As Queens continues to toil through winter, St. John’s is soaking in the sun down south, springing ahead to a 6-0 start in the 2010 baseball season.
St. John’s opened the season in dominant fashion, sweeping the University of New Orleans in three games and outscoring the Privateers 45-11, including 31-6 in the last game of the three-game swing, which saw the Red Storm, break a 54-year-old record for runs.
Johnnies Bruce Kern and Greg Hopkins were named to the Big East Weekly Honor Roll after annihilating the N’awlins club. Kern tossed 5.0 innings of perfect baseball to earn the win in the season opener. The senior righty faced the minimum 15 batters and added eight strikeouts.
Hopkins batted .444 (8 for 18) in the weekend set with one home run and 10 RBI. The junior also scored six runs and had two doubles, while posting a .722 slugging percentage. Hopkins went 4-for-7 with seven RBI in the series finale.
The Red Storm then rattled off wins against Minnesota, Michigan and Illinois in a three straight games played in Florida. The win against Illinois came after the Red Storm were no-hit through the first four innings, and it also tied a St. John’s record for wins to open a season in the Ed Blankmeyer era.
After making its 10th straight Big East Tournament appearance last season, the St. John’s baseball team looks to continue its run of success with head coach Blankmeyer at the helm. In 14 seasons at St. John’s, the four-time Big East and American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Northeast Region Coach of the Year has brought the Red Storm to five NCAA Tournaments, including four in the past six seasons.
“We are very excited about this year’s recruiting class,” said Blankmeyer. “We brought in some fine student-athletes and talented ball players that we believe will have an impact on the program.”
The Red Storm returns 17 letter winners from a 2009 squad that set new school-records in batting average (.349), runs (473), RBI (440) and doubles (149), and finished the season 30-22 (16-11 in Big Eastgames). The 2010 squad also welcomes a recruiting class that was nationally-recognized by Baseball America and features four Major League Baseball draft picks.
“Our objective this season is to get back to the top of the Big East standings and return to the NCAA Tournament,” said Blankmeyer.
The Red Storm return to action against East Tennessee State in Johnson City, TN on Friday, March 5.
