May 27, 2004

Box Score

Bridgewater, N.J. - Sophomore right-hander Anthony Varvaro (Staten Island, N.Y.) threw eight innings and struck out a career-high 10 batters, leading second-seeded St. John's to a 4-2 win over third-seeded Pittsburgh in the first round of the BIG EAST Tournament at Commerce Bank Ballpark Thursday night.

With the win, the Red Storm improve to 36-19 overall and move on to the winner's bracket of the tournament, where they will face top-seeded Notre Dame (47-10), 3-2 winners against Boston College, on Friday at 3:30 p.m. The winner of that game will move on to Saturday's BIG EAST Championship, while the loser will play against the winner of the Boston College-Pittsburgh game at 7 p.m.

Varvaro, who gave up three runs in the first inning of last Saturday's 17-4 win over the Panthers, was strong in eight innings Thursday night. He retired the first six batters he faced, and then retired eight in a row from the fourth to the sixth innings, respectively. As his pitch count grew in the later innings, the sophomore retired the side in order in the eighth, striking out two of his career-high 10 batters, on eight pitches.

The Red Storm gave him all the run support he would need in the first two innings.

Leading 1-0 in the second, St. John's extended its lead to 3-0 with a two-out rally. Junior catcher Joe Burke (Brooklyn, N.Y.) hit a leadoff double to the gap in left-center, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt from sophomore Ken Devenney (Philadelphia, Pa.) and remained there when junior Jim Martin (Norwood, Mass.) walked. With two out, junior second baseman P.J. Antoniato (Levittown, N.Y.) laced a shot to first, which escaped the grasp of Panthers first baseman Tom Cashman, bringing Burke home. Senior shortstop Mike Rozema (Fair Lawn, N.J.) followed with a single to left, scoring Martin and giving the Red Storm a 3-0 lead.

In the first, Martin hit a leadoff double and Pittsburgh starter Nick Evangelista walked Rozema and gave up a single to junior Blake Hershelman (Georgetown, Del.) to load the bases with one out. Sophomore Greg Thomson (Levittown, N.Y.) hit what appeared to be a double play, but the speedy center fielder beat the throw to first, allowing Martin to score with the first run of the game.

Varvaro, who cruised through two innings, issued a leadoff walk to Mike Scanzano in the third before striking out Alex Rybczak and David Cline. Ben Copeland reached on catcher's interference and Bryan Spamer walked to load the bases, but Varvaro walked P.J. Hiser, his third free pass of the inning, to make it 3-1.

The Red Storm chased Evangelista, the BIG EAST's co-Pitcher of the Year, in the fifth. Hershelman hit a 2-1 offering from him high over the left field wall, his team-best 10th home run of the season, giving St. John's a 4-1 lead. Thomson followed with a double to left-center, chasing Evangelista, and Burke reached on a single off of reliever TJ Gornati to put runners on the corners, but Thomson was thrown out at home on a double steal attempt, ending the inning.

Leading 4-1 in the fifth, Varvaro gave up a two-out single to Jim Negrych and had a 3-2 count on Tom Cashman, before the Panthers' first baseman drilled a pitch to the wall in center, cutting the Red Storm lead to 4-2, but that was as close as Pittsburgh would get.

Sophomore Craig Hansen (Glen Cove, N.Y.) gave up a single to Cashman with one out, but struck out two batters in the inning for his ninth save of the season. Hansen's save gives him the St. John's single season record in that category.

St. John's had four runs on 10 hits, with Burke's three leading the way. Martin hit a double, single and scored two runs, while Hershelman had two hits.