No. 24 UC Irvine Blanks St. John’s, 3-0

Friday, March 8

Irvine, Calif. (Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark)

9 p.m.

St. John's University

2-8

UC Irvine

8-3

St. John's

UC Irvine

3/8/2019 11:52:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Johnnies outhit Anteaters, 6-5, in series-opening loss

By: Andrew O'Connell

IRVINE, Calif.- St. John's surrendered an unearned run in the bottom of the second and two insurance runs in the eighth, falling to No. 24 UC Irvine, 3-0, in the series opener between the two teams on Friday night at Anteater Ballpark.

St. John's outhit UC Irvine on Friday night, tallying six hits to the Anteaters' five. The Red Storm, however, issued four walks and hit four batters compared to just one walk and no hit batsmen for UC Irvine.

Before a pinch-hit triple from Mike Antico to lead off the top of the ninth, UC Irvine retired 13-straight Johnnies beginning in the top of the fourth.

Joe LaSorsa was tagged with the loss despite not allowing an earned run to cross the plate. The southpaw from Kathonah, N.Y., allowed just three hits and three walks in 5.2 innings of work while striking out six Anteaters. Making just his third career start, LaSorsa proved to be an escape artist, stranding seven UC Irvine baserunners between the second and fourth innings.

Wyatt Mascarella tallied his second consecutive multi-hit outing with a pair of singles.

The Johnnies threatened in the top of the first, as a Carson Bartels double and a Peter Abinanti single gave the Red Storm runners on the corners after just three pitches. Abinanti was then thrown out trying to swipe second before Andre Pallante recorded back-to-back strikeouts to exit the inning unscathed. Pallante struck out nine Johnnies in seven innings of work to pick up the win.

After St. John's left two runners on base in the top of the second, UC Irvine struck first in the home half of the frame with an unearned tally. Brooks reached on a fielding error by Bartels to lead off the inning before coming around to score on a double with two outs.

Neither team made a mark on the score sheet over the next several innings, as UC Irvine tacked the game's next runs in the bottom of the eighth.

Sean Mooney will take the mound for St. John's in game two of the series on Saturday evening. First pitch is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET with an audio broadcast on KUCI.org.