St. John's University Athletics
Friday, February 15
Los Angeles, Calif. (Jackie Robinson Stadium)
9 p.m.
St. John's University
at
UCLA
St. John’s Set to Open Season at No. 3 UCLA
2/14/2019 8:30:00 AM | Baseball
Defending BIG EAST Champs to start quest for 38th NCAA appearance this weekend in Westwood
The St. John's baseball team will kick off its quest for a 10th BIG EAST crown on Friday, Feb. 15, traveling to Southern California for a three-game set with No. 3 UCLA. Friday's first pitch is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET while Saturday's game will start at 5 p.m. ET and the Sunday finale will commence at 4 p.m. ET. All three contests of the series will feature an audio broadcast on UCLABruins.com.
The Johnnies are coming off a 2018 campaign that saw the program continue its string of sustained success under the direction of longtime Head Coach Ed Blankmeyer. The skipper, who sits just two wins shy of 800 for his career, led St. John's to its ninth BIG EAST Regular Season and Tournament titles in 2018, as the team went 40-17 overall with a 15-3 mark in BIG EAST play. The Johnnies closed out a four-year stretch that featured three 40-win seasons, three appearances in an NCAA Regional and two BIG EAST titles.
The Red Storm returns plenty of talent from last year's squad that placed nine players on either the All-BIG EAST First or Second Teams. The Johnnies welcome back two starting pitchers from their postseason rotation, as Sean Mooney and Jeff Belge will look to get their junior campaigns off on the right foot. Mooney, who garnered four separate All-American honors at the end of last year, tied the St. John's single-season wins record by going 11-3 as a sophomore. He became just the sixth hurler in program history to strike out 100 or more batters in a campaign and turned in a 2.56 ERA. Belge put forth his best efforts when it mattered most for St. John's in 2018, closing out the season with back-to-back nine-strikeout outings against Seton Hall in the BIG EAST Tournament and Clemson in the NCAA Regional. In the decisive game of the conference championship, Belge carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning in a 7-0 win over Seton Hall.
At the dish, St. John's will seek to replace seven of its nine everyday players from a year ago, including four 2018 MLB Draft Picks. Four of those departed starters hit .300 or better, led by BIG EAST Player of the Year John Valente at .360. Overall, six St. John's players were selected in last June's draft, tying a program record set in 2005 and 2015.
St. John's is kicking off a season on the West Coast for the first time since 2014, when it won the opener before dropping the final two games of a series at Pepperdine. The Red Storm played two games in The Golden State last year, splitting a doubleheader with UC Davis in early March. After a weekend series at Western Carolina, the Johnnies will return to Southern California for a 10-day spring break trip, taking on UC Irvine and the University of San Diego in three-game series and playing Cal State Northridge in a midweek matchup.
St. John's and UCLA will meet for the first time in the storied history of the two programs when they take the field on Friday night in Westwood. The Red Storm has not faced a foe from the Pac 12 since 2015, when the Johnnies dropped three contests against No. 8 Oregon in Eugene. St. John's would go on to finish that season 41-16 and reach the final of the NCAA Stillwater Regional.
The Red Storm is no stranger to competition from Power Five conferences, picking up three wins over schools from those leagues in 2018, including its second victory in as many seasons over No. 6 North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
UCLA enters the 2019 campaign ranked No. 3 in the nation on the heels of a trip to the final game of the Minneapolis Regional last spring. The Bruins, who received eight out of a possible 11 first-place votes in the Pac 12 preseason poll, have seen three student-athletes garner preseason All-American status, led by junior second baseman Chase Strumpf. The Dana Point, Calif., native is one of just four players in the country to earn preseason All-America accolades from the five major publications (D1Baseball, NCBWA, Collegiate Baseball, Perfect Game and Baseball America).
The Johnnies are coming off a 2018 campaign that saw the program continue its string of sustained success under the direction of longtime Head Coach Ed Blankmeyer. The skipper, who sits just two wins shy of 800 for his career, led St. John's to its ninth BIG EAST Regular Season and Tournament titles in 2018, as the team went 40-17 overall with a 15-3 mark in BIG EAST play. The Johnnies closed out a four-year stretch that featured three 40-win seasons, three appearances in an NCAA Regional and two BIG EAST titles.
The Red Storm returns plenty of talent from last year's squad that placed nine players on either the All-BIG EAST First or Second Teams. The Johnnies welcome back two starting pitchers from their postseason rotation, as Sean Mooney and Jeff Belge will look to get their junior campaigns off on the right foot. Mooney, who garnered four separate All-American honors at the end of last year, tied the St. John's single-season wins record by going 11-3 as a sophomore. He became just the sixth hurler in program history to strike out 100 or more batters in a campaign and turned in a 2.56 ERA. Belge put forth his best efforts when it mattered most for St. John's in 2018, closing out the season with back-to-back nine-strikeout outings against Seton Hall in the BIG EAST Tournament and Clemson in the NCAA Regional. In the decisive game of the conference championship, Belge carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning in a 7-0 win over Seton Hall.
At the dish, St. John's will seek to replace seven of its nine everyday players from a year ago, including four 2018 MLB Draft Picks. Four of those departed starters hit .300 or better, led by BIG EAST Player of the Year John Valente at .360. Overall, six St. John's players were selected in last June's draft, tying a program record set in 2005 and 2015.
St. John's is kicking off a season on the West Coast for the first time since 2014, when it won the opener before dropping the final two games of a series at Pepperdine. The Red Storm played two games in The Golden State last year, splitting a doubleheader with UC Davis in early March. After a weekend series at Western Carolina, the Johnnies will return to Southern California for a 10-day spring break trip, taking on UC Irvine and the University of San Diego in three-game series and playing Cal State Northridge in a midweek matchup.
St. John's and UCLA will meet for the first time in the storied history of the two programs when they take the field on Friday night in Westwood. The Red Storm has not faced a foe from the Pac 12 since 2015, when the Johnnies dropped three contests against No. 8 Oregon in Eugene. St. John's would go on to finish that season 41-16 and reach the final of the NCAA Stillwater Regional.
The Red Storm is no stranger to competition from Power Five conferences, picking up three wins over schools from those leagues in 2018, including its second victory in as many seasons over No. 6 North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
UCLA enters the 2019 campaign ranked No. 3 in the nation on the heels of a trip to the final game of the Minneapolis Regional last spring. The Bruins, who received eight out of a possible 11 first-place votes in the Pac 12 preseason poll, have seen three student-athletes garner preseason All-American status, led by junior second baseman Chase Strumpf. The Dana Point, Calif., native is one of just four players in the country to earn preseason All-America accolades from the five major publications (D1Baseball, NCBWA, Collegiate Baseball, Perfect Game and Baseball America).
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