St. John's University Athletics
Sunday, February 23
Berkeley, Calif. (Evans Diamond)
4 p.m.
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California
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St. John's
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California
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Seven Unanswered Runs Sink St. John’s, 11-7, in Series Finale with Cal
2/23/2020 7:40:00 PM | Baseball
Red Storm picks up first-ever series win against a Pac-12 foe
BERKELEY, Calif. (Feb. 23, 2020) – Leading 7-4 at the seventh inning stretch, the St. John's baseball team saw California scored seven unanswered runs in the seventh and eighth innings during an 11-7 loss at Evans Diamond on Sunday afternoon.
Despite failing to secure the sweep of the Golden Bears (2-5) on Sunday afternoon, the Red (3-3) still closed out its first-ever series victory against a member of the Pac-12.
Jake Lazzaro went 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored, tallying his third three-hit game of the season in just his fifth start. Prior to Lazzaro, a St. John's freshman had not recorded a three-hit outing since Josh Shaw logged six such appearances during his BIG EAST Rookie of the Year campaign in 2016. Since conference realignment prior to the start of the 2014 season, just five St. John's freshmen had registered at least one-three hit game and only one of those five, Anthony Brocato in 2015, managed to do so during the month of February.
Two other freshmen produced run-scoring singles for St. John's, as David Glancy and Vinny Bianchi delivered RBI base knocks. Graduate student Ryan Markey also brought in a run with an RBI sac bunt.
Sean McGeehan extended his hitting streak to six games, doubled for the fourth time in his last five outings and scored a run.
After a couple of lightning quick frames to start the afternoon, Cal opened the scoring with a two-spot in the home half of the third. Freshman Dylan Beavers hit his first career home run, a solo shot, before the Golden Bears strung together a couple of walks and a run-scoring single.
Facing its largest deficit of the weekend to that point, the Red Storm responded in a big way by plating five runs in the top of the fourth. Carson Bartels drew a leadoff walk before moving to third on a McGeehan double two batters later. A wild pitch on ball four to Colin Wetterau allowed Bartels to come home before Glancy and Lazzaro laced back-to-back RBI singles, putting the Johnnies on top for the first time. Markey then laid down an RBI sac bunt before Bianchi provided the frame's third RBI single from a freshman, pushing the Red Storm's advantage to three, 5-2, after three and a half.
Cal cut its deficit to one, 5-4, with two runs in the bottom of the fifth, but the Johnnies answered again with two of their own in the top of the sixth. Wetterau led off the inning by reaching first on a dropped third strike and moved to third on a Lazzaro single to left center two batters later. The throw to try and get Wetterau at third allowed Lazzaro to advance 90 feet as well, giving the Johnnies a pair of runners in scoring position. After Markey popped up to the catcher for the second out of the inning, Bianchi went the other way with a hard-hit grounder at the first baseman, who let it slide under his glove and allowed both runners to cross the plate.
With the Johnnies leading 7-4 at the seventh inning stretch, Cal plated three runs in the home half of the frame to tie the game at seven apiece. The Golden Bears had the go-ahead run on third with two outs, but Markey made a terrific pick at first to end the inning and preserve the tie.
After a scoreless top of the eighth, the Red Storm proved unable to stop the bleeding in the home half, as the Golden Bears scored four times to take an 11-7 lead heading into the final frame.
Mike Antico walked and reached second in the top of the ninth, but the Johnnies were unable to bring him home and Cal closed out the contest.
St. John's will return to action on Friday afternoon, kicking off a three-game series at Charlotte.
Despite failing to secure the sweep of the Golden Bears (2-5) on Sunday afternoon, the Red (3-3) still closed out its first-ever series victory against a member of the Pac-12.
Jake Lazzaro went 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored, tallying his third three-hit game of the season in just his fifth start. Prior to Lazzaro, a St. John's freshman had not recorded a three-hit outing since Josh Shaw logged six such appearances during his BIG EAST Rookie of the Year campaign in 2016. Since conference realignment prior to the start of the 2014 season, just five St. John's freshmen had registered at least one-three hit game and only one of those five, Anthony Brocato in 2015, managed to do so during the month of February.
Two other freshmen produced run-scoring singles for St. John's, as David Glancy and Vinny Bianchi delivered RBI base knocks. Graduate student Ryan Markey also brought in a run with an RBI sac bunt.
Sean McGeehan extended his hitting streak to six games, doubled for the fourth time in his last five outings and scored a run.
After a couple of lightning quick frames to start the afternoon, Cal opened the scoring with a two-spot in the home half of the third. Freshman Dylan Beavers hit his first career home run, a solo shot, before the Golden Bears strung together a couple of walks and a run-scoring single.
Facing its largest deficit of the weekend to that point, the Red Storm responded in a big way by plating five runs in the top of the fourth. Carson Bartels drew a leadoff walk before moving to third on a McGeehan double two batters later. A wild pitch on ball four to Colin Wetterau allowed Bartels to come home before Glancy and Lazzaro laced back-to-back RBI singles, putting the Johnnies on top for the first time. Markey then laid down an RBI sac bunt before Bianchi provided the frame's third RBI single from a freshman, pushing the Red Storm's advantage to three, 5-2, after three and a half.
Cal cut its deficit to one, 5-4, with two runs in the bottom of the fifth, but the Johnnies answered again with two of their own in the top of the sixth. Wetterau led off the inning by reaching first on a dropped third strike and moved to third on a Lazzaro single to left center two batters later. The throw to try and get Wetterau at third allowed Lazzaro to advance 90 feet as well, giving the Johnnies a pair of runners in scoring position. After Markey popped up to the catcher for the second out of the inning, Bianchi went the other way with a hard-hit grounder at the first baseman, who let it slide under his glove and allowed both runners to cross the plate.
With the Johnnies leading 7-4 at the seventh inning stretch, Cal plated three runs in the home half of the frame to tie the game at seven apiece. The Golden Bears had the go-ahead run on third with two outs, but Markey made a terrific pick at first to end the inning and preserve the tie.
After a scoreless top of the eighth, the Red Storm proved unable to stop the bleeding in the home half, as the Golden Bears scored four times to take an 11-7 lead heading into the final frame.
Mike Antico walked and reached second in the top of the ninth, but the Johnnies were unable to bring him home and Cal closed out the contest.
St. John's will return to action on Friday afternoon, kicking off a three-game series at Charlotte.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: J. King (1-0)
L: Lajoie, Josh (0-1)
Batting:
2B: McGeehan, Sean 1
RBI: Glancy, David 1 ; Lazzaro, Jake 1 ; Markey, Ryan 1 ; Bianchi, Vincent 1
SH: Markey, Ryan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bartels, Carson 1 ; McGeehan, Sean 1 ; Wetterau, Colin 2 ; Glancy, David 1 ; Lazzaro, Jake 2
SB: Antico, Mike 1 ; Lazzaro, Jake 1
Batting:
2B: D. Baker 1
HR: Q. Selma 1 ; D. Beavers 1 ; K. Ogans 1
RBI: Q. Selma 4 ; N.Martorella 1 ; G. Holman 1 ; S. Zobac 2 ; D. Beavers 1 ; K. Ogans 1
SH: D. Baker 1
SF: S. Zobac 1
Base Running:
RUNS: D. Baker 3 ; Q. Selma 1 ; N.Martorella 1 ; G. Holman 2 ; D. Beavers 1 ; K. Ogans 3
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
2
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
INF/P
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballIF
/ Baseball
OF/2B
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
C
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