St. John’s Falls to Creighton, 5-3, in Series Opener

Thursday, April 14

Queens, N.Y. (Jack Kaiser Stadium)

1 p.m.

St. John's University

12-22, 0

Creighton

19-8, 0

Creighton

St. John's

St. John’s Falls to Creighton, 5-3, in Series Opener

4/14/2022 5:06:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Kevin Michaels hit his fifth home run of the season

QUEENS, N.Y.- Despite tying the game in the middle innings, the St. John's baseball team fell to Creighton, 5-3, at Jack Kaiser Stadium on Thursday afternoon.

Kevin Michaels hit his fifth home run of the season, going 1-for-4 with two RBIs. Tate Ballestero logged his 14^thmulti-hit outing of the 2022 campaign, tallying two hits in four at-bats with a double and an RBI.

Three other Johnnies recorded a base hit, including Austin Machado who hit his second double of the season.

On the mound, Joe Joe Rodriguez went toe-to-toe with Creighton's Dylan Tebrake. The senior righthander pitched 7.0 solid innings with eight strikeouts but ultimately suffered the loss for St. John's (12-22, 0-4 BIG EAST). Tebrake earned his fifth win of the season, tossing 6.1 innings of one-run ball with six punchouts.

It was a pitcher's duel in the early innings as both starters combined to allow only one hit through the first three frames. Tebrake did not allow a baserunner while Rodriguez surrendered one infield single to the second baseman.

The Bluejays (19-8, 4-0 BIG EAST) found the first run of the ballgame in the top of the fourth to lead, 1-0. Alan Roden got the frame started with a leadoff single before stealing second and advancing to third on a fielding error. Chris Esposito doubled to left to send Roden to the plate for the game's opening tally.

After a scoreless fifth, the Red Storm rallied to tie the game at one in the home half of the sixth. Conniff led off with a single that found the outfield turf in short right field. After a Jackson Tucker sacrifice bunt put Conniff in scoring position, Ballestero capitalized on the opportunity with a double to the gap in left-center to knot the game at one.

Creighton quickly regained the lead in the top of the seventh with one run to inch ahead, 2-1. Andrew Meggs hit a two-out double to left-center to plate Nolan Clifford to give the Bluejays the narrow advantage heading into the home stretch.

After both bullpens held strong in the eighth, Creighton broke the game open in the top of the ninth. The first three batters reached base before Nolan Clifford took a pitch in the middle of his back to force in a run and expand the lead to 3-1. Two at-bats later, Roden reached on a fielding error on a sacrifice fly to grow the advantage, 4-1. Jared Wegner capped off the inning with another hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded to give the Bluejays a four-run edge, 5-1, heading into the last of the ninth.

Ballestero led off the frame with a single before Michaels launched a two-run shot over the wall in left field to cut Creighton's lead in half, 5-3, with nobody out in the ninth. Bluejays righthander Tommy Steier was able to settle down and retire the next three batters, securing the win for the visiting side.

St. John's and Creighton will wrap up the three-game series with a doubleheader on Saturday. First pitch of game one from Jack Kaiser Stadium is set for noon.