St. John's University Athletics
Friday, March 6
Las Vegas, Nev. (Earl E. Wilson Stadium)
9 p.m.
St. John's University
at
UNLV
Photo by: Tim Cowie/Tim Cowie Photography
Red Storm and Runnin’ Rebels to Begin Series on Friday Night
3/5/2020 3:03:00 PM | Baseball
St. John’s will look to snap four-game slide in Sin City
LAS VEGAS (March 5, 2020) – The St. John's baseball team will wrap its spring break trip this weekend in Las Vegas, beginning a three-game set with UNLV on Friday night at 9 p.m. ET. The two teams will meet again on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET before closing out the series with a 4 p.m. ET matinee on Sunday.
The Johnnies suffered three close losses in the Queen City this past weekend, including a 6-5 falter in game two and a 10-8 defeat in game three. On Saturday, the Red Storm erased a late three-run deficit to tie the game in the top of the ninth before Charlotte walked off in the home half of the frame. The following day, the Red Storm whittled an eight-run deficit to just two before the 49ers managed to hang on for the victory.
The Red Storm was scheduled to take on Presbyterian in a midweek matchup on Tuesday before heading out west, but that contest was canceled due to inclement weather.
Anchored by a strong Sunday showing, Sean McGeehan led the way offensively for the Johnnies against Charlotte, hitting .385 with a double. In the finale, the senior outfielder from Hamilton, N.J., matched a pair of career-highs by going 4-for-5 with three RBIs. On the season, McGeehan leads the team with nine RBIs in as many games.
Ryan Hogan reached base at a .545 clip against the 49ers, registering three hits to go along with a pair of walks and a hit-by-pitch. Two Johnnies left the yard over the weekend, as Justin Folz hit his second homer of the year on Saturday before Ryan Markey added a solo shot on Sunday to help spark a late rally. Markey, who also doubled twice against the 49ers, was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Wednesday. Mike Antico scored three times, drove in three runs and stole three bases, improving to a perfect 6-for-6 on the season in stolen base attempts.
The Red Storm will look to replicate the success it experienced two weekends ago in The Bay Area, as the Johnnies took two wins from the Cal Golden Bears at Evans Diamond. The series victory was the first in program history against a Pac-12 foe and marked the second straight season that St. John's has taken a series from a Power Five opponent, as the Johnnies swept Kansas in 2019. Those two wins against Cal followed a Feb. 16 drubbing of then-No. 19 Georgia Tech, as Ian Murphy fanned nine in five innings of work to improve the Red Storm record to 3-0 in regular season play against the ACC since 2017.
Over the opening two weeks of the season, few hitters in the country swung a hotter bat than freshman Jake Lazzaro. In the first five starts of his St. John's career, the shortstop from Oceanside, N.Y., recorded three three-hit games, batting .526 with an OPS of 1.242. Prior to Lazzaro, no St. John's freshman had registered a three-hit game since Josh Shaw in 2016, a campaign that saw the three-time All-BIG EAST selection garner conference freshman of the year honors.
UNLV enters the weekend with a record of 3-10, having most recently dropped both ends of a midweek set to No. 2 Texas Tech by a combined score of 22-5.
In their most recent weekend series, the Runnin' Rebels got the best of defending BIG EAST Champion Creighton, bookending an extra-inning Saturday loss with a pair of wins. The weekend prior, UNLV was swept at home by Alabama.
As a team, the Runnin' Rebels are batting .244 and boast three hitters at .300 or better led by Eric Bigani at .353. The junior transfer from Cypress College has seven multi-hit games this season, including a 2-for-4 showing in UNLV's most recent outing with Texas Tech.
UNLV has a Hall of Famer in its dugout, as four-time Cy Young Award winner Greg Maddux serves as the team's volunteer pitching coach. Maddux's son, Chase, is slated to start Saturday's game for the Runnin' Rebels. The redshirt senior has a 2.55 ERA in three outings, punching out 17 while allowing just three walks in 17.2 innings.
St. John's and UNLV have met twice in the history of the two programs with each team claiming one victory.
One of those games came in the 2004 NCAA Stanford Regional, as St. John's sent the Runnin' Rebels packing in the first elimination game of the weekend at Sunken Diamond.
