The St. John’s baseball team dropped their third consecutive game Sunday by a score of 7-5 to Texas Tech, failing to secure a victory in their first weekend of play for the 2007 season at the Midland College Classic. For the second game in a row, the Red Storm ran into trouble in the eighth inning, allowing Texas Tech to score two runs to ultimately secure the game.
“We’re at a disadvantage,” said coach Ed Blankmeyer, citing the cold New York weather as a culprit for his team’s rust.
The Red Storm out-hit Texas, with major contributions coming from Brendan Monaghan and Ryan Mahoney, who combined for all of the St. John’s RBI.
The contest got off to a quick start as both teams scored four runs in the first inning. Texas Tech took the lead in the third inning and extended it in the eighth with two unearned runs. St. John’s threatened in the top of the ninth after scoring one and loading the bases but Mahoney was unable to capitalize, striking out to Collin Auten.
Texas Tech 10, St. John’s 6
St. John’s lost their second game of a double-header Saturday to Texas Tech after allowing the Red Raiders to score four runs in the eighth inning as Tech won their fifth straight game.
Freshmen Daniel Rose and Jose Iglesias made their first career starts, going 2-4 and 1-4, respectively. Sophomore pitcher Scott Barnes got a no-decision in his first outing of the season, pitching five innings with three strike outs and three runs allowed.
After plating two runs in the bottom of the second, St. John’s came out flying in the top of the fifth, scoring five runs on five hits. But Texas Tech kept chipping away, scoring one run in the bottom of the inning and three in the bottom of the sixth to take a 6-5 lead. After the Red Storm tied the game at six in the top of the eighth, Tech put it away in the bottom of the inning with four more runs, taking the lead 10-6 in what would become the final score.
Dallas Baptist 10, St. John’s 9
The Red Storm fell in their opening game of the season in 14 innings to Dallas Baptist in the first game of a double-header on Saturday. Sam DeLuca led St. John’s with three hits and came across for the tying run in the bottom of the ninth inning.
St. John’s came out to a hot start, scoring five runs in the first inning and one in the third to take a 6-2 lead. But Baptist was relentless, scoring runs in the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth innings and adding one in the eighth to lead 9-7.
It was then the Red Storm’s turn to fight back, plating one run in the eight and ninth inning to tie the game at 9. After four scoreless innings, Baptist broke through in the top of the 14th on an RBI double by Austin Knight. St. John’s was unable to generate any offense in the bottom of the 14th to drop their first game of the season.
