St. John’s Secures Series with 6-3 Win at Xavier

Sunday, April 28

Cincinnati, Ohio (Hayden Field)

12 p.m.

St. John's University

27-11-1, 8-4

Xavier

22-22, 6-6

St. John's

Xavier

4/28/2024 3:21:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Anthony Brienza, Marty Higgins and Garrett Scavelli drove in all six runs on a combined eight hits

CINCINNATI, Ohio – The St. John's baseball team secured its third BIG EAST series of the season with a 6-3 victory at Xavier on Sunday. The Red Storm (27-11-1, 8-4) earned its first series win at the Musketeers (22-22, 6-6) since taking two of three games in late April 2018.

Garrett Scavelli bumped his reached base safely streak to 26 games with his solo home run in the third inning. The Franklin Square, N.Y., native finished the afternoon 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a pair of tallies.

Marty Higgins unloaded a 2-for-4 day at the dish with three RBIs. The Johnnies' first baseman belted his first career home run in BIG EAST play with a two-run shot in the fifth. Higgins' dinger was also his first of the 2024 campaign. Anthony Brienza joined Scavelli in the three-hit department, also driving in one run on the day.

Both teams went down 1-2-3 in the opening frame before Xavier took a 2-0 edge in the second stanza.

Scavelli retaliated in the top of the third, belting a 1-1 inside pitch over the high wall in left field to bring the Johnnies within one, 2-1.

The Red Storm continued to pester Xavier in the top of the fourth, posting a three-spot in the frame. St. John's put runners on second and third after a leadoff walk to Jimmy Keenan and Luke Orbon reached on an error. Following an RBI groundout by Higgins to tie the game, Scavelli painted the right-field line for a one-run single, lifting the Johnnies to a 3-2 lead. Brienza laced a 2-2 pitch into right-center in the ensuing at-bat and pushed the advantage to two, 4-2.

Starter Mario Pesca found himself in trouble with runners on first and second on a pair of free passes with no outs. The right-hander settled in and struck out Carter Hendrickson on three pitches, forced Jake Lambin to ground out to the mound and induced a 6-3 putout on Luke Hammond to get out of the jam.

The Red Storm pounced once again in the top of the fifth, adding two more runs to its total. Blake Mayberry ripped a leadoff double down the left-field line before Higgins belted a 1-1 offering deep to left for a 6-2 lead.

Louis Marinaro came on in relief for Pesca and kept the Musketeers off balance for 2.2 innings of work. The southpaw finished off the fifth inning and struck out all three batters he faced in the sixth to keep Xavier off the board. The sophomore finished his day with four total punchouts and just one hit allowed.

The Musketeers tacked on one run in the eighth inning to pull within three, 6-3, but the tandem of Tim Cunningham and Sam Mettert sealed the three-run victory. Mettert earned his fifth save of the season.

The Johnnies will return to Queens on Wednesday, taking on Iona in a 6 p.m. contest at Jack Kaiser Stadium.