Feb. 24, 2008

Box Score

ROCK HILL, S.C. - Head baseball coach Ed Blankmeyer notched his 400th career victory and Scott Barnes (1-0) allowed just one run and struck out six in six innings as the Red Storm defeated Winthrop, 4-3. The Red Storm improved to 2-0 on the season, while Winthrop dropped to 1-1.

For the second straight game, Brian Kemp set the table in the first by leading off the game with a hit as he singled up the middle. Kemp proceeded to steal second base for his first steal of the season. Chris Anninos then came to the plate with one out and ripped a 1-0 pitch for a deep home run over the left field fence to give St. John's a 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the inning Barnes set the Eagles down in order as he induced a fly out before striking out the next two batters for a 1-2-3 first inning. Barnes walked three batters in the second inning, but also struck out the side to tally his fifth strikeout through just two innings.

Barnes, in fact, did not give up a hit until the fifth inning when he allowed a single through the right side to Tyler McBride. After a sacrifice bunt moved McBride to second, Barnes threw a wild pitch that moved McBride to third. Kevin Nolan then plated McBride with an RBI single to right center to make the score 2-1.

Gil Zayas set the table in the seventh after drawing a walk and advancing to second on a Jeff Grantham sacrifice bunt. Zayas moved to third on a Paul Karmas single and the Red Storm had runners on first and third with one out. Scott Ferrara pinch ran for Karmas and Joe Witkowski then brought home Zayas with an RBI single. With two outs, Brian Kemp singled through the left side, but Ferrara was thrown out at home by left fielder Billy Froehlich.

Jared Yecker came in to relieve Barnes in the seventh and struck out the first batter he faced before walking the next three batters. After Yecker picked up another strike out, Nolan drove in a run with an infield single. Yecker then induced a pop up in foul territory to end the inning and the threat.

In the eighth inning, Carlos Del Rosario led off with an infield single and advanced to second after a balk by Winthrop pitcher Ryan Mullins. After Anninos was hit by a pitch, Tim Morris struck out and Zayas walked to load the bases with one out. Grantham followed with a sacrifice fly that plated Del Rosario and gave the Red Storm a 4-2 lead. The Eagles closed to 4-3 after a solo home run to left field by Eddie Rohan.

Colin Lynch replaced Yecker in the eighth and retired the final five batters in order to pick up his first save of the season.