Huskies Win Series Opener Against No. 22
St. John's 2-1

Connecticut vs St. John's (Apr 11, 2008)

QUEENS, N.Y. (April 11, 2008) — A two-run fifth inning led the University of Connecticut baseball team over St. John's 2-1 on Friday afternoon at Jack Kaiser Stadium in Queens, N.Y.

The Huskies connected for two runs in the top of the fifth inning as freshman Mike Nemeth (Washington, N.J.) singled to left field and advanced to third on a Doug Elliot (Rocky Hill, Conn.) double to left center. Senior Gordon Stevens (Vista, Calif.) then singled to score Nemeth from third to put UConn's first run on the board. Elliot was called out on the play as St. John's centerfielder Chris Anninos recorded a perfect throw to home to earn the Red Storm's second out of the inning. Harold Brantley, Jr. (Silver Spring, Md.) followed with a single to score Stevens to put the Huskies up 2-0.

Freshman Pierre LePage (Wolcott, Conn.) had a great outing defensively for the Huskies as he recorded four putouts and seven assists at second base. LePage connected on some key plays to keep the Huskies in the lead throughout the BIG EAST contest. The Huskies connected on three double-plays in the ball game.

UConn's John Folino (Quincy, Mass) started on the mound for UConn, for his third start of the season. He went 7.1 innings, allowing four hits in a shutout performance while striking out three. Folino also earned the win, for his 3-2 start to the year.

Both pitchers gave up just two hits in the first four innings of the game as St. John's starter Scott Barnes picked up six strikeouts early in the game.

Junior co-captain David Erickson (Stratford, Conn.) came in for the Huskies in the middle of the eighth inning and closed out the game for the UConn ball club with 1.2 innings pitched and one run.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, the Red Storm put together a rally, as Anninos earned a lead off walk. Anninos advanced to third on a wild pitch after stealing second base to get into scoring position. He later scored on a ground out to pull to within one.

Brantley finished the game with two hits and one RBI as Stevens added his eighth RBI of the season.

The Huskies have taken the last four of six meetings with the Red Storm.

St. John's junior Scott Barnes took the loss dropping his season record to 4-2 overall for the Red Storm.

UConn will return to action on Saturday as the Huskies face St. John's for the second game of the three-game conference series. Saturday's match-up will begin at 1:00 p.m.

-UCONN-