May 28, 2004

Box Score

Bridgewater, N.J. - Notre Dame scored five runs in the first two innings and junior pitcher Chris Niesel held the St. John's offense at bay, leading the top-seeded Fighting Irish to a 9-2 win over St. John's in a winner's bracket game of the BIG EAST Tournament at Commerce Bank Ballpark.

The Red Storm will now play Boston College, 8-4 winners against Pittsburgh in an elimination game earlier on Friday, later this evening. The winner of tonight's game will face the Irish (48-10) in the BIG EAST Championship on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Either Boston College or St. John's will have to beat No. 7 Notre Dame twice to win the league's tournament championship.

The Irish jumped on top of St. John's redshirt freshman Robert Delaney (River Vale, N.J.), sending him out of the game after one-inning plus of work. Matt Macri led off the game with a single to left and stole second, but was thrown out stealing third. Matt Bransfield followed with a two-out single to right-center and the inning appeared over when Javi Sanchez hit a ground ball to third, but the throw from Jim Martin (Norwood, Mass.) went high, putting runners on second and third. Steve Andres followed with a double to right-center, giving the Irish a 2-0 lead.

Matt Edwards led off the second inning with a solo home run to left, and Delaney walked Cody Rizzo and gave up a single to Greg Lopez before exiting. Both runners moved up on a fielding error on Lopez's single and freshman Matt Tosoni (Whitby, Ontario) induced a ground ball out, bringing in Rizzo. Steve Sollman followed with a ground ball back to the mound, but Tosoni caught Lopez in a rundown for the second out. Bransfield then tripled to the wall in left, giving ND a 3-0 lead.

St. John's had chances, putting two runners on in three of the first four innings, but could not plate a run. The Red Storm finally broke through in the sixth when sophomore Eddie Schultz (Flemington, N.J.) singled home junior Joe Burke (Brooklyn, N.Y.), who had reached on a fielder's choice.

The Irish added single runs in the fifth and eighth and added two more in the ninth en route to the win.

Tosoni went 6.1 innings, giving up two earned runs on six hits, with two walks and four strikeouts. Delaney went one inning, giving up five runs (three earned) on five hits, with three walks.

St. John's senior Joe Reid (Rutherford, N.J.) is expected to start in the nightcap for the Red Storm. Reid is 6-4 this year with a 5.40 earned run average. He will face Boston College senior Matt O'Donnell, who carries a 3-5 record and a 3.92 earned run average.