St. John’s Edges Columbia, 7-5, on the Road

Tuesday, May 2

New York, N.Y. (Robertson Field at Satow Stadium)

1 p.m.

St. John's University

21-21

Columbia

23-17

St. John's

Columbia

5/2/2023 5:09:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Red Storm earns first win at Robertson Field at Satow Stadium since 2009

NEW YORK – For the first time in 14 years, the St. John's baseball team took down host Columbia, 7-5, inside Robinson Field at Satow Stadium on Tuesday.

Infielder Marty Higgins rattled off three hits and a trio of RBIs, two of which came via the long ball with his fourth home run of the season. The Nutley, N.J., native tallied two runs on the afternoon.

Fellow corner infielder Aaron Mann posted a pair of base knocks for his 20^th multi-hit game of the year, adding two runs to his final line. Austin Machado continued to find his way on base, drawing three walks and registering his third dinger of 2023 in four plate appearances.

The Red Storm (21-21) tamed the Lions (23-17) on the road for the first time since its 2-1 victory on March 24, 2009, a game that saw former St. John's standout Joe Panik score the first run and Matt Wessinger turn an unassisted double play to end the game. The Johnnies also won its third straight contest against Columbia since 2019.

Neither team had much offense going through the first three innings, combining for four hits over that span.

St. John's broke through in the fourth with four-spot on the board. Following a Mann leadoff single, the Johnnies capitalized on three straight offerings from Lions' starter Griffin Palfrey. Machado smashed an 0-2 pitch deep to right for a two-run shot. After Keenan roped a single in the same direction on the next pitch, Higgins ripped the first offering he saw to dead center for another two-run homer and a 4-0 lead.

In the fifth, St. John's tacked on another tally with a Ballestero RBI single, bringing Glancy around to score, who reached on his second double of the game.

With a five-run deficit, Columbia battled back in the home half of the inning with a three-spot for a 5-3 mark through five frames.

The Lions continued to pressure the Johnnies, tacking on another run in the sixth and pulling within one, 5-4. Right fielder Jackson Tucker prevented the tying tally from scoring when he threw a perfect strike to third and Marty Higgins placed the tag Columbia's Cole Hage before Mike Decker crossed home plate.

CU completed the comeback in the bottom of the seventh with an RBI fielder's choice, knotting the game at five.

St. John's jumped ahead in the eighth, putting two on the board behind an RBI single from Higgins and a Columbia miscue that scored Jimmy Keenan from third for a 7-5 edge.

The Red Storm's Ben Adams shut down the Lions in the eighth with a pair of strikeouts. The Ontario, Canada native has not allowed an earned run in five straight games and has tallied at least one punchout in each of his last 10 appearances.

Closer Chuck Sanzio earned his fourth save of the year after allowing a leadoff triple and retiring the next three batters for the two-run victory.

The Johnnies return to Jack Kaiser Stadium on Wednesday when they take on Iona in a 6 p.m. contest. Right-hander Andrew Castelluccio is slated to toe the slab for the Red Storm.