Baseball Falls to St. John's, 14-7, in Non-Conference Action

Courtesy: UAlbany Sports Information

Queens, N.Y. – Shortstop Joe Panik went 4-for-4 with three runs scored to lead St. John’s to a 14-7 win over UAlbany in non-conference baseball action on Sunday afternoon at Jack Kaiser Stadium.

UAlbany scored first with a single run in the top of the second. Mike Tirri knocked a single to third base, and advanced to third on a double by Adam Cutspec. Tirri was driven home on a sacrifice fly by Joe Ilacqua, giving the Great Danes the early lead. St. John’s responded with four runs in the bottom half of the inning. Tim Morris had a lead off double and scored on an RBI single by Greg Hopkins. Gino Matias drove in Hopkins and Joe Witkowski with a base hit, and crossed home plate on a ground out by Brian Kemp. Left hander Cory Warrings induced a ground out by Jimmy Parque to end the scoring rally.

The Red Storm added three runs in both the fourth and fifth innings to take a 10-1 lead. UAlbany scored two in sixth to attempt a comeback, starting with a lead off homer by Gary Pitcheralle. Dave West singled to left and was driven home by a sacrifice fly by Kyle Crean later in the inning. However, St. John’s added another run in the bottom of the frame on an RBI single by Hopkins to score Morris.

The Red Storm scored once more in the seventh, as Parque was sent home on a base hit by Kevin Watkins. UAlbany then responded with two runs in the top of the eighth. Pitcheralle was hit by a pitch and then stole second to move into scoring position. West reached on a fielding error by St. John’s, which advanced Pitcheralle to third. Brendan Rowland grounded out to the third baseman, which allowed Pitcheralle to score. Kyle Crean drove a double to right field to send West home, before Steve Forster struck Tirri out swinging to end the inning.

St. John’s added two runs in the bottom of the frame, with Joe Panik and Josh Tutwiler crossing home plate. UAlbany attempted a late rally in the top of the ninth, scoring two runs behind a lead off walk by Adam Cutspec.Jamie Liebowitz recorded a double before pinch hitter Pete Diresta drew a walk of Red Storm pitcher Nick Cenatiempo to load the bases. West hit a sacrifice fly to score Cutspec and Liebowitz.

Warrlings took the loss for UAlbany, striking out one over 3.1 innings. St. John’s Brendan Lobban earned the win, fanning five and allowing three earned runs in six innings of work.

UAlbany (2-10) will return to action next weekend, traveling to UNC Greensboro for a three-game series.

-agate-

UAlbany 010 002 022 - 7 8 4

St. John’s 040 331 12x - 14 21 3

UAlbany: Cory Warrings, Jeff Kaier (4), Chris Hackett (5), Travis Wilson (6), Chris Ott (7), Mike Baltera (8) and Ryan Gugel, Ralph Keppler (7).

St. John’s: Brendan Lobban, Steve Forster (7), Nick Cenatiempo (9) and Josh Tutweiler.