“Bottom line, from Day 1 we set…
By Dylan Butler
It’s been the focus of the St. John’s baseball team since the Big East preseason coaches poll was released in December. The Red Storm was picked to finish seventh and Anthony DeRosa and his teammates took it as an insult.
“Bottom line, from Day 1 we set our goals on winning the Big East championship,” DeRosa said. “To be picked preseason seventh was an absolute slap in the face.”
And after winning two out of three at Pittsburgh, including a 17-4 romp Sunday, the Red Storm has set itself up quite nicely to achieve that goal. Making its first Big East tournament appearance since 1999, St. John’s earns the No. 2 seed in the double-elimination tournament, which starts Thursday at Commerce Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater, N.J.
“We have confidence in our offense and we have confidence in our pitching,” DeRosa said. “We’re the best team in the Big East. Who can hit and pitch like us?”
DeRosa has good reason to be optimistic. The Red Storm split with top-seeded Notre Dame and took two out of three from both No. 3 Pittsburgh and fourth-seeded Boston College. And they did that all on the road.
“We’re excited about the opportunity and want them to continue to play the way they’re playing,” said St. John’s coach Ed Blankmeyer. “I expect to get a good effort and we could have a shot. This is earned.”
Interestingly enough St. John’s, which received its first national ranking (No. 34 by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association) this week, will meet Pittsburgh in the first round of the tournament. First pitch is slated for 7 p.m.
The Panthers will be looking for revenge after being embarrassed Sunday following a series that had some heated moments.
“We want to face Pittsburgh; we know they’re going to come in like a stirred up bees’ nest,” DeRosa said. “It will be a huge opportunity to show that we want an NCAA regional bid.”
The key to one of the most successful seasons in Blankmeyer’s nine years at St. John’s has been consistency, both offensively and on the mound.
The team is batting .308 and, led by Greg Thomson (.356), there are nine players hitting over .300.
Anthony Varvaro (7-3, 4.08 earned run average) leads a pitching staff with a combined ERA of 3.87 — second in the Big East — and is slated to start against Pittsburgh. Closer Craig Hansen has been stellar as well, with a 2-1 record, a 3.12 ERA and eight saves.
“We’ve played pretty consistently throughout. I can’t really put a finger on too many bad games,” Blankmeyer said. “We may not have hit as well at times, but the pitching and defense has been consistent.”
St. John’s 17, Pittsburgh 4. DeRosa drove in five runs, including a three-run home run in the third inning; Thomson was 2-for-3 with four RBIs; and freshman Matt Tosoni (3-1) pitched 6.2 innings of two-hit relief for the Red Storm Sunday at Pittsburgh.
St. John’s 6, Pittsburgh 5. Thomson and PJ Antoniato drove in two runs apiece and Rob Delaney improved to 3-0 by going 7.1 innings, giving up two earned runs on six hits while striking out six and walking four for the Red Storm, which split a doubleheader Saturday.
Pittsburgh 6, St. John’s 4. Tom Cashman hit a three-run homer in the third inning and added back-to-back-to-back jacks by Ben Copeland, Bryan Spamer and P.J. Hiser to win the opener.
Reach Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 143.
