St. John's University Athletics
Thursday, April 18
Queens, N.Y. (Jack Kaiser Stadium)
1 p.m.
St. John's University
vs
Villanova
St. John’s to Host Villanova Beginning on Thursday
4/17/2019 2:44:00 PM | Baseball
Red Storm is 12-2 in Queens this season entering
Victorious in 17 of its last 21 contests, the St. John's baseball team will welcome Villanova for a modified home series beginning on Thursday at Jack Kaiser Stadium. Following their series opener, the Red Storm and the Wildcats will play on Friday at NYIT before returning to Queens for the finale on Saturday. First pitch for each contest is scheduled for 1 p.m. All three games will feature an audio broadcast on RedStormSports.com.
St. John's (20-13, 3-3 BIG EAST) remained undefeated at home against non-conference competition with a convincing Tuesday victory over Fairleigh Dickinson. After falling behind, 2-0, in the top of the first, the Red Storm outscored the Knights the rest of the way by an 11-2 margin. The Johnnies used 11 hits and 11 walks to record their 11 runs. Three members of the Red Storm recorded multi-hit efforts, including Ryan Markey, who went 2-for-4 and tied a career high with three RBIs. The redshirt junior has recorded 19 RBIs in his last 16 games and has registered at least one hit in 16 of his last 19 outings.
The Red Storm will be looking to avenge a 2-1 series loss to Xavier at Jack Kaiser Stadium last weekend. Prior to dropping two of three to the Musketeers, the Johnnies had not lost a BIG EAST series since April of 2017, a streak of 12-straight series victories. Additionally, the Johnnies had not lost a conference series at home since 2016, when just three members of the 2019 roster, Markey, Turner French and Joe Kelly, were on the squad. Since the current configuration of the BIG EAST came into existence for the 2014 campaign, St. John's has never been swept by a conference foe.
Joe LaSorsa will take the ball for St. John's in game one on Thursday, looking to continue a stretch that has been nothing short of dominant. Since March 8, a span of six starts, LaSorsa is 4-1 with 0.23 ERA. During that span, he has limited opponents to a .164 batting average and has recorded nearly three times as many strikeouts (33) as walks. In his last 39.2 innings, LaSorsa has coughed up just one earned run, which came in the first inning against Kansas on March 16. The junior from Katonah, N.Y., went on to throw his first collegiate complete game in that affair, allowing only four hits and striking out seven in a game that took just one hour and 55 minutes to complete. On the season, LaSorsa's 1.08 ERA ranks sixth in Division I.
When the Red Storm returned from a spring break trip to California on March 11, the team carried a record of 3-9 following series losses to nationally ranked foes UC Irvine and UCLA, now the country's no. 1 team. The Johnnies were hitting just .194 with five everyday starters sitting below the Mendoza Line. In the team's 21 games since returning to the New York Metropolitan Area, St. John's is 17-4. During that time, the Johnnies are hitting .300 with seven of the team's everyday starters batting .294 or better. No player has been enjoying a more vibrant turnaround than Mike Antico, who hit .161 in his first 10 games of the year before batting at a team-best .377 clip over his last 20 outings.
Villanova comes to Queens with a record of 9-24, including a 2-4 mark in BIG EAST play. The Wildcats opened the conference season by losing two of three to Seton Hall and Georgetown at home in consecutive weekends. Villanova has played just five true road games all year, a stretch that has seen the team go 0-5.
The Wildcats are hitting .247 as a team and scoring 4.6 runs per game. The Villanova staff features just one hurler with a sub-four ERA and is allowing opponents to hit .291 on the season.
Longtime BIG EAST foes, St. John's and Villanova will meet for the 85th time in the history of the two programs on Thursday with the Red Storm holding a 56-28 advantage all-time in the series. The Johnnies have won each of the last four sets between the two teams dating back to 2015, including a three-game sweep to open up conference play last season in Plymouth Meeting.
