St. John’s and UConn Split Saturday Doubleheader

Saturday, May 8

Queens, N.Y. (Jack Kaiser Stadium)

12 p.m.

St. John's University

15-16, 6-11

Connecticut

21-15, 5-3

Connecticut

St. John's

5/8/2021 5:34:00 PM | Baseball

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

Red Storm takes the opener before UConn answers in game two

By: Andrew O'Connell

St. John's and Connecticut split a BIG EAST doubleheader at Jack Kaiser Stadium on Saturday, as the Red Storm charged back to take game one before stellar pitching led the Huskies to victory in game two.

St. John's moved to 15-17 overall, 6-12 in the conference. UConn will enter Sunday's series finale with a record of 22-15, 6-3 in the BIG EAST.

Game One

Justin Folz doubled twice, including the game-winning hit, as St. John's took the opening game of a Saturday doubleheader from UConn, 4-3, in seven innings.

With the score tied at two and runners on the corners in the bottom of the fifth, Folz ripped a two-run two-bagger to the wall in right. The redshirt junior from Monroe, Wash., also scored the Red Storm's first run of the game after logging a leadoff double in the bottom of the second.

Carson Bartels drove in the game-tying run earlier in the fifth with an RBI single to center. Chris Conniff recorded an RBI walk, a single and a run scored in the opening game.

Brian Morrell and Ryan Hogan also added base knocks.

Making just his second career weekend start, Matt Semon scattered four hits and a pair of walks in a career-high 6.0 innings of three-run work. The Valley Cottage, N.Y., native fanned four.

With a scoreless seventh, Ethan Routzahn shut the door for his sixth save of the season.

UConn took the game's first lead, quickly plating a pair of runs in the top of the first with the help of a misplayed ball in right field that resulted in an RBI double for Pat Winkel.

The Johnnies looked poised to strike back in the second, loading the bases with no outs following a Folz double, a 10-pitch walk to Nick Cirelli and a Bianchi sac bunt in which all three Johnnies were safe on the play. The Red Storm, however, managed only one run on an RBI-walk to Conniff before UConn starter Ben Casparius was able to get out of the inning.

After going down 1-2-3 in both the third and fourth frames, the Johnnies jumped ahead with a three-run effort in the fifth. Conniff led off the inning with a single to center before stealing second and coming around to score on a Bartels base knock, tying the game at two. After a two-out single from Morrell gave St. John's runners on the corners, Folz cleared the bases with a two-bagger over the head of Kyler Fedko in right, putting the Red Storm on top by a pair, 4-2, after five.

Pat Winkel responded immediately for UConn in the top of the sixth, launching the first pitch of the inning over the wall in left center. Semon, however, settled down and retired the next three Huskies he faced to preserve the Red Storm lead.

After the Johnnies went down in order in the home half of the sixth, Routzahn entered and allowed only one hit in a scoreless seventh.

Game Two

UConn starter Pat Gallagher allowed two hits and a walk over 7.0 scoreless innings, leading the Huskies to a 6-0 victory in game two of Saturday's doubleheader in Queens.

Gallagher, a freshman who improved to 3-1 on the year, struck out eight St. John's batters. Garrett Coe punched out three in 2.0 innings of scoreless relief.

Colin Wetterau accounted for half the Red Storm's hits in game two with a 2-for-4 effort. Bartels and Cirrelli also recorded base knocks for the Johnnies.

The first two innings went by in the blink of an eye, as both sides went down 1-2-3 in the first before Brian Hendry needed just four pitches to get through the top of the second.

After Wetterau logged the game's first hit with an opposite-field single in the bottom of the second, UConn opened the scoring with a pair of runs in the third. With two outs and the bases loaded, freshman first baseman Reggie Crawford delivered a two-RBI base knock to right to put the Huskies in front.

UConn also added on single runs in the fourth and fifth innings. In the fourth, Chris Winkel walked, stole second, stole third and scored on a grounder to the right side. In the following frame, Chris Brown lifted a solo shot over the wall in left to make it 4-0 in favor of the visitors.

Chris Winkel made his presence felt again in the sixth, launching a two-run bomb to give UConn the 6-0 lead with which it would end the game.

St. John's and the Huskies will close their series tomorrow with a 1 p.m. first pitch at Jack Kaiser Stadium. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3.