St. John's University Athletics
Monday, March 4
San Diego, Calif. (Fowler Park)
8 p.m.
St. John's University
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University of San Diego
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St. John's
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San Diego
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Blankmeyer Nabs Win No. 800 in Series Finale with San Diego
3/4/2019 11:59:00 PM | Baseball
Joe Kelly tosses 5.1 innings of one-run relief in milestone win for his coach
Behind 5.1 innings of lockdown relief from Joe Kelly, the St. John's baseball team held San Diego to just one run over the final six frames in a 7-5 victory against the Toreros on Monday evening at Fowler Park.
The win marked the 800th in the long and storied career of St. John's Head Coach Ed Blankmeyer. The winningest coach in program history, the eight-time BIG EAST Coach of the Year is also the conference's most successful skipper with 338 league victories. In his 24 years with the Red Storm, Blankmeyer has guided the Johnnies to five BIG EAST Tournament titles, six regular season crowns and 11 NCAA Tournament berths.
Kelly entered the game with runners on the corners and two outs in the bottom of the fourth before quickly getting his way out of the jam before shutting down the Toreros over the next five frames. The Glendora, Calif., native allowed only one run the rest of the way, surrendering just two hits and a walk while striking out a pair. The senior sidewinder needed just 65 pitches to record 16 outs. He retired the final seven batters he faced in order to pick up his first win of the season and improve to 7-1 for his career.
The Red Storm (2-6) enjoyed its most successful outing of the campaign at the plate, recording season highs in runs and hits. Three Johnnies logged multi-hit days at the dish.
Brandon Miller went 2-for-4 with an RBI double and two runs scored while freshman Colin Wetterau also turned in a 2-for-4 effort and knocked in a run. Making the first start of his collegiate career, Peter Abinanti went 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.
Brandon Bossard recorded his second two-RBI outing of the series and went 1-for-3.
Sean McGeehan and Mitchell Henshaw each tallied an extra-base hit, as McGeehan launched an RBI triple to spark a crucial fifth inning rally while Henshaw doubled and scored in the fourth.
San Diego jumped out to an early 1-0 edge in the bottom of the first, but St. John's quickly responded to grab the lead in the top of the second. Miller led off the frame with a base knock up the middle before taking second on a throwing error and advancing to third on a wild pitch. Abinanti walked two batters late to put runners on the corners and promptly took off for second. The catcher's throw missed its target, allowing Miller to score from third. After advancing to third on another wild pitch, Abinanti crossed the plate thanks to Wettreau's first collegiate RBI hit.
The Toreros logged a single run to tie the game in the home half of the second before adding two more in the third to move ahead 4-2 after three.
The Red Storm cut into the San Diego lead in the top of the fourth, as Henshaw ripped a one-out double to left center before moving to third on an Abinanti base knock and coming home on a Bossard RBI fielder's choice.
The Johnnies regained the lead the following frame, as Carson Bartels reached on an error with two outs before McGeehan and Miller delivered consecutive RBI extra-base hits. McGeehan smacked a triple down the right field line to score Bartels followed by a Miller two-bagger to left center, the latter of which plated McGeehan and put the Red Storm back on top, 5-4. St. John's was not done yet, as Abinanti and Bossard came through with back-to-back base knocks, bringing home two more runs and making it 7-4 Red Storm after four and a half.
San Diego sliced into the St. John's lead with a single run in the sixth, but managed just one hit over the final three frames to help the Johnnies hang on for the victory.
St. John's will have a quick turnaround, traveling to Cal State Northridge for a 5 p.m. ET matchup on Tuesday.
The win marked the 800th in the long and storied career of St. John's Head Coach Ed Blankmeyer. The winningest coach in program history, the eight-time BIG EAST Coach of the Year is also the conference's most successful skipper with 338 league victories. In his 24 years with the Red Storm, Blankmeyer has guided the Johnnies to five BIG EAST Tournament titles, six regular season crowns and 11 NCAA Tournament berths.
Kelly entered the game with runners on the corners and two outs in the bottom of the fourth before quickly getting his way out of the jam before shutting down the Toreros over the next five frames. The Glendora, Calif., native allowed only one run the rest of the way, surrendering just two hits and a walk while striking out a pair. The senior sidewinder needed just 65 pitches to record 16 outs. He retired the final seven batters he faced in order to pick up his first win of the season and improve to 7-1 for his career.
The Red Storm (2-6) enjoyed its most successful outing of the campaign at the plate, recording season highs in runs and hits. Three Johnnies logged multi-hit days at the dish.
Brandon Miller went 2-for-4 with an RBI double and two runs scored while freshman Colin Wetterau also turned in a 2-for-4 effort and knocked in a run. Making the first start of his collegiate career, Peter Abinanti went 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.
Brandon Bossard recorded his second two-RBI outing of the series and went 1-for-3.
Sean McGeehan and Mitchell Henshaw each tallied an extra-base hit, as McGeehan launched an RBI triple to spark a crucial fifth inning rally while Henshaw doubled and scored in the fourth.
San Diego jumped out to an early 1-0 edge in the bottom of the first, but St. John's quickly responded to grab the lead in the top of the second. Miller led off the frame with a base knock up the middle before taking second on a throwing error and advancing to third on a wild pitch. Abinanti walked two batters late to put runners on the corners and promptly took off for second. The catcher's throw missed its target, allowing Miller to score from third. After advancing to third on another wild pitch, Abinanti crossed the plate thanks to Wettreau's first collegiate RBI hit.
The Toreros logged a single run to tie the game in the home half of the second before adding two more in the third to move ahead 4-2 after three.
The Red Storm cut into the San Diego lead in the top of the fourth, as Henshaw ripped a one-out double to left center before moving to third on an Abinanti base knock and coming home on a Bossard RBI fielder's choice.
The Johnnies regained the lead the following frame, as Carson Bartels reached on an error with two outs before McGeehan and Miller delivered consecutive RBI extra-base hits. McGeehan smacked a triple down the right field line to score Bartels followed by a Miller two-bagger to left center, the latter of which plated McGeehan and put the Red Storm back on top, 5-4. St. John's was not done yet, as Abinanti and Bossard came through with back-to-back base knocks, bringing home two more runs and making it 7-4 Red Storm after four and a half.
San Diego sliced into the St. John's lead with a single run in the sixth, but managed just one hit over the final three frames to help the Johnnies hang on for the victory.
St. John's will have a quick turnaround, traveling to Cal State Northridge for a 5 p.m. ET matchup on Tuesday.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Kelly, Joe (1-0)
L: MILLER, G (1-1)
Batting:
2B: Miller, Brandon 1 ; Henshaw, Mitchell 1
3B: McGeehan, Sean 1
RBI: McGeehan, Sean 1 ; Miller, Brandon 1 ; Abinanti, Peter 1 ; Bossard, Brandon 2 ; Wetterau, Colin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bartels, Carson 1 ; McGeehan, Sean 1 ; Miller, Brandon 2 ; Henshaw, Mitchell 2 ; Abinanti, Peter 1
SB: Abinanti, Peter 1
Batting:
2B: RICKETTS, C 1
RBI: JEFFERIS, C 2 ; HUSSAIN, A 1 ; MILLER, P 1 ; KERNER, Adam 1
Base Running:
RUNS: JEFFERIS, C 1 ; REYES, R 1 ; HUSSAIN, A 1 ; DUBB, S 1 ; OTSUKA, Tora 1
SB: KERNER, Adam 1 ; HOUGHTBY, J 1
HBP: REYES, R 2
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballC
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