This year, St. John’s is part of party

When the St. John’s University baseball team was eliminated from the Big East Tournament, they found themselves in the same predicament as they were in a season ago - waiting and hoping for an NCAA Tournament berth.
Despite 40 wins, they were left out last May. This year, with the same amount of victories but a share of the Big East regular season crown with Rutgers, many solid non-conference wins (including a win over national power Rice) and a RPI of 51, they were given an at-large bid, the No. 3 seed at the Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Regional, where they will face ACC power and No. 2 seed Clemson on Friday.
“Today was a big relief for everybody,” senior first baseman Ryan Mahoney said. “We were all sitting there and watching. … Everyone was yelling when they called our name.”
In the field of 64 for the third time in four years and 30th in school history, the Red Storm hopes to stay awhile. They boast a solid starting rotation, led by ace southpaw Matt Barnes, in addition to a well-rounded lineup that was first in the Big East in runs, batting average, hits, doubles and total bases.
“This is a different season now,” Mahoney said. “All the hard work and everything should pay off. Everyone feels we have a good chance in this regional. It’s just great that we got in. Hopefully, we can shake things up down there.”
One of three Big East teams in the tournament - Rutgers and Louisville being the others chosen - St. John’s is not heading to the NCAA’s with much momentum, what with their 1-2 performance last week in their conference tournament. But the early exit did enable them to catch a breather, one head coach Ed Blankmeyer expects will help his club.
“We’ve been on the grind since Feb. 16th; kids get tired, it’s natural. It’s not just playing baseball, it’s going to school, having exams,” the coach said. “I don’t think we played poorly in the Big East Tournament, we played well enough to win some games, just not enough. Sometimes it is good to get away. After we lost, I told the guys just to go home, relax, spend a couple of days away, and start anew on Monday. Hopefully by just getting away from the game, they recharge their batteries.”
“When they say ‘Play Ball’ at 12 (p.m.) on Friday,” Blankmeyer said, “We’ll be ready to go.”