JAMAICA, N.Y. -- St. Johns fought back from a 3-0 deficit and freshman reliever R.J. LaSasso (Ft. Lee, N.J./St. Joes-Montville) threw four innings of hitless relief in a 4-3 win over Manhattan in front of 424 fans at The Ballpark on Tuesday. Senior first baseman Chris Fallon (Bayonne, N.J./Bayonne) stole home with two out in the bottom of the eighth, plating the winning run.

It was the fourth-straight win for the Red Storm, who improve to 30-19 and reach the 30-win plateau for the second time in three years and the third in six years under Head Coach Ed Blankmeyer.

The Red Storm trailed 3-1 going into the bottom of the eighth inning. Junior second baseman J.P. Cirigliano (Flushing, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) and junior centerfielder Charlie Bilezikjian (Staten Island, N.Y./Port Richmond) reached base on errors, putting runners on first and second. Fallon followed with a single through the right side, scoring Cirigliano and cutting the margin to 3-2. With runners on the corners, senior catcher Eric Potts (Little Ferry, N.J./Ridgefield Park) lofted a fly ball to deep center, allowing Bilezikjian to score the tying run from third.

Junior third baseman Jason Kane (Rutherford, N.J./Rutherford) then ripped a double down the right field line, putting runners on second and third with one out and sending Manhattan starter Wendell Anderson, who held the Red Storm hitless for 4.1 innings, to the showers. Sophomore reliever Tom Turner struck out sophomore Chad Cambra (Taunton, Mass./Coyle & Cassidy) upon entering, but Fallon broke for the plate and was able to beat the tag, giving St. Johns a 4-3 lead.

LaSasso, who entered in the sixth inning, retired the side in order in the ninth, striking out the leadoff batter and the final batter, to pick up his third win of the season. He held the Jaspers (19-23-1) hitless for four innings, walking two batters and striking out four, improving to 3-0 with a 1.96 earned run average this season.

Manhattan jumped on top in the first inning, taking advantage of an infield single and a pair of walks from freshman starter Joe Reid (Rutherford, N.J./St. Marys). A bases loaded sacrifice fly from Dennis Tranchina gave them a 1-0 lead. They extended the lead to 2-0 in the second when Reid issued a two-out walk to Sal Candela. A throwing error moved Candela to second and Matt Curcurullo singled up the middle, giving the Jaspers a 2-0 lead.

In the fourth, Frank Capello was hit by a pitch, moved to second on a passed ball and to third on a wild pitch before Curcurullo singled through the right side, extending Manhattans lead to 3-0.

Anderson, meanwhile, was cruising for the Jaspers, holding the Red Storm hitless through four innings. A single by Cambra with one out in the fifth broke ended the no-hit bid. St. Johns finally got on the board in the sixth when Bilezikjian was hit by a pitch with two out and Fallons double to deep center plated him with the teams first run.

Fallon finished the day 2-for-4 with a double, single, two RBI and one run scored.

St. Johns plays its final home game of the year on Wednesday, hosting New York Tech (15-26-1) at The Ballpark at 7 p.m. On Senior Night, the Red Storm will pay tribute to catcher Eric Potts and first baseman Chris Fallon, as well as volunteer assistant coach Mike Fahid (Flushing, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy), a senior who has served as an assistant coach the last two seasons.