St. John’s Falls to UConn on Friday

Friday, April 12

Storrs, Conn. (Elliot Ballpark)

6:05 p.m.

St. John's University

22-6-1, 0

UConn

15-16, 0

St. John's

Connecticut

4/12/2024 9:39:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Jackson Tucker goes 2-for-3 with two RBIs in game one setback

STORRS, Conn. – The St. John's baseball team (22-6-1, 3-1) saw its seven-game unbeaten streak snapped with an 11-4 setback to UConn (15-16, 3-1) inside Elliot Ballpark on Friday.

Outfielder Jackson Tucker logged two of the Red Storm's four hits on the evening, posting a double, a triple and two RBIs. Anthony Brienza also recorded an RBI against the Huskies while Aries Samek and Garrett Scavelli posted a single and a tally apiece.

The Johnnies quickly responded after going down 1-0 in the opening frame. St. John's rattled the Huskies in the top of the second, loading the bases on a pair of walks and a single to right from Samek. Jimmy Keenan scored on a wild pitch to knot the game at one before a bases-loaded walk to Brienza gave the Red Storm a 2-1 lead. Tucker, who tripled in the opening frame, bounced a double over the third baseman's head, knocking in two more runs for a 4-1 edge.

The Huskies did damage in the following two innings, seeing Maddix Dalena smack a two-run homer in the bottom of the second and Korey Morton do the same in the home half of the third to take a 5-4 advantage. Luke Broadhurst added a solo shot after Morton and the Huskies scored another on a Red Storm miscue to go up by three, 7-4, after three frames.

Reliever Louis Marinaro halted UConn's remaining threat in the third and forced three fly balls in the fourth to keep the Huskies at bay. The Johnnies' southpaw worked into the fifth, wrapping up his 2.1 innings of work allowing no hits and striking out a pair of Huskies. Tim Cunningham relieved Marinaro with two outs in the fifth and held UConn scoreless for the second-straight frame.

Dalena smacked two more home runs before the game ended, a solo homer in the seventh and a two-run home run in the eighth to go up seven, 11-4.

St. John's was held to just two hits over the final 7.2 frames as Huskies' reliever Ian Cooke kept the Johnnies off balance for his second win of the season.

The Johnnies will return to the diamond for game two against UConn on Saturday. First pitch from Elliot Ballpark is scheduled for 2:05 p.m.