SJU baseball catch up: Johnnies take two of three from Butler

The St. John's baseball team went 2-1 in a Big East weekend series with Butler University. The Red Storm are now 7-5 in conference play, third place behind Creighton and Xavier. St. John's is three games back of Creighton and now two games behind Xavier, who are streaking with eight wins in a row.

St. John's swept the series-opening doubleheader against Butler; senior righty Kevin Torres (3-1) tossed 7.0 scoreless innings in game one and sophomore Jamie Galazin gave the Red Storm the winning RBI in game two. The Red Storm weren't able to come back to sweep Butler (12-33, 3-11) in game three after the Bulldogs scored five runs in the third inning.

Here are some stats from the three-game series with the Bulldogs:

Game 1: St. John's 2, Butler 0

Junior Robbie Knightes was 3-for-3 with a run scored and freshman Josh Shaw finished 1-for-2 with two RBI and two walks. Torres held Butler to six hits and zero runs in 7.0 innings while senior Thomas Hackimer tossed 2.0 scoreless innings for the save.

Game 2: St. John's 4, Butler 3

Sophomore Anthony Brocato went 2-for-3 with a three-run homer run to lead the Red Storm in game two, while sophomore Jamie Galazin was 1-for-4 with an RBI. Graduate student Joe Napolitano (3-1) had three strikeouts in the 3.1 shutout innings of relief.

Game 3: St. John's 5, Butler 13

Shaw went 2-for-5 with two RBI, while sophomore John Valente finished 3-for-4 with one run scored. Freshman Gavin Garay was 2-for-3 with an RBI and Galazin went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Sophomore lefty Kevin Magee (1-4) was credited the loss after allowing three runs in 1.1 innings of work.

Looking ahead:

St. John's (24-20-1) only has 7 games remaining in the 2016 regular season. The 7 games include a three-game series with Big East rival Seton Hall, a non-conference game with the University of Albany (America East Conference), and a three-game regular season finale with Big East conference leader Creighton.

May 13 - St. John's versus Seton Hall (31-17) at Owen T. Carroll Field in South Orange, New Jersey, 6 p.m.

May 14 - St. John's versus Seton Hall (31-17) at Owen T. Carroll Field in South Orange, New Jersey, 1 p.m.

May 15 - St. John's versus Seton Hall (31-17) at Owen T. Carroll Field in South Orange, New Jersey, 12 p.m.

May 17 - St. John's versus Albany (19-23) at Jack Kaiser Stadium in Queens, New York, 6 p.m.

May 19 - St. John's versus Creighton (32-10) at Jack Kaiser Stadium in Queens, New York, 7 p.m.

May 20 - St. John's versus Creighton (32-10) at Jack Kaiser Stadium in Queens, New York, 1 p.m.

May 21 - St. John's versus Creighton (32-10) at Jack Kaiser Stadium in Queens, New York, 12 p.m.