Another series win for St. John’s baseball over the Villanova Wildcats secures their spot in the Big East Tournament. The defending Big East champions will compete for the conference title for the second year in a row, as well as the second time in six years under Head Coach Mike Hampton.
After being postponed from Friday due to inclement weather, Game 1 ended in a 7-5 victory for Villanova.
Redshirt sophomore pitcher Evan Chaffee started in the series opener for the Johnnies. In his 12th start of the year, the Hamburg, N.Y. native pitched five innings, allowing four runs on four hits and four walks.
Graduate student Luke McCollough also made his 12th appearance of the season. He would pitch seven innings, allowing four runs, three earned, on seven hits and three walks.
St. John’s took the lead early, scoring four runs in the first two innings. This was led by an Anthony Brienza RBI triple for his 100th career hit. This would quickly be matched by the Wildcats, who scored four runs of their own in the third and fourth innings.
A two-run homer from JoJo Montgomery would bring the score level in the fourth frame. Villanova would take the lead in the sixth, stringing together walks and base hits to score three runs.
The St. John’s bats were a problem in Game 1. Despite scoring four early, they failed to produce a base runner between the fifth and eighth innings.
Game 2 would tell a different story, with the Red Storm coming back to win 15-1.
Taking the mound for the Johnnies was freshman Victor Frederick, picking up a win, pitching five scoreless innings with six strikeouts, two walks and three hits. Sophomore Jake Francis made the start for Villanova. He would struggle in the doubleheader finale, allowing 10 runs, seven earned, on 11 hits in just three innings of work.
St. John’s wasted no time getting on the board again, scoring nine runs in the first inning. The offense was led by catcher Sean Britt, who hit a grand slam into the bullpens. The scoring would continue with another extra base hit from Jon LeGrande after the center fielder, Connor Hale, lost the ball in the sun, allowing Luke Orbon to score from third.
The Johnnies would continue their scoring; putting up six runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. This sequence would be highlighted by Will Cowan, who blasted a two-run homer to dead center for his fourth of the year.
St. John’s would complete the series win, as well as clinch their Big East playoff spot in Game 3 with a 6-3 win.
Chris Batuyios picked up the win for the Johnnies, pitching five innings with three strikeouts, giving up only one run on one hit. Graduate student Bobby Olsen claimed a loss for the Wildcats, pitching only two innings and allowing five runs on five hits and three walks.
Following along with the first two games, the Red Storm put up runs early, scoring five in the first three innings.
Jared Beebe opened the scoring with a three-run home run following walks from Jackson Tucker and Jayder Raifstanger. The next two runs would come in from a single and a sacrifice fly from Tucker and Orbon.
The score stayed the same until the eighth, when Beebe came in to score on a wild pitch. Villanova would score two consolation runs in the bottom of the ninth on a double from Collin Quintano. Jed Boyle would make the next three batters fly out to secure the win.
The Johnnies will end their regular season in Indianapolis for a three-game series against Butler. Following this series, they will travel to Mason, Ohio to defend the Big East title.