The last time Villanova came to Jack Kaiser Stadium, the Wildcats played spoiler for the Red Storm in 2017. With St. John's in need of a win on the final day of the regular season to clinch the top overall seed in the BIG EAST Baseball Championship, the Wildcats prevailed. The second-seeded Johnnies would go on to fall in the opening game of the tournament to eventual champion Xavier. The Red Storm's body of work still garnered an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, one of 37 such berths in program history.
St. John's (20-13, 3-3 BIG EAST) remained undefeated at home against non-conference competition with a convincing Tuesday victory over Fairleigh Dickinson. After falling behind, 2-0, in the top of the first, the Red Storm outscored the Knights the rest of the way by an 11-2 margin. The Johnnies used 11 hits and 11 walks to record their 11 runs. Three members of the Red Storm recorded multi-hit efforts, including Ryan Markey, who went 2-for-4 and tied a career high with three RBIs. The redshirt junior has recorded 19 RBIs in his last 16 games and has registered at least one hit in 16 of his last 19 outings.
The Red Storm will be looking to avenge a 2-1 series loss to Xavier at Jack Kaiser Stadium last weekend. Prior to dropping two of three to the Musketeers, the Johnnies had not lost a BIG EAST series since April of 2017, a streak of 12-straight series victories. Additionally, the Johnnies had not lost a conference series at home since 2016, when just three members of the 2019 roster, Markey, Turner French and Joe Kelly, were on the squad. Since the current configuration of the BIG EAST came into existence for the 2014 campaign, St. John's has never been swept by a conference foe.
Joe LaSorsa will take the ball for St. John's in game one on Thursday, looking to continue a stretch that has been nothing short of dominant. Since March 8, a span of six starts, LaSorsa is 4-1 with 0.23 ERA. During that span, he has limited opponents to a .164 batting average and has recorded nearly three times as many strikeouts (33) as walks. In his last 39.2 innings, LaSorsa has coughed up just one earned run, which came in the first inning against Kansas on March 16. The junior from Katonah, N.Y., went on to throw his first collegiate complete game in that affair, allowing only four hits and striking out seven in a game that took just one hour and 55 minutes to complete. On the season, LaSorsa's 1.08 ERA ranks sixth in Division I.
When the Red Storm returned from a spring break trip to California on March 11, the team carried a record of 3-9 following series losses to nationally ranked foes UC Irvine and UCLA, now the country's no. 1 team. The Johnnies were hitting just .194 with five everyday starters sitting below the Mendoza Line. In the team's 21 games since returning to the New York Metropolitan Area, St. John's is 17-4. During that time, the Johnnies are hitting .300 with seven of the team's everyday starters batting .294 or better. No player has been enjoying a more vibrant turnaround than Mike Antico, who hit .161 in his first 10 games of the year before batting at a team-best .377 clip over his last 20 outings.
Villanova comes to Queens with a record of 9-24, including a 2-4 mark in BIG EAST play. The Wildcats opened the conference season by losing two of three to Seton Hall and Georgetown at home in consecutive weekends. Villanova has played just five true road games all year, a stretch that has seen the team go 0-5.
The Wildcats are hitting .247 as a team and scoring 4.6 runs per game. The Villanova staff features just one hurler with a sub-four ERA and is allowing opponents to hit .291 on the season.
Longtime BIG EAST foes, St. John's and Villanova will meet for the 85th time in the history of the two programs on Thursday with the Red Storm holding a 56-28 advantage all-time in the series. The Johnnies have won each of the last four sets between the two teams dating back to 2015, including a three-game sweep to open up conference play last season in Plymouth Meeting.
The last time Villanova came to Jack Kaiser Stadium, the Wildcats played spoiler for the Red Storm in 2017. With St. John's in need of a win on the final day of the regular season to clinch the top overall seed in the BIG EAST Baseball Championship, the Wildcats prevailed. The second-seeded Johnnies would go on to fall in the opening game of the tournament to eventual champion Xavier. The Red Storm's body of work still garnered an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, one of 37 such berths in program history.
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
OF/2B
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