St. John’s Soars Past UMass Lowell, 11-3

Saturday, February 27

Queens, N.Y. (Jack Kaiser Stadium)

3 p.m.

St. John's University

2-0

UMass Lowell

0-2

UMass Lowell

St. John's

2/27/2021 6:58:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Ian Murphy struck out eight in 6.0 innings of one-hit work

By: Andrew O'Connell

For the second time in as many days, a stellar outing from a St. John's starting pitcher anchored the Red Storm to a victory at Jack Kaiser Stadium on Saturday afternoon. After Nick Mondak fanned seven in 6.0 scoreless innings on Friday, Ian Murphy scattered one hit and one walk over 6.0 scoreless frames while striking out eight, as the Johnnies clinched their season-opening series with an 11-3 win over UMass Lowell.

After tallying just four hits on Friday in the season opener, the Red Storm had no shortage of offense on Saturday afternoon. The Johnnies scored 11 runs on 12 hits, seven of which went for extra bases. Three of those hits were roundtrippers, as David Glancy and Nick Cirelli left the yard while Justin Folz legged out an inside-the-parker. Glancy and Folz, both of whom went 2-for-4 on the day, went back-to-back in the fourth inning. Cirelli's bomb came in the first at-bat of his Division I career.

Brandon Miller tallied a career-high four hits, going 4-for-5 with a double against the River Hawks.

David Williams doubled, drove in a run and scored twice. Paul Orbon logged his first collegiate hit, going 1-for-3 with a walk and a run scored.

Carson Bartels also recorded a two-bagger and scored for the Johnnies.

Jake Lazzaro walked twice for the second time in as many games and logged an RBI. Carlos Hidalgo and Chris Conniff also registered RBIs in their collegiate debuts.

Freshmen Tyler Roche and Nick Guzzi made their St. John's debuts, each pitching an inning in relief of Murphy. Guzzi fanned two while Roche struck out one. Matt Semon closed the door in the ninth, making his first appearance since 2019 after missing the shortened 2020 season with injury.

In the top of the first, UMass Lowell put runners on the corners following a two-out rally. Murphy, however, got a big swinging K to quell the threat and keep the River Hawks off the board.

In the home half of the frame, Bartels ripped a one-out double to right center before a stellar defensive play at first by Joey Castellanos robbed Folz of a single and stranded Bartels at third.

In the bottom of the third, Lazzaro drew a leadoff walk before he and Glancy executed a picture-perfect hit-and-run to put runners on the corners with one out. Next up was Folz, who scored Lazzaro from third with a grounder to the right side and put the Red Storm ahead 1-0. Williams then stepped to plate and launched a double to the wall in left center, recording his first St. John's hit and scoring Folz from first to make it a 2-0 game. A Miller infield single allowed Williams to advance 90 feet before a throwing error by the shortstop brought him home, pushing the St. John's lead to three after three innings.

After Murphy made quick work of the River Hawks in the fourth, the Red Storm tacked on four more runs in the home half to make it 7-0. With runners on first and second, Glancy lifted a moonshot over the wall in left, his third home run in four career games at Jack Kaiser Stadium. Next up was Folz, who hit one high to center field that UMass Lowell outfielder Gerry Siracusa lost in the sun. Folz, who hustled hard out of the box, was already rounding second when the ball hit the turf and cruised across the plate without issue.

UMass Lowell got on the board with a single run in the seventh before the Red Storm added on three more after the stretch. A Folz double and two walks loaded the bases for Hidalgo, who lifted a sacrifice fly to right in his first collegiate plate appearance. Following another walk to Orbon, Lazzaro and Conniff were issued run-scoring free passes to make it a 10-1 game in favor of the Johnnies.

Cirelli's home run in the eighth, a solo shot, bumped the Red Storm lead to double digits before the River Hawks scored twice in the top of the ninth.

St. John's and UMass Lowell will close their series tomorrow morning at Jack Kaiser Stadium. Originally scheduled to meet at 1 p.m., the two teams will now play at 10 a.m. with the hopes of avoiding forecasted rain in the afternoon.