After slumping to a losing record on the road, the Red Storm has won six in a row back at Jack Kaiser Stadium. They beat Fairfield 7-3 on Tuesday to improve to 9-10 on the season.
The Red Storm’s pitching shined, as three Johnnies combined for 16 strikeouts, eight by starter Alex Katz in four innings.
At the dish, slugger Matt Harris led the way with three hits and two runs driven to add to his team-leading 17 RBI on the season. Shortstop Jarred Mederos went 2-for-3 with two RBI of his own. Bret Dennis also had two hits and scored twice, raising his team-leading batting average to .478.
St. John’s managed to push across three runs in the first two innings on just one hit, and RBI single by freshman Troy Dixon.
They then blew the game open in the sixth, scoring four runs on five hits. After an error by Fairfield third baseman Dean Sadik, Harris hit a booming two run triple to make it 6-0. Mederos followed with a RBI of his own, making it 7-0.
Fairfield did manage to put three on the board in the seventh after an error and a two-run single by Jack Giannini. However, they would go no further, as reliever Joe Kuzia shut the door, striking out two to end the threat in the inning. He would close the game out, as he allowed just one hit and struck out four in two and two-third innings. Shawn Heide grabbed his second win of the season in relief.
St. John’s wraps up its ten-game home stand this week, facing off against LIU Brooklyn on Wednesday and hosting a three game series this weekend against James Madison at Jack Kaiser Stadium.
