JAMAICA, N.Y. -- Senior third baseman Jason Kane (Rutherford, N.J.) celebrated Senior Night in style, going 4-for-4 at the plate, while junior pitcher Keith Hansen (Glen Cove, N.Y.) threw four-plus innings of shutout ball as the St. Johns baseball team cruised to an 8-4 win over New York Tech at The Ballpark Tuesday night. The win improves the Red Storms record to 27-22 overall, while the Bears fall to 27-22.

Hansen, a 6-8 right-hander, entered the game in the fourth, relieving St. Johns junior starter Tom Klemm (Salem, N.H.) with a runner on third and the Bears leading, 4-2. His first pitch allowed Techs Mike Gaffney, who had reached on a two-run double, to move to third and he walked Tom Merkle to put runners on the corners. He induced Anthony St. George to ground out and was out of the inning.

After that, it was all Hansen, as he mowed down the next 12 batters, retiring the side in order in the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth innings, striking out four batters, before giving way to junior Mike Tamulionis (West Bridgewater, Mass.), who retired Tech in order in the ninth to seal the win.

The Red Storm trailed 4-2 after the top of the fourth, but scored three times in the bottom of the inning, and added three more in the seventh to pull away. In the fourth, freshman Jim Martin (Norwood, Mass.) and senior Bryan Hedgecock (Basking Ridge, N.J.) walked to lead off the inning and the bases were loaded after sophomore Mike Rozema (Fair Lawn, N.J.) reached on a fielders choice. A wild pitch brought home Martin with a run, and senior Billy Graiser (Muttontown, N.Y.) followed with a double to deep center, bringing home two runs and giving SJU the lead for good, 5-4.

SJU added three more insurance runs in the seventh. Sophomore Anthony DeRosa (Salem, N.H.) hit a leadoff triple and scored when Kane doubled down the right field line. Martins infield single put runners on the corners and Hedgecock followed with a double to left, scoring Kane and giving SJU a 7-4 lead. After a walk put runners on the corners, Rozema hit a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Martin and closing out the scoring.

The Bears had taken a 1-0 lead in the first when Gaffney, who had hit a one-out single, scored on a throwing error. The Red Storm responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning. Graiser hit his second leadoff homerun of the season and Kane doubled home DeRosa, who singled and moved to second on a walk. Tech tied the game in the top of the second with another unearned run, as Kevin Perucci was hit by a pitch and scored on a fielders choice.

Hansen improved to 2-0 this season as he went 4.1 innings, allowing no hits, with one walk and four strikeouts. Klemm allowed four runs, only two earned, on five hits, with two walks and one strikeout.

Kane had his 18th multi-hit game of the season, and fourth four-hit game, as he went 4-for-4 with two doubles, two singles, one run scored and two RBI. Graiser drove in three runs with a solo home run and a double, and DeRosa went 2-for-5 with, a single, triple and two runs scored.

St. Johns closes out the regular season this weekend, hosting Rutgers in a crucial BIG EAST Conference showdown at The Ballpark. A doubleheader will begin on Saturday at noon. Prior to Saturdays doubleheader, the Red Storm baseball program will honor former baseball player Mike Weinberg, a New York City fireman who was tragically killed during the September 11 terrorist attacks.