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College Round-up: St. John’s softball salvages split with Seton Hall


In the…

By Dylan Butler

After not being able to produce any offense in a 2-0 loss in game one of a doubleheader at Seton Hall Saturday, the Red Storm softball team exploded for 14 runs on 14 hits in the nightcap, crushing the Pirates, 14-5, and splitting the double dip.

In the first game, St. John’s (22-23, 4-6) could not solve Pirates senior pitcher Misty Beaver, who pitched a perfect game in Seton Hall’s 2-0 win. She fanned 12 in her first career perfect game and was named Big East pitcher of the week for the fourth time in her career.

Seton Hall (18-9, 6-4) broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the third when McKenzie Richards led off with a double to left-center field. Richards came around to score on a pair of wild pitches by St. John’s sophomore Courtney Fitzgerald to put the Pirates ahead, 1-0.

The Pirates added an insurance run in the sixth inning when Mary Carroll Smith scored from third on a delayed double steal. Vickie Lamb was nailed at second by Lisa Tropea to end the inning.

Fitzgerald fell to 11-11. The Bellerose native scattered five hits, while striking out three with no walks.

In the nightcap, the Red Storm, a team batting .187 in Big East games, exploded for 14 runs on 14 hits to cruise to a 14-5 romp.

Seton Hall took a 2-0 lead in the first inning, but the Red Storm answered with a three-run third inning, courtesy of Alesha Argeras’ three-run home run over the left-center field fence.

After taking a 4-2 lead on a Seton Hall error in the third inning, the Red Storm broke the game open with five runs in the fifth inning on four hits and three Pirates’ errors to take a 9-2 lead.

Smith followed her solo home run in the first inning with a two-run dinger to cut the deficit to 9-4.

But after a scoreless sixth inning, the Red Storm had another five-run inning to take a 14-4 lead in the top of the seventh inning. Tropea highlighted the inning with an RBI-double to left.

Senior Gina Calabrese picked up her 11th win of the year, giving up four runs on six hits in four innings. She struck out three and walked one. Fitzgerald entered the game in the fifth inning and allowed one run on four hits with three strikeouts in three innings of relief work.

Amy Crook went 3-for-3 with two RBIs and three runs scored, Argeras went 2-for-5 with a single and her second home run of the year and Jessica Shepperd and Jessica Dima each had two RBIs in the rout.

After non-league games against Iona and Marist, the Red Storm return to Big East play with weekend doubleheaders at Rutgers (17-14, 3-5) and Villanova (27-3, 8-0).

Queensborough CC sweeps Westchester CC. Former Bayside star Jamie Blandeburgo tossed a three-hitter for the Tigers in a 9-2 win in the front end of a double header Saturday. Pat Martinez went 2-for-4 with three RBIs for Queensborough (3-0, 3-0 Region XV) in a 21-11 win in the nightcap.

Blandeburgo went the distance, striking out 11 in a 10-8, nine-inning win over Suffolk-West last Thursday. Kim Moy’s two-out, two-run single sealed the win for the Tigers in the top of the ninth.

SJU Tennis qualifies for Big East Tournament

Following the team’s first win over Army in five years, the St. John’s men’s tennis team received a bid to the six-team Big East championships to be held this weekend in Coral Gables, Fla.

The Red Storm (9-6, 4-2) garnered the No. 5 seed and will face fourth-seeded Rutgers Friday at 9 a.m. The winner advances to face top-seeded Notre Dame Saturday. St. John’s lone conference losses came against Rutgers and West Virginia.

In addition to St. John’s, Rutgers and Notre Dame, No. 2 Miami, No. 3 Virginia Tech and sixth-seeded Boston College round out the field.

The Big East committee selected the six teams based on three criteria: national ranking, head-to-head Big East competition and record vs. common opponents.

The three-day event will take place at the Neil Schiff Tennis Complex on the campus of the University of Miami. The winner receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

St. John’s finished third in last year’s Big East Tournament behind nationally ranked Miami and Notre Dame.    

Red Storm’s Bilezikjian garners conference honors

St. John’s junior centerfielder Charlie Bilezikjian was named co-Big East Player of the Week along with Notre Dame shortstop Alex Porzel, the conference announced Monday.

Bilezikjian batted .421 (8-for-19) with two doubles, two triples, two home runs, four RBIs and five runs scored in the Red Storm’s 5-0 week. He also picked up two conference wins, pitching 4.1 innings of relief in wins over West Virginia and Pittsburgh and in a 10-9 win over the Panthers Sunday, he was a single short of hitting for the cycle.

Baseball

Condordia 7-11-7, Queens 5-3-8. After kicking off the three-game weekend set against Concordia with an 8-7 come-from-behind win Friday, the Knights dropped Saturday’s twin bill by 11-3 and 7-5 margin, dropping the Knights season record to 9-13 overall and 8-6 in conference play.

In the team’s lone win, the Knights rallied from a 7-4 deficit in the seventh inning, starting with Peter Cavouto’s solo dinger and three two-out run, including a Vic Pantopoulos’ two-run double, scoring Vic Lara for the winning run.

Men’s Golf

NYU defeats Queens College. Joe Devenuta shot a 6-over-par 78 for NYU (9-1), which shot 323 overall. The Knights shot 353.

Reach Associate Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail at TimesLedgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 143.