St. John’s Falls to Georgia State, 7-5

Saturday, February 15

Decatur, Ga. (GSU Baseball Complex)

2 p.m.

St. John's University

0-2

Georgia State

2-0

St. John's

Georgia State

2/15/2020 6:11:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Red Storm wraps Atlanta Challenge tomorrow at No. 19 Georgia Tech

By: Andrew O'Connell

DECATUR, Ga. (Feb. 15, 2020) – Despite outhitting Georgia State by a 12-8 margin, the St. John's baseball team dropped its second straight contest to open the season, falling to the Panthers by a score of 7-5 at the GSU Baseball Complex.

Seven of the Red Storm's nine starters recorded a hit while all but one reached base.

In his first five collegiate at-bats, freshman shortstop Jake Lazzaro went 3-for-5 with a double and a run scored out of the nine-hole for St. John's (0-2).

Fellow infielders Carson Bartels and Justin Folz both went 2-for-4 with an RBI, a run scored and a walk.

Senior outfielder Sean McGeehan was the only Johnnie to drive in multiple runs with a two-RBI double in the top of the first.

Freshman David Glancy logged his first career hit while Mike Antico, Ryan Hogan and Colin Wetterau also added base knocks.

Redshirt freshman Geoff Mosseau, who missed all of last season with injury, had a solid debut outing for the Johnnies, allowing two runs on two hits in 4.2 innings of work. The 6-foot-6 southpaw from Bedford, N.H., native struck out four and walked a pair.

Freshman Sonny Fauci tossed 2.0 scoreless frames in his first outing as a Johnnie, while Joe Joe Rodriguez, the game's starter and a junior college national champion last season at Cumberland Community College, was tagged with the loss.

The Red Storm quickly jumped ahead in the top of the first, as Bartels ripped a one-out single before Folz walked to give the Johnnies runners on first and second with one down. McGeehan then stepped to the plate and poked the seventh pitch of the at-bat into right-center for a two-run two-bagger, giving the Johnnies an early 2-0 lead.

Georgia State evened the score at two apiece in the home half of the first before the Johnnies nearly took back the lead in the top of the second. With two outs, Lazzaro singled before Antico walked and Bartels reached on an error by the pitcher to load the bases. Folz then sent a screamer up the middle that was snagged out of the air by the GSU pitcher, Ryan Watson, to end the frame with the score tied at two.

The Panthers saw five batters reach base in a three-run bottom of the second, giving the home side a 5-2 lead heading into the third. Georgia State walked twice, singled twice and reached on an error in the frame.

Georgia State added two more in the bottom of the third, as Brandon Hill hit a two-out, two-run homer to left, bumping the Panthers' lead to five, 7-2, after three.

The Red Storm responded by plating two of their own in the top of the fourth, as Ryan Markey walked and Antico singled to set up a pair of consecutive one-out RBI singles from Bartels and Folz. The Johnnies squandered an opportunity for more production; however, as they left the bases loaded following the run-scoring hits.

After keeping Kennesaw State off the board for the first time in the home half of the ensuing fourth, the Red Storm added another run in the top of the fifth. A pair of freshmen put together a two-out rally, as Lazzaro doubled down the left field line before Glancy brought him home with a single up the middle, slicing the Red Storm deficit to two, 7-5.

The Johnnies managed to keep Georgia State off the board over the next few frames, but left single runners on base in the top of the sixth and seventh innings. In the top of the eighth, Bartels walked to lead off the inning before stealing second and advancing to third on a throwing error. With the senior 90 feet away from making it a one-run game, the next three Johnnies were retired without incident, stranding Bartels and preserving the 7-5 Georgia State advantage.

The Red Storm will wrap the season's opening weekend on Sunday afternoon, taking on No. 19 Georgia Tech. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ACC Network Extra, available through the ESPN app.