St. John's University Athletics
Thursday, May 19
Cincinnati, Ohio (Hayden Field)
3 p.m.
St. John's University
at
Xavier
St. John’s to Close Regular Season at Xavier
5/18/2022 2:30:00 PM | Baseball
Red Storm will battle with the Musketeers for a BIG EAST Tournament berth
QUEENS, N.Y.- After wrapping up its non-conference schedule on Tuesday against Wagner, the St. John's baseball team will close the regular season when it travels to Cincinnati for a crucial three-game set against the Xavier Musketeers. First pitch on Thursday is set for 3 p.m. Friday's game two will get underway at 1 p.m., and the series finale on Saturday is scheduled to start at 12 noon.
An audio broadcast will be available for Thursday and Friday's games on GoXavier.com. Saturday's matchup will be streamed on the BIG EAST Digital Network, and live stats will be available for all three games on GoXavier.com.
Heading into the final weekend of the regular season, five teams are battling for the last two spots in the BIG EAST Baseball Championship, which will be hosted next week at Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio. Currently sitting in third place, Xavier enters with a record of 10-8 in league play, two games clear of Georgetown and Villanova in a tie for fourth at 8-10. St. John's sits in sixth with a mark of 7-9-1, nearly two games ahead of seventh-place Seton Hall at 6-11. St. John's would secure a spot in the field with a three-game sweep regardless of any other outcomes in the league. In that event, Xavier would also get into the field as the no. 4 seed so long as neither Villanova sweeps Creighton nor Georgetown sweeps Connecticut. Should St. John's win two of its three games against the Musketeers, Xavier would be the no. 3 seed and the Red Storm would secure the final spot in the tournament field provided that neither Villanova nor Georgetown wins its weekend series. A path to the BIG EAST Tournament for St. John's still exists in the event that the Red Storm wins only one of its three games in Cincinnati, but the Johnnies would need both UConn and Creighton to sweep the weekend in addition to Butler winning at least one game against Seton Hall.
St. John's is looking to return to the BIG EAST Tournament after failing to make the field in 2021. That absence marked the first for St. John's since 2003, snapping a conference-record streak of 16 consecutive postseason appearances. The Red Storm has enjoyed more BIG EAST Tournament success than any other program in the league by a wide margin. Since the tournament was first held in 1985, the Johnnies have won nine titles, including three of the first four and four of the last 11. UConn ranks second among active league members with four conference crowns.
Joe Joe Rodriguez will start Thursday's series opener. The starters for Friday and Saturday are to-be-determined.
Kevin Michaels leads the Red Storm at the plate, batting .341 with an on-base percentage of .399. The redshirt sophomore has tallied a squad-best 45 RBIs and logged 13 games with multiple RBIs. The Encinitas, Calif., native has hit seven home runs this year and logged 15 doubles to lead the team to slug at a .564 clip.
Tate Ballestero drew three walks and notched an RBI single to pace the Red Storm with a .430 on-base percentage. The redshirt sophomore leads the Johnnies in base hits (66), doubles (67) and mutli-hit games (20). Ballestero is one of two position players to start all 52 games for the Johnnies this season.
Xavier enters this weekend's matchup with a record of 28-25 and a conference mark of 10-8. The Musketeers have won seven of their last nine, including wins over Creighton and UConn.
At the plate, Luke Franzoni has put together a prolific season, ranking second in the country with 24 home runs. Franzoni also averages 0.47 homers per game to sit second nationally. The senior outfielder leads the BIG EAST with 60 RBIs, 47 walks and an .813 slugging percentage.
On the mound, Jack Lynch owns a 2.96 ERA and an undefeated record of 8-0. In Friday's 7-2 win over UConn, Lynch tossed 3.1 innings of one-run ball to pick up his eighth win of the 2022 campaign.
St. John's leads the all-time series with Xavier, 15-12, but the Musketeers have had the upper hand as of late, winning four of the last six meetings.
The Johnnies dominated the last series in Cincinnati, taking two out of three from the Xavier. The Red Storm scored a program-record 34 runs in the second game of that series win over the Musketeers.
An audio broadcast will be available for Thursday and Friday's games on GoXavier.com. Saturday's matchup will be streamed on the BIG EAST Digital Network, and live stats will be available for all three games on GoXavier.com.
Heading into the final weekend of the regular season, five teams are battling for the last two spots in the BIG EAST Baseball Championship, which will be hosted next week at Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio. Currently sitting in third place, Xavier enters with a record of 10-8 in league play, two games clear of Georgetown and Villanova in a tie for fourth at 8-10. St. John's sits in sixth with a mark of 7-9-1, nearly two games ahead of seventh-place Seton Hall at 6-11. St. John's would secure a spot in the field with a three-game sweep regardless of any other outcomes in the league. In that event, Xavier would also get into the field as the no. 4 seed so long as neither Villanova sweeps Creighton nor Georgetown sweeps Connecticut. Should St. John's win two of its three games against the Musketeers, Xavier would be the no. 3 seed and the Red Storm would secure the final spot in the tournament field provided that neither Villanova nor Georgetown wins its weekend series. A path to the BIG EAST Tournament for St. John's still exists in the event that the Red Storm wins only one of its three games in Cincinnati, but the Johnnies would need both UConn and Creighton to sweep the weekend in addition to Butler winning at least one game against Seton Hall.
St. John's is looking to return to the BIG EAST Tournament after failing to make the field in 2021. That absence marked the first for St. John's since 2003, snapping a conference-record streak of 16 consecutive postseason appearances. The Red Storm has enjoyed more BIG EAST Tournament success than any other program in the league by a wide margin. Since the tournament was first held in 1985, the Johnnies have won nine titles, including three of the first four and four of the last 11. UConn ranks second among active league members with four conference crowns.
Joe Joe Rodriguez will start Thursday's series opener. The starters for Friday and Saturday are to-be-determined.
Kevin Michaels leads the Red Storm at the plate, batting .341 with an on-base percentage of .399. The redshirt sophomore has tallied a squad-best 45 RBIs and logged 13 games with multiple RBIs. The Encinitas, Calif., native has hit seven home runs this year and logged 15 doubles to lead the team to slug at a .564 clip.
Tate Ballestero drew three walks and notched an RBI single to pace the Red Storm with a .430 on-base percentage. The redshirt sophomore leads the Johnnies in base hits (66), doubles (67) and mutli-hit games (20). Ballestero is one of two position players to start all 52 games for the Johnnies this season.
Xavier enters this weekend's matchup with a record of 28-25 and a conference mark of 10-8. The Musketeers have won seven of their last nine, including wins over Creighton and UConn.
At the plate, Luke Franzoni has put together a prolific season, ranking second in the country with 24 home runs. Franzoni also averages 0.47 homers per game to sit second nationally. The senior outfielder leads the BIG EAST with 60 RBIs, 47 walks and an .813 slugging percentage.
On the mound, Jack Lynch owns a 2.96 ERA and an undefeated record of 8-0. In Friday's 7-2 win over UConn, Lynch tossed 3.1 innings of one-run ball to pick up his eighth win of the 2022 campaign.
St. John's leads the all-time series with Xavier, 15-12, but the Musketeers have had the upper hand as of late, winning four of the last six meetings.
The Johnnies dominated the last series in Cincinnati, taking two out of three from the Xavier. The Red Storm scored a program-record 34 runs in the second game of that series win over the Musketeers.
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