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O’Leary’s Arm Leads St. John’s to the Semifinal

MASON, Ohio – Behind the arm of St. John’s ace Liam O’Leary, the Red Storm advanced to the semifinal of the 2026 BIG EAST Baseball Championship Presented by Jeep at Prasco Park.
 
The junior right-handed pitcher struck out six batters in 8.0 innings of work, allowing just two runs in Thursday’s 4-2 victory. Overall, O’Leary threw 137 pitches and allowed seven hits.
 
Creighton got on the board first in the top of the third inning when graduate third baseman Rocco Gump blasted a shot off the right-field wall for a triple. Two batters later, graduate shortstop Ben North bounced a hit toward third base to collect an RBI single and give the Bluejays an early 1-0 lead.
 
The St. John’s offense heated up in the bottom of the third and fourth inning, but a total of five batters were left on base. However, the drought ended in the bottom of the fifth after senior center fielder Jon LeGrande got things going with a single to right field, followed by a walk from junior third baseman Jayder Raifstinger and a single by sophomore first baseman Shaun McMillan.
 
With the bases loaded for the second time in three innings, freshman designated hitter Dylan Fitzimmons took advantage with a two-RBI single to right field, sending Raifstanger and LeGrande home for the 2-1 lead. The Red Storm extended the lead to 3-1 after junior Ayden Frey was hit by a pitch and junior Cristian Bernardini drew a walk to bring McMillan home.
 
St. John’s offense continued to threaten in the bottom of the sixth inning as LeGrande earned a walk, followed by Raifstanger smacking an RBI double down the left field line.
 
Creighton’s offense got back on the board in the top of the eighth innings, when O’Leary got called for a balk against graduate right fielder Teddy Deters, as graduate left fielder Lew Rice crossed the plate at 4-2.
 
The Red Storm will return to Prasco Park on Friday at a to be determined time in the BIG EAST semifinal against the winner of Thursday’s matchup between No. 2 seed UConn an No. 3 seed Xavier.
 
The Bluejays will be back in action Thursday night at 8 p.m. ET in an elimination game.