The weather this weekend was a mirror of the St. John’s baseball season so far—hot, and then cold, with no knowledge of what could be coming next. The Red Storm entered the weekend by hosting their first in-conference series, a three game set with the Seton Hall Pirates (12-20).
The Johnnies still have six more out-of-conference games, but hold a 12-13 non conference record, a drop-off from their 14-7 total in 2024.
St. John’s opened the series with a dominant 13-0 victory, shutting down the Pirates behind a stellar performance from freshman starting pitcher David Rodriguez. The right-hander went for six and two-thirds innings, allowing two hits and no runs, while the bullpen gave up just one hit over the final two frames.
Senior first baseman Jared Beebe led the Red Storm offense, going four-for-five with three doubles and two RBIs, raising his batting average to .307. Junior outfielder Jon LeGrande added a three-for-four day with a double, three RBIs and two stolen bases.
Freshman catcher Adam Agresti opened the floodgates in the sixth inning with a home run to left field, his team-leading fifth of the season. St. John’s went on to score five more runs in the inning, with contributions throughout the lineup.
Saturday’s weather shifted dramatically with April showers canceling Game 2, which forced the teams into a Sunday doubleheader to close the series.
St. John’s picked up where they left off, earning a 3-2 win in Game 1 of the doubleheader.
Seton Hall opened the scoring in the first inning on a passed ball, but sophomore starter Evan Chaffee worked out of a jam.
The Red Storm responded in the bottom of the inning, plating three runs on back-to-back fielder’s choices from Will Cowan and Sean Britt.
Freshman right-hander Evan Hoeckele entered in relief of Chaffee in the fourth, inheriting a bases-loaded, no-out situation. After allowing a groundout RBI, Hoeckele struck out the next two batters to escape with the lead intact.
Hoeckele continued to dominate, pitching into the seventh without allowing a run and finishing with six strikeouts. His outing ended after a sharp line drive single by Aiden Robbins.
Senior closer Sam Mettert closed out the shortened seven-inning game, inducing a double play fielded by senior Luke Orbon to shut down a potential tying run.
The second game of the doubleheader was a back-and-forth battle, with St. John’s securing a 5-4 win in a contest that lasted over three hours.
The Pirates struck first in the third inning when sophomore outfielder AJ Soldra ripped a ball into left-center for a triple and he later scored on a wild throw to third base.
In the fourth, Seton Hall starter Steven Svenson hit three straight batters. With two outs, Jackson Tucker hit a grounder to shortstop that was mishandled, allowing the tying run to score.
In the fifth, Shaun McMillan, who finished three-for-four with two RBIs, launched his second hit of the day over the center-field fence for his fifth home run of the season, giving St. John’s a 3-1 lead.
The Pirates tied the game in the eighth on a sacrifice fly from Robbins. But in the bottom half, Orbon led off with a double, and LeGrande followed with a sacrifice fly to tie it.
Down to their final out, the Red Storm walked it off when Agresti roped a game-winning hit over the center fielder’s head, securing the series sweep for St. John’s.
The Red Storm then followed this series win with a convincing 8-3 victory against Iona. This weekend in-conference play continues as another home series is in store for St. John’s, this time against Xavier.
