Behind outstanding starting pitching from Danny Hultzen and 14 hits the top-seeded Virginia Cavaliers dominated the St. John's Red Storm, 10-2, in a NCAA Tournament contest at Davenport Field in Charlottesville, VA. The loss forces the Johnnies into the losers bracket of the double-elimination tournament where they will face East Carolina Sunday at 1 p.m. On Friday, the Red Storm beat the Pirates, 2-0, who remained alive in the tournament by defeating Navy, 6-1, Saturday.
Winning pitcher Hultzen tossed seven innings, strikeout 12 batters and surrendered just three hits. Losing pitcher Kyle Hansen pitched 4 1/3 innings and allowed six runs. Relief pitcher Stephen Rivera replaced Hansen and pitched 3 2/3 innings and allowed just two runs. Anthony Cervone and Jake Woodward pitched the ninth inning. St. John's shortstop Joe Panik went 2-for-4, while scoring and driving-in a run.
If the Johnnies beat East Carolina Sunday afternoon then they will again face Virginia, who's the tournament's overall No. 1 seed, in the finals. St. John's will need to defeat the Cavaliers twice to advance to the Super 8 Regional series.