St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
12-5
Quinnipiac
5-10
St. John’s Powers Past Quinnipiac, 15-5
3/18/2023 5:02:00 PM | Baseball
Jackson Tucker goes 4-for-4 with two walks, reaching base safely in 10 straight plate appearances
With 15 runs on 21 hits on Saturday, the Johnnies have racked up 20 or more base knocks for the second time in three games.
Six Johnnies recorded exactly two tallies on the afternoon, including sophomore Jackson Tucker. The Staten Island product paced the way with his second 4-for-4 performance in as many games, also drawing two walks and driving in one run. The Johnnies' outfielder has put on a show over the last two games, reaching base in 10 straight plate appearances.
Corner infielders Marty Higgins and Aaron Mann each belted their respective third home run of the season, both logging two hits and two runs scored on the afternoon. Higgins also matched shortstop Jace Jeremiah with a game-high three RBIs.
The Johnnies had quite the 1-2 punch at the top of their lineup with designated hitter Tate Ballestero and right fielder Luke Orbon driving in a pair of runs while combining for three of the team's four sacrifice flies against Quinnipiac (5-10).
After an empty opening frame, Mann belted a solo shot over the left-field wall in the second inning for a 1-0 Red Storm edge.
St. John's (12-5) added to its lead in the third after back-to-back one-out singles from Tucker and Ballestero. Luke Orbon roped a sacrifice fly to right in the ensuing at-bat, bringing his fellow outfielder in from third for a two-run edge.
In the top of the fourth, the Johnnies doubled its advantage with a two-run homer off the bat of Higgins, keeping the ball inside the foul pole in left field for a 4-0 lead.
Left-hander Joe Mascio put forth a solid outing for the Red Storm, holding Quinnipiac scoreless through the first five innings. The Johnnies' hurler finished his outing allowing just two runs on five hits with seven strikeouts in six innings of work to earn the decision.
After a two-run frame by the Bobcats in the bottom of the sixth, St. John's quickly responded in the seventh inning with an RBI double by Higgins and a sacrifice fly from Paul Orbon to reclaim a seven-run edge. Jeremiah plated the Red Storm third baseman in the following at-bat, driving an RBI single to left before Ballestero's second sacrifice fly lifted the Johnnies to an 11-2 advantage.
The elder Orbon drove in another run in the eighth, swapping spots with Jimmy Keenan, who reached on a pinch-hit two-bagger, to take a double-digit lead. Paul also extended his reached base streak to 17 games with a 2-for-4 day at the plate.
The Red Storm piled on three more runs in the final frame as Jermaine White belted his first career home run down the right-field line, followed by a Jeremiah two-run double for a 15-2 Johnnies' advantage.
Despite allowing three in the ninth, freshman Tommy Finnegan earned his first career save with a three-frame outing, striking out four Bobcats before shutting the door for a 10-run victory.
With 15 runs on 21 hits on Saturday, the Johnnies have racked up 20 or more base knocks for the second time in three games.
Through three contests this week, the Red Storm is slashing .433/.506/.654 while averaging 15 tallies and 18.3 hits per game. On the bump, St. John's pitchers boast a 1.67 ERA to go with 29 strikeouts through 27.0 frames.
St. John's will look to sweep the series when Quinnipiac returns to Queens on Sunday for a 1 p.m. showdown at Jack Kaiser Stadium.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Mascio, Joe (3-1)
L: Blaisdell, Tim (0-4)
S: Finnegan, Tommy (1)
Batting:
2B: Keenan, Jimmy 1 ; Higgins, Marty 1 ; Orbon, Paul 2 ; Jeremiah, Jace 1 ; Tucker, Jackson 1
HR: White, Jermaine 1 ; Mann, Aaron 1 ; Higgins, Marty 1
RBI: Ballestero, Tate 2 ; Orbon, Luke 2 ; White, Jermaine 1 ; Mann, Aaron 1 ; Higgins, Marty 3 ; Orbon, Paul 2 ; Jeremiah, Jace 3 ; Tucker, Jackson 1
SF: Ballestero, Tate 2 ; Orbon, Luke 1 ; Orbon, Paul 1
Base Running:
RUNS: White, Jermaine 1 ; Mann, Aaron 2 ; Machado, Austin 2 ; Keenan, Jimmy 2 ; Higgins, Marty 2 ; Mayberry, Blake 1 ; Orbon, Paul 1 ; Jeremiah, Jace 2 ; Tucker, Jackson 2
HBP: Beauchamp, Ben 1
Batting:
2B: Mueller, Sebastian 1
RBI: Donofrio, Anthony 1 ; Heitzman, John 1 ; Swenson, Sean 2 ; O'Connor, Keegan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Zimbardo, Jared 1 ; Donofrio, Anthony 1 ; Mueller, Sebastian 2 ; Heitzman, John 1
SB: Zimbardo, Jared 1
CS: Tuffy, McGwire 1 ; Smith, Christian 1
