St. John's baseball lands a 4-seed in the NCAA Tournament, will open against Oklahoma State

The St. John's baseball team (39-14) won their 15th game in a row and captured a Big East Tournament title on Sunday, which clinched them a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

The Johnnies found out their fate on Monday as they landed a 4-seed, opening their tournament run against one of the best teams in a difficult Big 12 conference, the Oklahoma State Cowboys. The Red Storm will have to travel to Allie P. Reynolds Stadium on May 29th for a 7 p.m. ET start that will be carried on ESPN3.

The Cowboys, an at-large bid, lost in the Big 12 Conference Tournament final against Texas over the weekend but are 37-18 on the season and have been competitive against the top teams in the country all season long.

Zach Fish and Tann Krietemeier combined for 21 homers this season along with 100 runs batted in while their pitching staff is led by Vance Wheeland, who has a great arsenal of pitches, and his 1.52 ERA.

Even though the Cowboys are going to be a tough out, the red hot Johnnies will have Big East Manager of the Year Ed Blankmeyer on their side along with plenty of experience on the field.

The Johnnies are ranked ninth all-time with 35 NCAA Tournament appearances, including eight trips in the past 12 seasons under Blankmeyer.

They also are going to need Zach Lauricella and Robert Wayman to continue the production and the effortless display they showed in the team's victory against the Blue Jays over the weekend. The Red Storm bullpen is expected to be a strength and the rotation needs to pick it's spots against the power and impressive approach the Cowboys lineup has shown.

The Johnnies' region is rounded out by Arkansas, an at-large out of the SEC, and Oral Roberts, an automatic bid out of the Southland Conference.

Arkansas (35-22), who lost two straight games to end the season, has been vastly inconsistent this season as some games their offense is alive and powerful while other games they struggle to hit and their pitching staff falls apart. They are the two seed in this regional though so they can not be taken lightly by any one of these three teams.

On the flip side, Oral Roberts (41-14) is second in the country with a team batting average of .321 and have a solid rotation that has yet to give up more than eight runs in a game this season. The issue for the Golden Eagles has been their lack of solid competition and that could effect them as they are in a regional with a couple power five conference programs.

The Baseball NCAA Tournament is a double elimination format so regardless, the Johnnies will have an opportunity to show their talents on the big stage yet again. It won't be easy but with the energy and passion this team has shown the past few weeks anything is possible.