St. John’s Sweeps Doubleheader Against Hofstra; Saturday's Game Moved to Sunday at Noon

Friday, March 8

Queens, N.Y. (Kaiser Stadium)

2 p.m.

St. John's University

6-4

Hofstra

4-7

Hofstra

St. John's

St. John’s Sweeps Doubleheader Against Hofstra; Saturday's Game Moved to Sunday at Noon

3/8/2024 8:30:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Box Score - Game 1 (PDF)Box Score - Game 2 (PDF)

Red Storm secures doubleheader sweep for first time since 2019

QUEENS, N.Y. – The St. John's baseball team earned its fourth straight win after sweeping its doubleheader with Hofstra at Jack Kaiser Stadium on Friday.

The two wins in Queens mark the Red Storm's first doubleheader sweep since March 24, 2019, when it took a pair of games from the same Pride team. St. John's is also 3-0 at The Jack for the first time since 2021 after winning seven consecutive games to open the season.

Mayberry shined against the Pride (4-8) with three RBIs and a pair of runs scored across two games on Friday. Jimmy Keenan also put forth a pair of multi-hit performances, going 4-for-8 at the dish with an RBI and two runs scored.

Game 1

The Johnnies edged out Hofstra, 3-2, in a two-hour, 20-minute affair in game one behind a stellar effort from Mayberry. The Red Storm third baseman went 2-for-4 at the dish with a pair of RBIs in the contest.

Kolhosser earned his third win of the season with his career-high 6.1 innings of work. The righty threw 102 pitches and surrendered just one run on six hits with one strikeout.

The Johnnies struck first in the bottom of the opening frame, getting singles from Jackson Tucker and Mayberry to put runners on the corners. Keenan took a 1-2 offering through the left side for an RBI single and a 1-0 St. John's lead.

Following an empty second inning, Hofstra evened the score on an RBI fielder's choice after Dylan Palmer denied the Red Storm of a double play and saw Michael Brown score from third for a 1-1 deadlock. The Johnnies logged the twin-killing on the very next pitch as Adam Agresti dove to his left, reeled in the liner and swiped first with his glove all in one motion to end the frame.

Kolhosser worked himself into a jam with runners on second and third and one out in the fourth inning. After the righty induced a shallow flyout to right and loaded the bases, Kolhosser forced Dom Camera into a 6-3 putout to end the Hofstra threat, keeping the score tied at one.

St. John's reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Mayberry unloaded on a 1-1 pitch and sent a towering 390-foot solo shot over the left-field wall to take a 2-1 edge.

Hofstra threatened again with the bases loaded and one out in the top of the seventh. Reliever Ben Adams worked his way out of the jam with a punchout to Alex McCoy before getting Steve Harrington to groundout to short.

Mayberry delivered again for the Red Storm in the bottom of the seventh frame. Following a two-out single from Luke Orbon, Mayberry turned on the first pitch he saw and laced an RBI double down the left-field line, giving St. John's a two-run cushion, 3-1.

Hofstra tacked on a run in the top of the eighth before Sam Mettert came on in the ninth and closed the door on game one. The Red Storm closer earned his third save of the year with a pair of strikeouts in the final frame to secure a 3-2 victory.

Game 2

Looking to beat the cold for the second-straight contest, the Red Storm dominated with its 10-1 victory against the Pride in a game that took even less time than game one (2:17).

Red Storm starter Evan Chaffee cruised through the first two innings, retiring the side in order having thrown 14 of his 21 pitches for strikes.

St. John's jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the home half of the second. After loading the bases on a pair of singles from Keenan and Beauchamp and a hit-by-pitch to Paul Orbon, Brienza slapped a 2-2 offering through the right side for a two-run base knock.

Chaffee allowed his first hit in the third. However, the Alabama transfer faced the minimum for the third-straight inning after inducing a double play.

Following a blank top of the fourth, the Johnnies put a three-spot on the board in the home half. Beauchamp singled to open the frame and advanced to third on a Paul Orbon double to left. Agresti smacked an RBI base knock the same way, knocking in Beauchamp for a 3-0 edge. The Red Storm added two more on a Scavelli sacrifice bunt and a Hofstra throwing error to go up five.

Hofstra broke up the shutout with one run in the fifth. First baseman Sean Lane singled to left and brought Luke Masiuk around to score, cutting the Pride's deficit to four, 5-1. Southpaw Louis Marinaro came on in relief with two outs and worked out of the bases-loaded threat to hold Hofstra to one run in the frame.

The elder Orbon struck in the bottom of the sixth, cranking a 2-0 pitch to deep left field for a leadoff solo shot and a five-run advantage, 6-1.

After allowing a double to start the seventh, Marinaro shut down the Pride lineup in order with a strikeout to both Lane and Palmer. The sophomore lefty finished his outing with 2.1 scoreless innings of work, surrendering only two hits.

The Johnnies poured it on with three ticks in the bottom of the seventh. St. John's loaded the bases after plunks to Mayberry and Beauchamp sandwiched a Keenan double into the left-field corner. Paul Orbon knocked in the first tally on an RBI groundout to second, followed by a two-run single from Agresti to give St. John's a 9-1 advantage.

Mayberry capitalized again in the eighth with an RBI single to center, bringing Brienza in from second and lifting the Red Storm to a nine-run lead.

Tim Cunningham closed out the game with two perfect innings of work, tallying two of his three strikeouts in the final frame. The righty punched out Tanner Sanderoff to secure the 10-1 victory.

Due to inclement weather on Saturday, St. John's and Hofstra will resume their series on Sunday afternoon. First pitch from Jack Kaiser Stadium is scheduled for noon.