Xavier Takes Rubber Match, 8-1, from St. John’s

Sunday, April 14

Queens, N.Y. (Jack Kaiser Stadium)

12 p.m.

St. John's University

19-13, 3-3

Xavier

14-22, 5-1

Xavier

St. John's

4/14/2019 3:44:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Red Storm limited to just four hits on the afternoon

By: Andrew O'Connell

Xavier junior Conor Grammes allowed just two hits over 5.2 innings of work on the mound and reached base five times at the dish, leading the Musketeers past St. John's, 6-1, on Sunday at Jack Kaiser Stadium.

With the Sunday defeat, St. John's (19-13, 3-3 BIG EAST) suffered its first loss in a BIG EAST series since April of 2017, snapping a streak of 12 consecutive victories in conference sets. St. John's had not come out of the wrong end of BIG EAST series in Queens since May of 2016.

Sean McGeehan was one of four Johnnies to record hits on the afternoon and drove in the team's lone run. Ryan Hogan reached base three times, as he singled, walked and was hit by a pitch. Ryan Markey singled and walked twice on the afternoon. Brandon Bossard also belted a base knock.

After three scoreless frames to start the contest, Xavier (14-22, 5-1 BIG EAST) opened things up in the top of the fourth, pushing across three runs on four hits to take the game's first lead. The Musketeers had mustered just one hit over the first three innings.

St. John's answered in the bottom of the fourth, as back-to-back walks from Wyatt Mascarella and Markey preceded a Hogan single to load the bases with one out. McGeehan then drove a ball deep to left, scoring Mascarella on the sac fly and bringing the Red Storm within two, 3-1, heading into the fifth.

The two teams went scoreless in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings before Xavier added on three more in the top of the eighth. Kody Darcy drew a leadoff walk before Grammes tripled and Jake Shepski doubled to score a pair of runs. Shepski came around to score on an error two batters later, bumping the Musketeer lead to three, 6-1, heading into the bottom off the eighth.

Xavier added on two more insurance runs in the top of the ninth, giving the Musketeers the 8-1 edge with which they would end the game.

The Red Storm returns to action at Jack Kaiser Stadium on Tuesday afternoon, playing host to Fairleigh Dickinson for a 3 p.m. contest. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3.