Projected Weekend Starters:
St. John's UNLV
March 6 LHP Nick Mondak RHP Ryan Hare
0-2, 3.86 ERA 1-1, 6.08 ERA
March 7 RHP Joe Joe Rodriguez RHP Chase Maddux
1-1, 6.57 ERA 0-0, 2.55 ERA
March 8 RHP Ian Murphy LHP Josh Sharman
1-1, 3.21 ERA 1-1, 4.50 ERA
The Johnnies suffered three close losses in the Queen City this past weekend, including a 6-5 falter in game two and a 10-8 defeat in game three. On Saturday, the Red Storm erased a late three-run deficit to tie the game in the top of the ninth before Charlotte walked off in the home half of the frame. The following day, the Red Storm whittled an eight-run deficit to just two before the 49ers managed to hang on for the victory.
The Red Storm was scheduled to take on Presbyterian in a midweek matchup on Tuesday before heading out west, but that contest was canceled due to inclement weather.
Anchored by a strong Sunday showing, Sean McGeehan led the way offensively for the Johnnies against Charlotte, hitting .385 with a double. In the finale, the senior outfielder from Hamilton, N.J., matched a pair of career-highs by going 4-for-5 with three RBIs. On the season, McGeehan leads the team with nine RBIs in as many games.
Ryan Hogan reached base at a .545 clip against the 49ers, registering three hits to go along with a pair of walks and a hit-by-pitch. Two Johnnies left the yard over the weekend, as Justin Folz hit his second homer of the year on Saturday before Ryan Markey added a solo shot on Sunday to help spark a late rally. Markey, who also doubled twice against the 49ers, was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Wednesday. Mike Antico scored three times, drove in three runs and stole three bases, improving to a perfect 6-for-6 on the season in stolen base attempts.
The Red Storm will look to replicate the success it experienced two weekends ago in The Bay Area, as the Johnnies took two wins from the Cal Golden Bears at Evans Diamond. The series victory was the first in program history against a Pac-12 foe and marked the second straight season that St. John's has taken a series from a Power Five opponent, as the Johnnies swept Kansas in 2019. Those two wins against Cal followed a Feb. 16 drubbing of then-No. 19 Georgia Tech, as Ian Murphy fanned nine in five innings of work to improve the Red Storm record to 3-0 in regular season play against the ACC since 2017.
Over the opening two weeks of the season, few hitters in the country swung a hotter bat than freshman Jake Lazzaro. In the first five starts of his St. John's career, the shortstop from Oceanside, N.Y., recorded three three-hit games, batting .526 with an OPS of 1.242. Prior to Lazzaro, no St. John's freshman had registered a three-hit game since Josh Shaw in 2016, a campaign that saw the three-time All-BIG EAST selection garner conference freshman of the year honors.
UNLV enters the weekend with a record of 3-10, having most recently dropped both ends of a midweek set to No. 2 Texas Tech by a combined score of 22-5.
In their most recent weekend series, the Runnin' Rebels got the best of defending BIG EAST Champion Creighton, bookending an extra-inning Saturday loss with a pair of wins. The weekend prior, UNLV was swept at home by Alabama.
As a team, the Runnin' Rebels are batting .244 and boast three hitters at .300 or better led by Eric Bigani at .353. The junior transfer from Cypress College has seven multi-hit games this season, including a 2-for-4 showing in UNLV's most recent outing with Texas Tech.
UNLV has a Hall of Famer in its dugout, as four-time Cy Young Award winner Greg Maddux serves as the team's volunteer pitching coach. Maddux's son, Chase, is slated to start Saturday's game for the Runnin' Rebels. The redshirt senior has a 2.55 ERA in three outings, punching out 17 while allowing just three walks in 17.2 innings.
St. John's and UNLV have met twice in the history of the two programs with each team claiming one victory.
One of those games came in the 2004 NCAA Stanford Regional, as St. John's sent the Runnin' Rebels packing in the first elimination game of the weekend at Sunken Diamond.
Projected Weekend Starters:
St. John's UNLV
March 6 LHP Nick Mondak RHP Ryan Hare
0-2, 3.86 ERA 1-1, 6.08 ERA
March 7 RHP Joe Joe Rodriguez RHP Chase Maddux
1-1, 6.57 ERA 0-0, 2.55 ERA
March 8 RHP Ian Murphy LHP Josh Sharman
1-1, 3.21 ERA 1-1, 4.50 ERA
Players Mentioned
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