June 5, 2004

Box Score

Palo Alto, Calif. - Fans attending the West Regional at Stanford University came in expecting to see dominant pitching and strong offense.

They've gotten just that.

The only unexpected part of that scenario is that it has come from the St. John's pitching and offense, not Long Beach State, and not UNLV today, as the Rebels were eliminated by the third-seeded Red Storm, 9-6, at Sunken Diamond.

St. John's, winners of its first NCAA Tournament game since 1993, improves to 37-22 overall and will play the loser of this afternoon's game between second-seeded Long Beach State and top-seeded Stanford. First pitch is slated for 10:15 p.m. (ET). The game can be heard live through the internet on www.redstormsports.com, with Stanford sophomore Sean Bruich calling the play-by-play, and can be seen on CSTV, with Carter Blackburn calling the play-by-play, and former Major League shortstop Kevin Stocker serving as the color analyst.

After blowing a 3-1 lead in the fourth, the Red Storm took the lead for good with a five-run fifth inning. UNLV starter David Seecombe got in trouble early in the inning, putting runners on with no one out. Senior Mike Rozema (Fair Lawn, N.J.) hit a leadoff single, moved to second on a wild pitch and to third when junior Blake Hershelman (Georgetown, Del.) singled to left. Sophomore Greg Thomson (Levittown, N.Y.) followed with a blast to center that fell in for a double, scoring Rozema and giving St. John's a 4-3 lead. Seecombe got Schultz to send a hard ground ball to short, but junior catcher Joe Burke (Brooklyn, N.Y.) laced a single up the middle, plating both runs and giving the Red Storm a 6-3 lead.

Matt Minor came on in relief, and sophomore Ken Devenney (Philadelphia, Pa.) doubled down the right field line, putting runners on second and third with one out. Minor recorded the second out of the inning, but junior third baseman Jim Martin (Norwood, Mass.) drilled a double to left-center, plating both runners and giving St. John's an 8-3 lead.

After retiring the side in order in the seventh, sophomore Eddie Schultz (Flemington, N.J.) hit a 3-2 offering high in the air and a slight breeze helped carry the ball over the left field wall, his second home run in as many days, increasing the Red Storm's lead to 9-4.

Redshirt freshman Justin Muir (Plainsboro, N.J.) came on in relief of senior starter Joe Reid (Rutherford, N.J.) in the fifth inning with runners on first and second and none out, but worked his way out of the jam and preserved the tie.

Muir went 2.2 innings, gave up two runs (both earned) on four hits, with one walk and three strikeouts before making way for redshirt freshman Rob Delaney (River Vale, N.J.), who went one inning and gave up one unearned run.

Sophomore Craig Hansen (Glen Cove, N.Y.) struck out two batters in the ninth for his 10th save of the season.

Martin finished with a pair of doubles and two RBI, while Schultz went 3-for-4 with a run scored and two RBI and Burke had two hits and two RBI. St. John's pounded out 14 hits, improving to 12-2 this year when they have 13 or more hits.