St. John’s Swept by Liberty in Season-Opening Doubleheader

Friday, February 14

Lynchburg, Va. (Liberty Baseball Stadium)

12 p.m.

St. John's University

0-1

Liberty

1-0

St. John's

Liberty

St. John’s Swept by Liberty in Season-Opening Doubleheader

2/14/2025 7:26:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Box Score (Game 1)Box Score (Game 2)

Sean Britt recorded a career-high two hits in game two of Friday’s doubleheader

LYNCHBURG, Va. – The St. John's baseball team (0-2) dropped both of its contests in its season-opening doubleheader against Liberty on Friday at Liberty Baseball Stadium in Lynchburg, Va.

Game 1: Liberty 12, St. John's 3

St. John's fell to Liberty, 12-3, in the first game of Friday's doubleheader. The Flames took the lead in the first inning and never looked back in the season-opening contest.

Dylan Johnson made his first appearance since the 2023 season, allowing only one run on four hits and a walk with two strikeouts in three innings of work.

Ithaca College transfer Conor Burns appeared in his first contest with the Johnnies, earning just one run on three hits to go along with three punchouts across two innings of relief.

Cristian Bernardini and Luke Orbon each tallied an RBI, while Anthony Brienza reached base twice on a hit-by-pitch and a single.

Liberty struck first in the top of the first inning. The Flames took advantage of three consecutive no-out walks, as Nick Barone produced a two-RBI double down the left field line, going ahead 2-0. Liberty was able to add another two runs on an RBI groundout to second and a sacrifice fly to center, ending the first frame with a 4-0 lead.

The Flames tacked on four more runs in the home half of the second. Barone worked a walk to plate Tanner Marsh before Camden Troyer smacked a two-RBI single into right. Landon Scilley singled into left field, plating the Flames' fourth run of the inning to go ahead, 8-0.

After trading 1-2-3 sides in the third, Liberty added another run in the bottom of the fourth to lead, 9-0. Johnson worked himself out of a one-base runner jam, ringing up a flyout to Bernardini in left field and a ground ball to Brienza at second base to close out the inning.

The Flames picked up another two scores in the bottom of the sixth inning, bringing their advantage to 11.

The Red Storm put up a three-spot in the top of the eighth inning. Jayder Raifstanger whacked a single into center field before Chad Falcon was hit by a pitch, putting two runners on with no outs. Bernardini proceeded to launch a sacrifice fly into left, giving the Johnnies their first run of the day while Orbon singled into center field to bring pinch-runner Jace Jeremiah home. A wild pitch allowed Orbon to score, cutting the Red Storm's deficit down to eight, 11-3.

The Flames cruised through the final two frames, registering another run in the bottom of the eighth inning to win the first game of Friday's doubleheader, 12-3.

Game 2: Liberty 3, St. John's 0

Liberty struck first in the home half of the first inning and never surrendered its lead, despite being outhit by St. John's, 7-to-4, in the second game of Friday's doubleheader.

David Rodriguez dealt in his collegiate debut, only giving up one run on just one hit, while striking out three in five innings of work.

Towson transfer Sean Britt rang up a career-high two hits and threw a runner out that was attempting to steal second base in his first game with the Red Storm. Five Johnnies logged a hit in the team's doubleheader finale.

St. John's opened the second game of the doubleheader by threatening in the first inning. Jackson Tucker and Jared Beebe both singled through the right side, giving the Red Storm runners on first and second with one out. Liberty starting pitcher Ben Blair was able to get out of the jam, striking out the following two batters to flip the side.

The Flames opened up the scoring in the bottom of the first, with a Jaxson Sorenson RBI-double to grab an early 1-0 edge. Liberty was able to produce back-to-back walks with two outs, juicing the bases, but Rodriguez was able to generate a flyout to center, ending the inning.

With the first swing of his St. John's tenure, Britt singled through the left side before Brienza walked on a nine-pitch at-bat, giving the Johnnies' runners on first and second for the second-straight frame. Blair got himself out of trouble in the second inning, tossing his sixth strikeout to retire the frame.

After three scoreless innings, Adam Agresti singled and Raifstanger walked in the away half of the sixth, giving the Red Storm runners on first and second for the third time in the contest. Blair was able to get out of the inning yet again, hurling his 11^th strikeout of the contest past Bernardini.

The Flames went up 2-0 in the bottom of the sixth, following a Troyer home run to right field in the first at-bat of the inning. Louis Marinaro settled back in after giving up the run, engineering a groundout and two strikeouts to flip the frame.

Britt opened the top half of the seventh with a bunt down the third baseline and was able to advance to second after a sacrifice bunt from Jon LeGrande. Relief pitcher Caleb Lingenfelter found back-to-back outs for Liberty, retiring the side and sending the game to the seventh-inning stretch.

The Flames logged another run in the bottom of the eighth, extending their lead to 3-0.

Falcon notched a pinch-hit single up the middle, attempting to spark a ninth-inning rally but Liberty held on, finding the final two outs of the game to earn a 3-0 victory and sweep the doubleheader.

The Red Storm will be back in action on Sunday at 1 p.m. to close out its three-game series with the Flames at Liberty Baseball Stadium in Lynchburg, Va.