St. John’s Drops Sunday Finale at UNCW, 6-5

Sunday, February 20

Wilmington, N.C. (Brooks Field)

11 a.m.

St. John's University

1-3

UNC Wilmington

3-0

St. John's

UNCW

2/20/2022 3:20:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Red Storm led 5-0 in the middle of the second inning

WILMINGTON, N.C. – Ahead 5-0 after an inning and a half, the St. John's baseball team was unable to hold off UNC Wilmington, as the Seahawks took the weekend finale, 6-5, on Sunday at Brooks Field.

David Glancy reached base four times for the Johnnies (1-3), going 2-for-3 with a pair of walks. Luke Orbon doubled and drove in two runs while fellow freshman Jackson Tucker also tallied a two-bagger and an RBI.

Making his third start of the season, Jayson Kramer went 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Chris Conniff and Tate Ballestero each singled and scored a run against the Seahawks (3-0). Conniff also drew three of the Red Storm's 11 walks.

Sophomore right-hander Tyler Roche made his first start of the year, striking out five over 5.0 innings of one-run work.

Tim Cunningham retired six of the seven batters he faced in 2.0 innings of scoreless relief.

St. John's wasted no time getting on the board, plating four runs in the top of the first inning. With nobody on and two out, Ballestero was hit by a pitch before Glancy singled to give the Johnnies runners on first and second. Next up was Kramer, who ripped a two-run single into right center. Marty Higgins walked and advanced on a wild pitch before Luke Orbon's first collegiate hit scored both runners and put the Johnnies ahead 4-0 after a half-inning.

After Roche worked a scoreless first thanks to a two-out outfield assist at home plate from Kramer, the Johnnies added another run in the top of the second. Conniff led off the frame with a walk before coming home on the following at-bat, an RBI double off the bat off Tucker.

UNCW finally broke through with a run in the fifth on an RBI double from Taber Mongero. The Seahawks looked like they might add on with runners on second and third and one out, but Roche fanned each of the next two batters swinging to keep the St. John's lead at 5-1.

After leaving runners on second and third in the top of the sixth, St. John's saw UNCW grab the lead with a five-run home half. Mongero delivered the big hit again for the Seahawks, ripping a bases-clearing double to score three of those runs.

St. John's left a runner on in the seventh and stranded two in the top of the eighth, but Cunningham managed to keep UNCW off the board and maintain the deficit at one run.

The Red Storm appeared poised to knot things up in the ninth, as Glancy and Austin Machado drew leadoff walks. With runners on second and third and one out following a Kramer sac bunt, UNCW retired each of the next two St. John's batters to seal the 6-5 victory.

St. John's will return to action on Friday night at Oregon, the first of eight straight games on the West Coast for the Red Storm. First pitch in the series opener is set for 7 p.m. ET at PK Park in Eugene.