A weekend of rough weather proved no challenge for the St. John’s baseball team as they completed a three-game sweep over the Xavier Musketeers. The Red Storm entered the series hot after a sweep of Seton Hall and beating Iona. Xavier entered the series sweeping Butler at home.
St. John’s would take Game 1 of the series in a 10-inning walk-off win 6-5.
After a two-hour rain delay, freshman pitcher David Rodriguez took the mound for the Red Storm, making his eighth start of the season and Ben Weber made his sixth start of the year for the Musketeers.
Junior outfielder Jon LeGrande would be a top performer for the Red Storm in Game 1, collecting four RBIs on three hits, including the walk-off home run in the tenth inning. He scored the Johnnies’ first three runs on a single in the second to score Luke Orbon and a single in the fourth to score both Orbon and Adam Agresti.
Game 2 would be another rainy afternoon shootout, with the Red Storm winning 8-6.
Redshirt sophomore Evan Chaffee made his eighth start of the year for St. John’s and Ryan Piech took the mound for the Musketeers.
Both teams exchanged leads multiple times throughout the game. Xavier took an early two-run lead in the first, which would be erased in the bottom of the second by a wild pitch and an RBI one-out ground-out from Jayder Raifstanger.
Neither team scored until the top of the fifth until a walk from Jason Jelic and two singles from Jake Lambdin and Carter Hendrickson loaded the bases for first baseman Connor Misch. The junior would cash in two of the runners on a single past Jace Jeremiah at second base to give the Musketeers a 4-3 lead.
The Johnnies would controversially take the lead back in the bottom of the sixth. Three walks from Xavier pitcher Ashton Chronister loaded the bases with two outs for Raifstanger. During his at-bat, in a 1-2 count, the Musketeers made a pitching change, bringing in Jack Nobe to try and finish the sophomore third baseman.
After a series of foul balls, Nobe threw a 2-2 changeup that looked like a strike to end the inning but was not given by the home plate umpire, Warren Nicholson. Raifstanger would clear the bases on the next pitch, doubling to the gap in right-center field to lead 6-4.
After exchanging blows in the seventh, St. John’s would secure an 8-6 win. Graduate pitcher Jed Boyle entered the game in the ninth to pitch for the second day in a row and earn his second save of the season.
The Red Storm would secure the sweep in game three with a decisive 13-4 win. Freshman pitcher Victor Frederick made his fifth start of the year for St. Johns. Starting for Xavier was senior Luke Hoskins, who was also making his fifth start.
The St. John’s offense got to work quickly in the series finale, scoring nine runs on 14 hits in the first three innings.
Freshman Shaun McMillan brought in four RBIs on four hits, including a two-RBI double in the second inning to give the Johnnies a 5-3 lead.
Red Storm pitching had a strong performance, racking up nine strikeouts and only allowing four runs on six hits and four walks. Frederick earned his second win of the year in the five-inning outing, striking out six Musketeers.
The series sweep keeps the seven-game win streak alive, and the Johnnies remain undefeated in Big East play. They will play a one-off mid-week game on Tuesday against Hofstra at home, then travel to Omaha for a weekend series at Creighton.
