Anything can happen on the road to Omaha. No matter a team’s talent level, caliber, or reputation, all they need is a golden ticket into the field of 64, and they can produce a magical run.
St. John’s was the last team seeded in the Tallahassee Regional and the last team standing by Monday afternoon, not dropping a single game and stunning hosts Florida State twice on the way to capturing its first Super Regional berth since 2012.
The Red Storm became the fifth all-time regional four-seed to sweep their way into the Super Regionals. They also join Little Rock as the second regional four-seed to secure a place in the last sixteen this year, marking the first time in tournament history that multiple regional four-seeds have advanced this far.
Mike Hampton’s team showed great resilience this weekend, trailing by multiple runs in all three of their regional games and coming back in each contest.
In their tournament opener versus Florida State on Friday, St. John’s was down 5-2 before leveling the game with a three-run eighth inning. Dylan Fitzsimmons, who replaced Lewis Rodriguez in the second inning after the left fielder injured his ankle, sparked the rally with a solo shot.
Later in the inning, two baserunners scored on a pair of wild pitches by Seminoles closer John Abraham. The Red Storm took the lead in the ninth inning when Jayder Raifstanger drove in Fitzsimmons with an RBI single up the middle, and Evan Hoeckele induced a game-ending double play in the bottom half to ice a 6-5 upset victory.
Saturday rain pushed the Red Storm’s matchup against Northern Illinois back one day, and it took the Johnnies some time to gather themselves after falling into a 5-0 hole through three innings. When they did, they left nothing to chance with a jaw-dropping offensive explosion.
Over the next four innings, St. John’s scored 18 unanswered runs to blitz the Huskies, helping cement a 21-8 rout and make their first Regional Final in eleven years. The Red Storm combined for 20 hits and 15 walks in the nonstop parade around the bases, and their nine-run fourth inning became the program’s highest scoring frame in a single NCAA Tournament game. Every starting batter that came to the plate recorded at least one hit, an RBI, and a run.
With rotation arms Liam O’Leary and Evan Chaffee already taxed after throwing more than 100 pitches in the first two games, Evan Hoeckele stepped up in a spot start, only surrendering two earned runs on a season-high five innings on 84 pitches.
Down by a pair of runs in the fifth inning with the bases loaded and two out, star catcher Adam Agresti produced the most consequential hit in the last decade of Red Storm baseball, mashing a go-ahead grand slam over the center field wall against John Abraham to push St. John’s ahead, 4-2.
Cristian Bernardini then tacked on an insurance run in the sixth inning when he came home off a wild pitch by Kevin Mebil, which would prove to be a massive one in the final frame.
Jack Nestler then came out of the pen, hurling 1.2 scoreless frames and his breakfast, before handing it over to Victor Frederick to complete the seven-out save.
The sophomore right-hander got through the seventh and eighth innings without any fuss; however, Seminoles third baseman Cal Fisher drove in two runs with his second homer of the day in the ninth inning, cutting the Red Storm’s lead to one.
With his cushion suddenly gone, Frederick dialed in and protected the Red Storm’s lead, snaring a hard line-drive by John Stuetzer before he could finish his follow-through for the second out. He walked Brayden Dowd on five pitches to put the tying run on base, but froze Brody DeLamielleure with a game-ending, regional-ending strikeout.
St. John’s will return to New York for a few days before they head down south again to face Alabama in the Tuscaloosa Super Regional this weekend, where the Red Storm will play in a best-of-three series that decides one of the eight College World Series berths. The Johnnies are looking to make their first trip to Omaha since 1980.