St. John's baseball catch up: Tuesday April 26

The St. John's baseball team went 1-2 in a Big East weekend series with Xavier University. The Red Storm are now 5-4 in conference play. Last season, St. John's went 14-3 in conference play to lead the conference on their way to an excellent season; this year, the team is in third place looking up at Creighton.

In game one this weekend, the Red Storm (20-16-1, 5-4) rallied for two runs in the eighth inning to register a 4-2 win. Xavier used six home runs to defeat St. John's, 11-8, in game two. St. John's stranded 13 runners in game three, losing 1-0 to Xavier (16-26, 2-3).

Here are the stats from the three-game series with the Musketeers:

Game 1: St. John's 4, Xavier 2

Junior catcher Troy Dixon went 2-for-4 with a tie-breaking two-run double to lead St. John's in game one, while classmate Robbie Knightes was 4-for-4 with a run scored. Sophomore Anthony Brocato was 2-for-4 with an RBI and junior Michael Donadio was 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored.

Senior right-hander Thomas Hackimer had three strikeouts in 3.0 scoreless innings for the win in relief of classmate Kevin Torres, who tossed 6.0 innings of two-run ball in his first-career start.

Game 2: Xavier 11, St. John's 8

Freshman Josh Shaw (0-for-2) and Knightes (2-for-4) had three RBI apiece to pace the offense in game two. Donadio went 3-for-5 with two runs and Brocato was 2-for-3. Sophomore lefty Tyler Bauman (0-1) took the loss after allowing six runs in 1.1 innings of relief.

Game 3: Xavier 1, St. John's 0

St. John's stranded 13 runners in the series finale with Xavier. Senior Alex Caruso finished 1-for-2 with three walks, while Donadio and Brocato were both 1-for-2 with two walks. Sophomore left-hander Kevin Magee (1-2) took the loss after allowing one run in 5.2 innings of work. This was the first time this season that the Red Storm were shut out.

A solo home run from Xavier's senior catcher Daniel Rizzie in the third inning proved to be the difference in the game.

Looking ahead:

The Red Storm have lost their last 4 of 7 and hope to get back to their winning ways when they travel to Hofstra University for an afternoon game. The midweek matchup begins a five-game non-conference stretch for the Red Storm, which includes facing a top-10 team.

April 26 - St. John's versus Hofstra (13-27) at University Field in Hempstead, New York, 3:30 p.m.

April 27 - St. John's versus LIU Brooklyn (11-25) at Jack Kaiser Field in Queens, New York, 3 p.m.

April 29 - May 1 - St. John's versus #6 Louisville (31-9) at Jim Patterson Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky, Game times vary

May 3 - St. John's versus Iona (8-28) at Jack Kaiser Field in Queens, New York, 6 p.m.

The LIU Brooklyn and Iona games will be broadcast on ESPN3.