St. John’s Closes 2024 Slate Against Mississippi State in Charlottesville Regional

Sunday, June 2

Charlottesville, Va. (Ted Davenport Field at Disharoon Park)

12 p.m.

St. John's University

38-18-1

Mississippi State

40-22

Mississippi St.

St. John's (NY)

St. John’s Closes 2024 Slate Against Mississippi State in Charlottesville Regional

6/2/2024 4:51:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

The Red Storm finished with a 38-18-1 record to go with its 38th NCAA Tournament appearance

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The St. John's baseball team (38-18-1) saw its 2024 campaign come to a close as the Red Storm dropped to Mississippi State, 13-5, at the Charlottesville Regional on Sunday afternoon.

Eight of the Red Storm's nine starters logged a hit against the Bulldogs (40-22). Paul Orbon logged a team-best three hits in Sunday's setback to go with a run scored and an RBI. Third baseman Blake Mayberry also smacked a pair of base knocks.

The Johnnies found themselves in trouble with one out and runners on the corners in the opening frame but settled in and forced Hunter Hines into a 4-3 double play to end the frame. The Red Storm posed a threat of their own in the home half of the first, seeing Ben Beauchamp draw a walk and Mayberry legging out an infield single. Mississippi State returned the favor as Brooks Auger worked out of the jam to keep the game scoreless through one frame.

After a blank second stanza, the Bulldogs pushed four runs across in the third inning and two more in the fourth to take a 6-0 lead.

The Johnnies chipped away at their deficit in the bottom of the fourth, punching two runs across. Jimmy Keenan roped a one-out double into the left-field corner before trading places with Orbon on an RBI two-bagger into left-center. Two pitches later, Cristian Bernardini, who made his first career NCAA Tournament start, smacked an RBI single up the middle to pull the Red Storm within two, 6-2.

St. John's continued to battle back in the fifth inning, putting another two-spot on the board and capitalizing on a pair of Mississippi State errors. Anthony Brienza reached on an error before moving to second a Beauchamp base on balls. The duo broke for a double steal on a 3-2 pitch to Mayberry and saw Bulldogs' catcher Joe Powell throw his attempt into left field, allowing Brienza to cross home plate. In the ensuing at-bat, Powell mishandled a pitch from Cam Schuelke and, upon official review, Beauchamp evaded a tag at the dish to slash the Johnnies' lead in half, 6-4.

Mississippi State doubled its advantage with one swing in the sixth, having David Mershon hit a two-run homer to left and claiming an 8-4 edge. The Bulldogs added two more in the eighth to take a six-run lead.

The Red Storm managed to add one run in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI base knock from Luke Orbon, slashing the deficit in half, 10-5. However, the Bulldogs posted three more runs in the ninth before closing out the game and securing an eight-run victory to advance to the Regional Final

St. John's closed its best season under Head Coach Mike Hampton and the reigning BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year with 38 wins in 2024, including the program's highest ranked win in the regular season over No. 2 Florida. The Red Storm returned atop the conference with its league-leading 10th BIG EAST Tournament Championship. The Johnnies went on to earn its 38^th NCAA Tournament appearance and secure its first victory in the national postseason slate since 2018.