St. John’s baseball continued their stellar play of late, knocking off Albany on March 15 to win their sixth contest in the last seven. The Red Storm (6-8) held off an Albany (2-8) rally late in the game in their home opener for the 2007 season.

Pitcher George Brown recorded the win for St. John’s, moving to 1-0 on the season and remaining undefeated in eight decisions in his career while recording three strikeouts and just three hits over five innings. The Red Storm were also led by Brendan Monaghan, who ignited the offense with two hits, a stolen base and a run scored.

After three innings of tightly played ball, St. John’s broke the ice with four runs in the fourth inning. The Red Storm took advantage of a pitching change by Albany, who surprisingly replaced Cory Warrings though he appeared to be cruising through the St. John’s lineup, allowing just two hits over three shutout innings.

St. John’s pounded reliever Marco Rivera, with consecutive singles by Gil Zayas, Anthony Smith, and Monaghan, who plated Zayas and Smith with his base hit. Monaghan came across after a fielding error by Albany, and after Chris Annios drew a base on balls, he scored off a bunt single by Brian Kemp after a series of errors and passed balls by the Great Danes.

Albany returned the favor in the top of the sixth, digging into the St. John’s bullpen to score three runs, narrowing the deficit to only one. After the Red Storm added an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh to bring their lead to two runs, Albany threatened to take the game in the top of the eighth. The Great Danes scored a run and loaded the bases with just one out, forcing the Red Storm to go to the bullpen to bring in reliever Colin Lynch. Lynch came through in the clutch, striking out Mike Konstanty and getting Phil Marchese to fly out to center.
Lynch recorded two strikeouts in the top of the ninth to secure his third win of the season and the St. John’s victory.

Notes
?? The Red Storm was snowed out for two games against Quinnipiac on March 17 and 18, and against Temple on March 21.

?? Gil Zayas is currently boasting a 10-game hitting streak, dating back to Feb. 24 against Duke.

?? Ryan Mahoney looks to continue his powerful hitting, as he recorded five home runs in the opening seven games of the season.

?? St. John’s will be back in action for a three-game stand at conference foe Connecticut from March 23 to March 25.