St. John’s Drops Series Opener to Quinnipiac, 8-5

Friday, March 25

Queens, N.Y. (Jack Kaiser Stadium)

3 p.m.

St. John's University

7-15

Quinnipiac

5-12

Quinnipiac

St. John's

St. John’s Drops Series Opener to Quinnipiac, 8-5

3/25/2022 8:42:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Ballestero and Shabestari both hit a home run on Friday afternoon

QUEENS, N.Y.- Despite a late-inning surge, the St. John's baseball team fell to the Quinnipiac Bobcats, 8-5, in Friday's series opener at Jack Kaiser Stadium.

Tate Ballestero paced the Red Storm offense, tallying three hits in four at-bats, including his second home run of the season. The Virginia transfer has now recorded multiple hits in a team-high 11 games.

Max Shabestari hit his second round tripper of the season, a two-run shot in the bottom of the eighth inning as part of a four-run frame. The freshmen finished the day 1-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored. The San Diego native also reached base by way of a hit-by-pitch.

Jackson Tucker extended his on-base streak to 16 games with a 2-for-4 effort out of the leadoff spot. The freshman added a walk and a run scored against Quinnipiac on Friday.

Nick Cirelli also recorded two base knocks, including a double, and went 2-for-4 on the afternoon while David Glancy extended his hitting streak to 10 contests.

Dylan Johnson suffered his first loss of the season for St. John's (7-15), but Ben Adams was solid in relief, tossing 2.1 scoreless innings with four strikeouts.

After a scoreless opening frame, Quinnipiac (5-12) got on the board in the top of the second with three runs to lead, 3-0. After an infield hit and a walk, Michael Kohn launched a three-run home run over the fence in right field to stake the Bobcats to an early three-run advantage.

Quinnipiac added another run in the top of the third inning to lead, 4-0, after Ian Ostberg singled to left field to bring Anthony Donofrio home.

Neither pitching staff budged for the next four innings as the scored remained at 4-0 in favor of the Bobcats until the eighth inning.

Quinnipiac added two insurance runs in the visitor half of the eighth inning to extend the lead to 6-0. Sebastian Mueller hit a solo shot to center field on the first pitch as part of a 3-for-3 performance. The Bobcats added a second run in the frame after Jared Zimbardo doubled down the left-field line to grow the advantage to six runs.
The Red Storm offense came to life in the next half-inning, plating four runs of its own to jump right back in it, 6-4. Ballestero led off the frame with his second homer of the season before Carlos Hidalgo slashed a double to left-center to score Colin Wetterau. Shabestari capped off the outburst with a two-run bomb over the wall in left field to bring the Johnnies within two runs.

The Bobcats responded with two more runs in the top of the ninth to take a four-run edge, 8-4. Mueller singled to left field to score Ostberg before Zimbardo reached on an infield single to third to add another insurance run.

The Johnnies refused to go down without a fight as infield singles by Tucker, Glancy and Ballestero brought St. John's within three, 8-5, with nobody out in the bottom of the ninth. Gabriel Romano was able to work around the jam to close the game and give Quinnipiac the series-opening win.

The Red Storm and Bobcats will resume the three-game series tomorrow. First pitch at Jack Kaiser Stadium is scheduled for 5 p.m.