St. John's University Athletics
No. 12 St. John's to Host Albany on Tuesday
4/10/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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QUEENS, N.Y. - After suffering its toughest week of an otherwise spectacular season, the No. 12 Red Storm will look to rebound beginning on Tuesday afternoon, when the Johnnies welcome Albany to Jack Kaiser Stadium for a 3 p.m. contest.
Entering last week with a record of 21-2, the Red Storm dropped three of its four contests, falling in a midweek tilt to Columbia before Creighton took two of three games in Omaha over the weekend. The Red Storm's falter against the Bluejays was part of a wider trend on the opening weekend of BIG EAST play, as Xavier, who was predicted to finish atop the standings alongside St. John's, dropped two of three to Villanova and Seton Hall, picked fourth in the preseason poll, dropped two of three to Butler, who was prognosticated to end the season in seventh.
Despite the team's results, Jamie Galazin and Jesse Berardi put forth stellar efforts last week for the Johnnies, hitting .500 and .444, respectively. Galazin's strong showing bumped him above the .400 mark for the season, as the speedy center fielder now sits at .406 on the campaign, the second-best mark on the team and the third-highest in the conference. Berardi continued his absolute tear of late, bumping his batting average to .425 on the campaign, good enough for the best clip in the BIG EAST and the fourth best in all of Division I. The junior shortstop from Commack, N.Y., who is fourth in the BIG EAST with 22 walks on the campaign, also ranks fifth in the nation in on-base percentage at .534. In the midst of a nine-game hitting streak, Berardi has recorded multiple hits in eight of those games including each of the last six. Over the last nine games, Berardi is hitting .583 with five extra-base hits and 10 RBIs and eight runs scored, slugging .806 and reaching base at a .659 clip.
The Red Storm's young bullpen performed exceptionally well last week, with three separate hurlers recording at least a pair of scoreless performances. Freshmen Joe LaSorsa and Gavin Hollowell each allowed no runs in four innings pitched on the week. LaSorsa surrendered just two hits over those frames, while Hollowell only permitted two batters to reach base, one on a walk and one on a hit-by-pitch. Sophomore submariner Joe Kelly was the star of the St. John's bullpen this past week, throwing 8.1 scoreless innings in three appearances, striking out seven and allowing just five hits over that stretch. The Glendora, Calif., native picked up his first win of the season by tossing a career-high 4.1 innings against Creighton on Friday and now sits with an ERA of just 0.44 on the campaign.
The Red Storm remains at or near the top of the NCAA in several major statistical categories, most notably ranking fourth in the nation in team batting average at .328. Leading the nation in that category at this time last week, six of the team's nine everyday starters are hitting .350 or better with all nine of those Johnnies checking in at .280 or higher. On the other side of the ball, St. John's ranks 11th in team ERA (2.78) and eighth in WHIP (1.13). In the latter category, freshman Sean Mooney checks in at second in the NCAA with a WHIP of just 0.72 and has recorded 44 strikeouts compared to just seven walks on the season.
St. John's and Albany share a series history dating back to 2004, with the Johnnies holding a 17-3 advantage all-time against the Great Danes. The Johnnies have won 12 of the last 13 contests between the two schools dating back to 2010, including victories in each of the last five. The Red Storm's last walk-off home run came against Albany, when Jared Mederos hit a three-run shot to clinch a St. John's victory on May 5, 2015.
After facing off against Albany, the Red Storm will hit the road for their second-straight BIG EAST series, heading to Indianapolis for a three-game set with Butler beginning on Thursday.
