By Trey Rodriguez
There won’t be a repeat. St. John’s, the defending Big East champions, fell short of retaining its title after a 4-3 10-inning loss to Creighton in Aberdeen, Md., Saturday.
St. John’s entered the tournament coming off a win over Creighton in the regular season finale, but the Johnnies couldn’t make recent history repeat itself. The Red Storm lost after a late push in extra innings by Creighton, despite taking an early 3-0 lead. St. John’s opened up the Big East Tournament with a loss to Xavier before defeating Seton Hall 4-1 May 27.
“That’s the way it’s been for us,” said Coach Ed Blankmeyer. “We’ll score early and put pressure on a pitcher, then innings two, three and four the pitcher is just coasting on us, instead of [us] just finishing them.”
Down 3-0 in the sixth inning, Creighton fought back with two runs in the frame, tying the game up with an additional run in the seventh. Matt Gandy was 2-for-4 with two hits, two RBI and a run scored for the Blue Jays.
However, after a solo home run by sophomore Mark Venice in the fourth inning, St. John’s connected on just three more hits and left three runners on base. The timely hits were not present in the latter half of the game, especially in the 10th inning with the Red Storm’s 3-4-5 hitters at the plate.
John Valente impressed despite the loss, going 2-for-4 with two hits, one RBI and one run scored. Sophomore Anthony Brocato also pushed in a run and walked while batting 1-for-3.
“John [Valente] to me is the unsung hero of our team,” said Blankmeyer. “Not necessarily in wins and losses, but he’s been outstanding for us on offense and accepted his role. These last two years when he’s gotten his opportunity, he’s really taken advantage.”
Throughout the season the memo for the Johnnies has been to get the ball to Thomas Hackimer with a lead and their odds are good. However, after 6 1/3 innings pitched by freshman Michael LoPresti, St. John’s went to the bullpen with the game tied in the seventh. After brief stints by David Moyer and Turner French, the Johnnies would finally turn to Hackimer in the eighth inning.
“If our starting pitchers can get us to the back end of a game, with Thomas Hackimer and Joe Napolitano,” said Blankmeyer, “We’re going to be alright.”
The senior put down the only batter he saw in the frame and then posted a 1-2-3 inning in the ninth. However, things took a different turn in the tenth after three consecutive singles allowed Creighton to bring home the go-ahead run and advance to the finals, ultimately falling to Xavier.
Hackimer was named the Big East’s pitcher of the year, the first reliever to earn the honor since 2005. He was also unanimously selected to the Big East first team selection, alongside junior Michael Donadio. Shaw was named Big East Freshman of the Year and was a Big East second team selection alongside junior Troy Dixon.
