St. John’s Falls to No. 25 Connecticut in BIG EAST Opener, 12-7

Friday, April 8

Storrs, Conn. (Elliot Ballpark)

6 p.m.

St. John's University

11-19, 0

No. 25 Connecticut

22-7, 0

St. John's

Connecticut

St. John’s Falls to No. 25 Connecticut in BIG EAST Opener, 12-7

4/8/2022 9:59:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Nick Cirelli and Kevin Michaels each hit a home run on Friday

STORRS, Conn.- The St. John's baseball team dropped the first game of the series to No. 25 Connecticut by a score of 12-7 on Friday night at Elliot Ballpark.

Kevin Michaels hit a grand slam, the second by a Johnnie this season, and went 3-for-5 with 4 RBIs and a run scored. Nick Cirelli slugged his third round tripper of the year, going 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.

At the top of the lineup, Jackson Tucker logged two hits in four at-bats and scored two runs while David Glancy tallied an RBI base hit, a walk and a run scored.

Out of the bullpen, Ben Adams only allowed one earned run in 3.1 innings of work for the Red Storm (11-19).

The Huskies (22-7) grabbed the early lead in the home half of the first with six runs. Preseason All-BIG EAST selection Erik Stock opened the scoring with an RBI double down the left-field line before Ben Huber stroked a run-scoring single to left. UConn capped off the frame with a three-run shot and another RBI base hit to grab a 6-0 advantage.

After a scoreless second inning, the Johnnies got on the board in the top of the third with one of their own to make it a 6-1 game. With the bases loaded, Glancy roped a base hit to right to bring home the first tally of the game for the Red Storm.

UConn restored its six-run edge in the bottom of the third when Matt Donlan doubled down the left-field line to send Huber scampering to the plate and give the Huskies a 7-1 lead.

Connecticut expanded its advantage to 9-1 in the bottom of the fifth, courtesy of back-to-back doubles by Donlan and Korey Morton.

After both sides put up zeroes in the sixth, Cirelli launched a solo home run in the top of the seventh to bring the score to 9-2.

The Huskies responded with three more runs in the home half of the seventh to grow the lead to 12-2. After two UConn hitters were hit by a pitch, David Smith singled up the middle to bring home two runs. T.C. Simmons plated the 12^th run of the game for Connecticut with an RBI groundout.

The Red Storm refused to go down without a fight as it put up four runs in the top of the eighth to inch closer, 12-6. Three straight Johnnies reached base before Michaels smashed a grand slam to left for his fourth home run of the season.

Ballestero slashed a two-out RBI double to center in the top of the ninth to get St. John's within five, 12-7, but the Huskies were able to get the final out and secure the series-opening victory.

The Red Storm and Huskies will resume the series tomorrow afternoon. First pitch from Elliot Ballpark is set for 4:05 p.m.