The St. Johnís baseball team faced off against Big East rival UConn last weekend. The Red Storm took the first of two games on Saturday and fell to the Huskies on Sunday.
The Red Storm jumped to an early lead in their first game as Billy Graiser scored from third base on a ground out by Jeremy Winter.
In the third, with the bases loaded, Charlie Bilezikjian walked to bring in a run and Winterís fielderís choice brought in another.
The Red Stormís lead grew to 4-0 in the fifth when Asa Grunenwald scored from third on Bilezikjianís single to left-center.
The Huskies loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth and scored their first run after freshman pitcher Jim Wladyka hit Peter Soteropolous with a pitch. A two-run single gave the Huskies a boost as they scored five runs that inning to take the lead, 5-4.
The Red Storm came back strong in the sixth with five runs on five hits to retake the lead. They would end the game on top with a score of 10-6. Wladyka started the game, going 4.1 innings and allowing five runs on seven hits before being relieved. Graiser went 3 for 3 with three singles, three runs scored, an RBI and a stolen base while Bilezikjian hit three singles and drove in four runs.
Grunenwald went 3 for 3 with a double, two singles and three runs scored.
In the second game of the doubleheader, the Red Storm jumped to another early lead with Anthony DeRosa scoring from third on a ground out by Jason Kane.
The Huskies would come back in the bottom of the inning to score three runs and another in the second to take a 4-1 lead. A three-run third put the Red Storm right back in the game, tying the score at four.
The Huskies took over the game in the third as they added four runs in the inning. They would add three more runs in the fourth and two more in each the fifth and sixth opening the lead to 15-6. Although the Red Storm would rally in the later innings, the Huskies held on to win, 16-10.
DeRosa went 3 for 6 with a triple, double, single, three runs scored and an RBI. Jim Martin had a single and three RBI and Graiser went 3 for 5, with three singles, two runs scored and two RBI.
The Red Storm again fell to the Huskies on Sunday for the last game of the series. They scored three runs early in the game to take the lead.
The Red Storm scored their only run in the sixth with Bilezikjian hitting one over the fence for his 11th home run of the season. The Huskies would add a pair of runs in the seventh to pad their lead, 5-1.
The Red Storm had chances late in the game but could run bring the runners home.
The weekend series leaves the Red Storm 21-17 overall and 9-8 in the Big East. The Red Storm returns to action on on Thursday, hosting Iona at 7 p.m.
