June 5, 2005

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Corvallis, OR - Sophomore Anthony Sullivan (Arlington, MA) scattered six hits and struck out eight batters in a complete game, leading third-seeded St. John's to a 7-1 win over No. 4 seed Ohio State, eliminating the Buckeyes from the 2005 NCAA Tournament at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field Sunday afternoon.

The win advances the Red Storm to the Corvallis Regional Championship, where they will play top-seeded Oregon State on Sunday night at 9 p.m. (ET). To win the Regional, St. John's, coming out of the loser's bracket, must beat the Beavers twice. Should St. John's win tonight, they would force a seventh game on Monday at 5 p.m. ET (2 p.m. PT).

The Buckeyes had runners on base in each of the first four innings, but Sullivan was able to escape without giving up a run. He walked Steve Caravati with two out in the first, but struck out cleanup hitter Ronnie Bourquin to end the inning. Jedidiah Stephen hit a two-out single in the second, but the second of two ground balls to senior shortstop P.J. Antoniato (Levittown, NY), who had committed three errors in Saturday's loss to Oregon State, got him out of it. Eric Fryer and Bourquin led off the third and fourth, respectively, with singles, and each got into scoring position, but the 5-11 right-hander struck out the final batter in each inning.

The Red Storm got things going offensively against Ohio State left-hander Trent Luyster in the fourth. After Luyster had given up only a two-out second inning single to redshirt sophomore Chris Joachim (Massapequa Park, NY), the Red Storm put a pair of runners on base with none out. Sophomore Sam DeLuca (Pelham, NY) started things with a double to left and remained at second after Antoniato was hit by a pitch. Junior Greg Thomson (Levittown, NY), who had a 12-game hit streak and 39-game streak in which he reached base safely ended on Saturday, drilled a shot to the gap in left-center, scoring both runners and giving St. John's a 2-0 lead. Thomson, who moved to third on a throwing error, scored on the next pitch, when Joachim hit a high fly ball to left.

St. John's put the game out of reach with a three-run fifth, taking a 6-0 lead. Senior third baseman Jim Martin (Norwood, MA) reached on a single deep into the hole in short and senior catcher Joe Burke (Brooklyn, NY) followed with a sacrifice bunt, with both runners moving up when Borquin's throw from third base sailed into right field. A bullet single to left from DeLuca delivered home one run, putting runners on the corners. Antoniato followed with a single through the left side, plating Burke and giving St. John's a 5-0 lead. Junior Will Vogl (Pacifica, CA) followed with a ground ball to short, but the throw from second was off-line, allowing him to reach base and bringing DeLuca in with the sixth run.

That was enough for Sullivan. He retired the side in order in the fifth before Ohio State (40-2) mounted its only rally in the sixth. A leadoff single from Mike Rabin off of Sullivan's glove and an error in right on Vogl put runners on the corners with none out. Bourquin followed with a single through the left side, cutting the lead to 6-1, but Sullivan struck out Jason Zoeller and induced a 4-6-3 double play from Wes Shirtzinger to end the inning.

He gave up a one-out double in the seventh, retired the side in order in the eighth and the game ended with a double play, giving Sullivan the first nine-inning complete game of his career and the first for St. John's this season.

Joachim extended the lead to 7-1 in the eighth when he hit a shot to over the left field wall off of Jeffrey Carroll, his fifth home run this season.

Sullivan went nine innings, allowing one unearned run on six hits with one walk and eight strikeouts as he improved to 8-3. Joachim went 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI, DeLuca, batting in the second hole for the 10th time this season, went 3-for-3 with two runs and an RBI and Thomson drove in two runs.

The win improved St. John's record to 41-17 overall, breaking the school record for wins in a season, set by the 1978 team that advanced to the College World Series.

Fans can visit the St. John's Athletics website, www.RedStormSports.com, and listen to a live webcast of the game, which begins at 6 p.m. PT (9 p.m. ET). Sophomore left-hander Anthony Smith (Katonah, NY) will make the start for the Red Storm. Mike "Mex" Carey will call the play-by-play.