St. John’s Takes Midweek Tilt from Hofstra, 6-4

Tuesday, April 12

Hempstead, N.Y. (University Field)

3 p.m.

St. John's University

12-21

Hofstra

13-14

St. John's

Hofstra

4/12/2022 6:39:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Vincent Bianchi earned his first win of the season

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y.- Behind a solid bullpen and timely hitting, the St. John's baseball team defeated Hofstra, 6-4, at University Field on Tuesday afternoon.

Max Shabestari paced the Red Storm with three RBIs, going 1-for-2 with a double and a walk while Nick Cirelli went 2-for-3 with two RBI singles and two walks. Jayson Kramer recorded the other RBI of the afternoon with two hits in five at-bats.

Three different Johnnies crossed the plate multiple times, as Tate Ballestero, David Glancy and Austin Machado each scored two runs.

Every starter reached base at least once, and the top seven batters in the St. John's lineup reached at least twice.

On the mound, Vincent Bianchi provided a big lift out of the bullpen for St. John's (12-21), tossing 3.1 hitless innings in relief of Joe Mascio to pick up his first win of the 2022 season. Oliver McCarthy and Tim Cunningham each notched a scoreless relief frame as a part of six consecutive shutout innings by Red Storm pitching.

After a quick first inning, the Pride opened the scoring in the bottom of the second with two runs to grab the early 2-0 lead. Back-to-back doubles by Steve Harrington and Jake Liberatore provided the first run for Hofstra (13-14). A few batters later, Zack Bailey hit a sacrifice fly to plate Liberatore and double the advantage for the home side.

Following zeroes for both teams in the third, the Johnnies cut the lead in half in the top of the fourth when Kramer stroked a single to right to send Machado to the dish and make a 2-1 ballgame.

The Red Storm knotted the score at two in the top of the fifth. With runners on first and second, Cirelli singled through the right side of the infield to send Glancy home and tie the game.

St. John's took its first lead of the afternoon in the top of the seventh with three runs on four hits. Glancy led off the inning with an infield single to the shortstop before Ballestero laced a base hit through the right side to put two runners on with no outs. After Machado reached on a Hofstra error, Cirelli cashed in on the bases-loaded opportunity with a single through the left side to put the Johnnies in front, 3-2. Shabestari followed up Cirelli's RBI knock with a missile to the gap in left-center to bring home two more runs and expand the lead to 5-2.

The Red Storm tacked on an insurance run in the top of eight courtesy of a bases-loaded walk by Shabestari to widen the gap, 6-2, with an inning and a half left in the contest.

Hofstra got two runs in the bottom of the ninth on a Sean Flaherty home run to right with one out, but Chuck Sanzio retired the next two batters quickly to secure the midweek win and season sweep of the Pride.

Next up, St. John's will return home to Jack Kaiser Stadium to take on BIG EAST foe Creighton. First pitch on Thursday afternoon is set for 3 p.m.