St. John’s Splits Doubleheader with Princeton

Saturday, May 4

Queens, N.Y. (Jack Kaiser Stadium)

12 p.m.

St. John's University

24-19

Princeton

14-23

Princeton

St. John's

5/4/2019 6:15:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Game One Box (PDF)Game Two Box (PDF)

Johnnies moved to 25-19 on the season, return to action against Wagner on Wednesday

By: Andrew O'Connell

QUEENS, N.Y. (May 4, 2019) – The St. John's baseball team split a non-conference doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Jack Kaiser Stadium, dropping the first game to Princeton, 3-1, before topping the Tigers, 4-2, in the final game of the twin bill.

With the split, St. John's improved to 25-19 while the Tigers moved to 14-24.

Game One

After six scoreless frames from both sides to start the contest, Princeton jumped ahead in the seventh before hanging on for a 3-1 victory in game one of Saturday's doubleheader with the Red Storm.

Joe LaSorsa tossed 5.1 scoreless innings in a no decision, allowing four walks and four hits while fanning five. The junior southpaw lowered his ERA to 1.60 on the season.

St. John's picked up eight hits on the game, led by two knocks a piece from Mike Antico and Ryan Markey. Carson Bartels singled and drove in the team's lone run of the afternoon. Brandon Miller, Sean McGeehan and Brandon Bossard also tallied hits for the Johnnies.

Princeton pushed across the afternoon's first run in the top of the seventh, as Ramzi Haddad recorded a leadoff single before moving to second on a sac bunt and coming around to score on a Chris Davis base knock up the middle.

The Tigers added two more runs on four hits in the top of the eighth, pushing their advantage to three after seven and a half.

The Red Storm struck for the first and only time in the home half of the frame, as Bossard looped a double into right before eventually coming around to score after consecutive infield singles form Antico and Bartels. That was as close as the Johnnies would get in game one; however, as the Tigers held on for a 3-1 victory.

Game Two

After picking up a pair of hits in the opening game of Saturday's doubleheader, Antico went 2-for-3 with three RBIs in the latter tilt of the twin bill, leading the Red Storm to a 4-2 win at Jack Kaiser Stadium.

Antico blasted his fifth home run of the season for the game's first tally in the bottom of the third, giving the Johnnies a lead they would not relinquish. He also added a two-RBI single in the fourth.

Bartels went 2-for-4 with an RBI while McGeehan, Miller and Peter Abinanti all chipped in hits.

Jeff Belge recorded his third win of the season by tossing four innings of one-run relief. The 6-foot-5 left hander allowed four hits and struck out three while surrendering no walks. Gavin Hollowell shut the door, striking out three over the final two innings to record his fourth win of the campaign.

After Antico put the Red Storm ahead 1-0 with his solo shot off the back of the St. John's bullpen in the third, the Red Storm struck for three more runs in the following frame. Wyatt Mascarella reached on a fielding error before an Abinanti two-bagger gave St. John's runners on second and third with one out. After Ryan Hogan was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Antico beat out an infield single that brought home a pair of runs, putting the Johnnies ahead 3-0. Bartels was then thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double, but not before Hogan scored from third and extended the Red Storm lead to four.

Princeton responded with single runs in the fifth and the ninth, but they proved to be not enough as St. John's secured the doubleheader split.

The Red Storm will return to action on Tuesday evening, playing host to Wagner in a 6 p.m. showdown at Jack Kaiser Stadium. The game will also serve as the team's annual Senior Night.