St. John's University Athletics
Saturday, March 11
Queens, N.Y. (Kaiser Stadium)
2 p.m.
St. John's University
8-5
11
vs
2
UAlbany
2-6-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
UAlbany
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
2
6
0
St. John's
0
0
1
6
1
1
2
0
X
11
17
0
St. John’s Ballestero Smashes Two Homers in 11-2 Victory Over UAlbany
3/11/2023 5:21:00 PM | Baseball
The redshirt junior logged his first career multi-homer game on Saturday
QUEENS, N.Y. – Redshirt junior Tate Ballestero put forth a stellar effort on Saturday, mashing his first career multi-home run game to go with a personal-best four RBIs in the St. John's baseball team 11-2 victory over UAlbany on Saturday.
The Johnnies' designated hitter also matched his career high with four hits on the afternoon, all going for extra bases with two homers and two doubles. He also chipped in three runs scored against the Great Danes. Ballestero's two-homer performance is the first by a Johnnie since Kevin Michaels against Sacred Heart on March 22, 2022.
Drury transfer Aaron Mann strung together a three-hit performance and registered two tallies of his own. Michaels and the Orbon brothers tallied two RBIs apiece while Marty Higgins had an efficient day at the dish, going 1-for-2 with three walks and a pair of runs scored.
The Red Storm (8-5) racked up 17 hits on Saturday afternoon, nine of which came with two outs.
UAlbany (2-6-1) broke through in the opening frame, taking a 1-0 lead after Dan Tauken drew a throw on his swipe of second and forcing Will Binder to break towards the plate.
As Joe Mascio settled in after tossing a pair of scoreless innings in the second and third, the Red Storm retaliated on a Ballestero moonshot that cleared both walls in right field to tie the game at one through three frames.
The Johnnies' hurler cruised through the fourth, getting all three Great Danes' hitters to strike out, including two that froze on pitches that caught the edge.
The Red Storm secured its first lead of the game in the bottom of the fourth with a little brotherly help. After loading the bases with no outs, Luke Orbon slapped a hard grounder to the right side, plating Machado and taking a 2-1 lead. Two pitches later, older brother Paul Orbon smacked a two-run single to right for a 4-1 edge. The Johnnies tacked on three more, 7-1, behind an RBI double by Ballestero and a two-run poke from Michaels.
Mascio tossed a scoreless fifth, finishing his outing by retiring seven straight batters. The Sewell, N.J., native rolled through his five innings of work, picking up his second win of the season after allowing just one run on two hits with five strikeouts.
Following a Ben Beauchamp bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the fifth to go up by seven, 8-1, reliever Tommy Finnegan rattled off three straight punchouts of his own, stifling the Great Danes in the sixth.
Luke Orbon made it 9-1 in the bottom of the sixth, lacing an RBI single to right for the eight-run advantage.
UAlbany snapped its scoreless drought with one run in the top of the seventh, but Ballestero increased the Red Storm lead to nine, 11-2, in the home half with his second round-tripper of the game, this one of the two-run variety.
Freshman Louis Marinaro went on to toss back-to-back scoreless frames in the eighth and ninth to secure the Johnnies' eighth win of the season.
St. John's will wrap up its series against UAlbany on Sunday with first pitch slated for 1 p.m. at Jack Kaiser Stadium.
The Johnnies' designated hitter also matched his career high with four hits on the afternoon, all going for extra bases with two homers and two doubles. He also chipped in three runs scored against the Great Danes. Ballestero's two-homer performance is the first by a Johnnie since Kevin Michaels against Sacred Heart on March 22, 2022.
Drury transfer Aaron Mann strung together a three-hit performance and registered two tallies of his own. Michaels and the Orbon brothers tallied two RBIs apiece while Marty Higgins had an efficient day at the dish, going 1-for-2 with three walks and a pair of runs scored.
The Red Storm (8-5) racked up 17 hits on Saturday afternoon, nine of which came with two outs.
UAlbany (2-6-1) broke through in the opening frame, taking a 1-0 lead after Dan Tauken drew a throw on his swipe of second and forcing Will Binder to break towards the plate.
As Joe Mascio settled in after tossing a pair of scoreless innings in the second and third, the Red Storm retaliated on a Ballestero moonshot that cleared both walls in right field to tie the game at one through three frames.
The Johnnies' hurler cruised through the fourth, getting all three Great Danes' hitters to strike out, including two that froze on pitches that caught the edge.
The Red Storm secured its first lead of the game in the bottom of the fourth with a little brotherly help. After loading the bases with no outs, Luke Orbon slapped a hard grounder to the right side, plating Machado and taking a 2-1 lead. Two pitches later, older brother Paul Orbon smacked a two-run single to right for a 4-1 edge. The Johnnies tacked on three more, 7-1, behind an RBI double by Ballestero and a two-run poke from Michaels.
Mascio tossed a scoreless fifth, finishing his outing by retiring seven straight batters. The Sewell, N.J., native rolled through his five innings of work, picking up his second win of the season after allowing just one run on two hits with five strikeouts.
Following a Ben Beauchamp bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the fifth to go up by seven, 8-1, reliever Tommy Finnegan rattled off three straight punchouts of his own, stifling the Great Danes in the sixth.
Luke Orbon made it 9-1 in the bottom of the sixth, lacing an RBI single to right for the eight-run advantage.
UAlbany snapped its scoreless drought with one run in the top of the seventh, but Ballestero increased the Red Storm lead to nine, 11-2, in the home half with his second round-tripper of the game, this one of the two-run variety.
Freshman Louis Marinaro went on to toss back-to-back scoreless frames in the eighth and ninth to secure the Johnnies' eighth win of the season.
St. John's will wrap up its series against UAlbany on Sunday with first pitch slated for 1 p.m. at Jack Kaiser Stadium.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Mascio, Joe (2-1)
L: Connor Eisen (0-1)
Batting:
RBI: Devan Kruzin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Will Binder 1 ; Danny Alvare 1
SB: Dan Tauken 1
Batting:
2B: Ballestero, Tate 2
HR: Ballestero, Tate 2
RBI: Ballestero, Tate 4 ; Michaels, Kevin 2 ; Orbon, Luke 2 ; Orbon, Paul 2 ; Beauchamp, Ben 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ballestero, Tate 3 ; Machado, Austin 1 ; Mann, Aaron 2 ; Higgins, Marty 2 ; Orbon, Paul 1 ; Jeremiah, Jace 1 ; Beauchamp, Ben 1
SB: Machado, Austin 1
CS: Orbon, Luke 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
3
H
4
RBI
4
AB
5
R
2
H
3
RBI
0
2b/ss
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
C/INF
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OF
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RHP
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INF
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LHP
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LHP
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INF
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OF
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