March 28, 2006

Box Score

QUEENS, N.Y. - St. John's scored two runs in the first inning and never trailed, cruising to a 10-2 home win over Columbia on Tuesday. The Red Storm won its seventh straight game overall and 10th straight when scoring 10 or more runs. Starting pitcher Luis Monell won his first career game, and the St. John's staff combined to hold the Lions to just five hits and no earned runs in the game.

Monell worked 5.1 scoreless innings and struck out a career-high six batters on his way to his first career win. The junior transfer allowed just two hits and threw 49 of 77 pitches for strikes in what was his third straight scoreless appearance. Matt Tosoni didn't allow a hit and struck out four Columbia hitters in 2.0 innings of relief, and James Lally and Justin Muir closed out the final 1.2 innings of the win.

The St. John's offense pounded out 12 hits and scored at least 10 runs for the ninth time this season. The Red Storm has scored 10 or more runs in four of its five home games to open the season and is a perfect 10-0 when scoring in double digits. The St. John's running game was prevalent in the early going, and St. John's was a perfect 7-for-7 on stolen base attempts. Chris Joachim and Will Vogl each stole two bases and had at least one run and one RBI. Anthony Smith went 2-for-2 with a two-run double to extend a hit streak to six games and post his fourth multi-hit game in his last five.

Vogl led off the St. John's first inning with a single through the left side of the infield and quickly moved to third base by stealing second and advancing on an errant throw. Bryan Dirr reached on a walk, and Vogl scored as both runners stole bases. Dirr moved up another base on a fly ball by Sam DeLuca and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Joachim to give the Red Storm a 2-0 lead.

St. John's added another two in the bottom of the fourth, as Gil Zayas scored on a wild pitch and Vogl drove in Eddie Schultz with an RBI single. Joachim scored on a Jeff Grantham RBI double in the fifth, and the Red Storm added five in a big, five-run seventh to put the game out of reach. Grantham hit an RBI fielder's choice in the inning, and Ken Devenney and Smith each hit two-run doubles.

The Red Storm is back in action on Wednesday, March 29, as it travels to Staten Island for a 3 p.m. matchup with Wagner. Freshman Jared Yecker takes the mound for St. John's in search of his fourth straight win.