Five-Run Seventh Lifts St. John’s to 8-6 Victory over Xavier

Friday, May 12

Queens, N.Y. (Kaiser Stadium)

6 p.m.

St. John's University

25-23, 0

Xavier

30-20, 0

Xavier

St. John's

Five-Run Seventh Lifts St. John’s to 8-6 Victory over Xavier

5/12/2023 9:11:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Aaron Mann logs fourth-straight multi-RBI game, post three RBIs on Friday

QUEENS, N.Y. – A five-run seventh inning propelled the St. John's baseball team to an 8-6 triumph over Xavier at Jack Kaiser Stadium on Friday evening.

Graduate student Aaron Mann jumped out to a four-game multi-RBI streak with a 2-for-4 day at the dish, knocking in a game-best three RBIs to go with two runs scored. The Little Rock, Ark., native also logged his team-leading 22^nd multi-hit game of the season.

Jimmy Keenan and Luke Orbon also put forth valiant efforts at the dish, driving in two runs apiece. Fellow underclassman Austin Machado also touched home plate on two occasions.

After both teams were held off the board through the first two frames, the Musketeers (30-20, 11-5 BIG EAST) snapped the scoreless tie in the third with a two-run shot from Matthew Deprey.

David Glancy broke up Ethan Bosacker's perfect game in the bottom of the fourth, ripping a single up the middle to extend his reached base streak to 20 games before Machado drew a walk to put runners on first and second with one out. Mann found a hole up the middle to bring Glancy around on an RBI single. With Machado moving to third on the previous play, Ballestero lined a single to right, knotting the game at two. The Johnnies added one more run on a bases-loaded walk to Luke Orbon for a 3-2 advantage through four innings.

Despite allowing those two runs, starter Joe Mascio settled in over the next three frames, providing a solid outing for the Red Storm. The Sewell, N.J., native allowed at least one runner in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, but managed to strand them all on base. In his six-plus frames of work, Mascio tossed 112 pitches and struck out five batters.

The Johnnies could not stave off the Musketeers in the seventh, seeing the visitors post three runs on two hits to take a 5-3 edge.

However, St. John's did not go down quietly, loading the bases in the bottom of the seventh on a single from Jace Jeremiah, Jackson Tucker taking a 2-2 pitch off the arm and Machado drawing an eight-pitch walk. Once again, Mann squeaked a two-run double just inside the right-field line to deadlock the game at five. Following a walk to Ballestero to re-load the bases, Keenan took a 1-1 offering to shallow left, plating two more on the base knock for a 7-5 edge. The Johnnies added another run two pitches later when Orbon sent a single back up the middle for an 8-5 edge.

Xavier knocked in one tally in the top of the eighth on an RBI groundout to second, pulling within two, 8-6. St. John's proved to be too much for the Musketeers as sophomore Jake Alfaro came on in the ninth and retired the side in seven pitches, earning his first save of the season to pick up the 8-6 victory.

The Red Storm will return to Jack Kaiser Stadium on Saturday, taking on Xavier in a 3 p.m. tilt.