth. After Galazin recorded a leadoff walk and stole second, Valente hit a groundball to the shortstop who tried to get Galazin at third but was too late, putting runners on the corners for Donadio. Before Donadio was able to put the bat on the ball, a passed ball scored Galazin from third and allowed Valente to move into scoring position. The senior from Mount Sinai, N.Y., then drilled a single through the right side, bringing home Valente and putting the Red Storm ahead by a pair, 5-3. After moving to second on a Berardi sac bunt and advancing to third on a balk, Donadio scored easily when Dixon ripped a double down the left field line, bumping the Johnnies lead to three after seven and a half frames.
Hollowell entered the game in the bottom of the eighth and handled the River Hawks with ease over the next two innings, facing the minimum and allowing only one runner to reach base on a walk. He also struck out a pair to record his first career save.
St. John's will close out its weekend in Norfolk tomorrow afternoon, taking on Towson at 3 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Belge, Jeff (2-0)
L: DUFFLEY, Collin (2-1)
S: Hollowell, Gavin (1)
Batting:
2B: Berardi, Jesse 1 ; Dixon, Troy 1 ; Shaw, Josh 1 ; Venice, Mark 1
RBI: Donadio, Michael 1 ; Dixon, Troy 2 ; Shaw, Josh 1 ; Venice, Mark 1
SH: Berardi, Jesse 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Valente, John 1 ; Donadio, Michael 1 ; Berardi, Jesse 1 ; Dixon, Troy 1 ; Shaw, Josh 1 ; Galazin, Jamie 1
SB: Galazin, Jamie 1
Batting:
RBI: SHARPE, Chris 1 ; YOUNG, Michael 2
Base Running:
RUNS: MAIOLA, Colby 1 ; CLIMO, Cam 1 ; YOUNG, Michael 1
