St. John's University Athletics
Friday, March 15
Queens, N.Y. (Jack Kaiser Stadium)
3 p.m.
St. John's University
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Kansas
St. John’s Welcomes Kansas for a Three-Game Set Starting on Friday
3/14/2019 3:49:00 PM | Baseball
Jayhawks are the first power-five team to come to St. John’s for a series since 1981
QUEENS, N.Y. – The St. John's baseball team will play its home opener this weekend at Jack Kaiser Stadium, welcoming Kansas to Queens for a three-game set beginning on Friday afternoon.
All three contests of the series will be broadcast live on ESPN3 with Jonathan Perez, Ralph Bednarczyk and Bob Hirschfield on the call.
The Red Storm enters the weekend having won two of its last three contests, most recently downing Iona, 7-1, on Wednesday afternoon in New Rochelle. The Johnnies' pitching staff limited the Gaels to just six hits on the game while the Red Storm batters displayed tremendous discipline at the dish. In total, the Johnnies drew 14 walks on the afternoon, including three apiece from Ryan Hogan and Brandon Miller. The Red Storm last drew more walks against Fairleigh Dickinson on March 14, 2012, a contest that saw the Johnnies reach base on balls 17 times.
The Johnnies' solid offensive showing on Wednesday came on the heels of a weekend series at No. 24 UC Irvine that saw the Red Storm struggle to muster up much of anything at the plate. St. John's was shut out twice on weekend, bookending a 4-3 Saturday win with a pair of 3-0 losses. As a team, the Red Storm hit .176 during its three-game stint in Irvine.
The Red Storm pitching staff showed that it could compete with the nation's best last weekend in Irvine, limiting the 24th ranked team in the country to just nine runs and 15 hits over the span of three games. The Red Storm nearly saw all three of its starting pitchers register quality starts, as Jeff Belge struck out eight while allowing two earned runs in six innings, Sean Mooney surrendered two earned runs with seven strikeouts in five innings and Joe LaSorsa coughed up no earned runs and struck out six in 5.2 frames.
Several members of the Red Storm have stepped up at the plate since the beginning of the UC Irvine series. Peter Abinanti and Wyatt Mascarella are each hitting .357 (5-for-14) over the team's last four games, while Hogan is batting .444 and reaching base at a .538 clip during that same stretch. Abinanti, a redshirt junior outfielder from Woodland Hills, Calif., has hits in five of his six career starts with three multi-hit games, including a career-best 3-for-4 outing in the Red Storm's win over UC Irvine on March 9.
When the Red Storm welcomes Kansas on Friday afternoon, it will mark the first time since 1981 that a team currently in a power five conference that was never a part of the BIG EAST comes to Queens for more than one game. Penn State was the last such school to play more than one contest at St. John's, as the Redmen took both ends of doubleheader on April 25, 1981. Last season, Minnesota came to The Jack for a single game on May 15, a weather-shortened eight-inning win for the super regional-bound Golden Gophers.
Kansas (13-3) enters the weekend series having won nine-straight contests, including five in six days at the Snowbird Classic in Port Charlotte, Fla., this past week. The Jayhawks topped a pair of BIG EAST schools while in The Sunshine State, downing Georgetown, 6-2, on Saturday before coming back to beat Seton Hall, 7-4, on Wednesday.
Junior Jaxx Groshans has been sporting one of the nation's most dangerous bats in the early going this year, hitting .415 with eight home runs and 22 RBIs in 16 starts. The Magnolia, Texas, native is slugging .906, good enough for eighth in the country through games played on Thursday.
Two other Jayhawks are hitting better than .300 on the season, as Brett Vosik is batting .350 and Benjamin Sems is hitting at a .327 clip.
St. John's and Kansas have split six all-time meetings dating back to the late 1980s. The Johnnies won three-straight against the Jayhawks between 1987 and 1988 before a three-decade hiatus in the series history was halted by a three-game sweep for Kansas last year in Lawrence.
All three contests of the series will be broadcast live on ESPN3 with Jonathan Perez, Ralph Bednarczyk and Bob Hirschfield on the call.
The Red Storm enters the weekend having won two of its last three contests, most recently downing Iona, 7-1, on Wednesday afternoon in New Rochelle. The Johnnies' pitching staff limited the Gaels to just six hits on the game while the Red Storm batters displayed tremendous discipline at the dish. In total, the Johnnies drew 14 walks on the afternoon, including three apiece from Ryan Hogan and Brandon Miller. The Red Storm last drew more walks against Fairleigh Dickinson on March 14, 2012, a contest that saw the Johnnies reach base on balls 17 times.
The Johnnies' solid offensive showing on Wednesday came on the heels of a weekend series at No. 24 UC Irvine that saw the Red Storm struggle to muster up much of anything at the plate. St. John's was shut out twice on weekend, bookending a 4-3 Saturday win with a pair of 3-0 losses. As a team, the Red Storm hit .176 during its three-game stint in Irvine.
The Red Storm pitching staff showed that it could compete with the nation's best last weekend in Irvine, limiting the 24th ranked team in the country to just nine runs and 15 hits over the span of three games. The Red Storm nearly saw all three of its starting pitchers register quality starts, as Jeff Belge struck out eight while allowing two earned runs in six innings, Sean Mooney surrendered two earned runs with seven strikeouts in five innings and Joe LaSorsa coughed up no earned runs and struck out six in 5.2 frames.
Several members of the Red Storm have stepped up at the plate since the beginning of the UC Irvine series. Peter Abinanti and Wyatt Mascarella are each hitting .357 (5-for-14) over the team's last four games, while Hogan is batting .444 and reaching base at a .538 clip during that same stretch. Abinanti, a redshirt junior outfielder from Woodland Hills, Calif., has hits in five of his six career starts with three multi-hit games, including a career-best 3-for-4 outing in the Red Storm's win over UC Irvine on March 9.
When the Red Storm welcomes Kansas on Friday afternoon, it will mark the first time since 1981 that a team currently in a power five conference that was never a part of the BIG EAST comes to Queens for more than one game. Penn State was the last such school to play more than one contest at St. John's, as the Redmen took both ends of doubleheader on April 25, 1981. Last season, Minnesota came to The Jack for a single game on May 15, a weather-shortened eight-inning win for the super regional-bound Golden Gophers.
Kansas (13-3) enters the weekend series having won nine-straight contests, including five in six days at the Snowbird Classic in Port Charlotte, Fla., this past week. The Jayhawks topped a pair of BIG EAST schools while in The Sunshine State, downing Georgetown, 6-2, on Saturday before coming back to beat Seton Hall, 7-4, on Wednesday.
Junior Jaxx Groshans has been sporting one of the nation's most dangerous bats in the early going this year, hitting .415 with eight home runs and 22 RBIs in 16 starts. The Magnolia, Texas, native is slugging .906, good enough for eighth in the country through games played on Thursday.
Two other Jayhawks are hitting better than .300 on the season, as Brett Vosik is batting .350 and Benjamin Sems is hitting at a .327 clip.
St. John's and Kansas have split six all-time meetings dating back to the late 1980s. The Johnnies won three-straight against the Jayhawks between 1987 and 1988 before a three-decade hiatus in the series history was halted by a three-game sweep for Kansas last year in Lawrence.
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Players Mentioned
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