QUEENS, N.Y. – The Butler baseball team dropped a pair of games to St. John's on Saturday at Kaiser Stadium. Game one was a 2-0 setback, while game two went down as a 4-3 loss. The seventh inning in each game decided the outcome.

Each starting pitcher performed well in game one as the two teams remained scoreless through six full innings of action. Nick Morton was on the hill for BU, while Kevin Torres earned the start for the Red Storm.

The difference in game one was a two-run seventh inning from the home team. Morton got the first batter of the inning to fly out, but Robbie Knightes would give STJ a base runner after singling through the left side. With one on and one out, Morton would hit Alex Caruso to place another Johnnie on base, but a groundout during the next at-bat would give BU two outs.

With runners on second and third, Morton would eventually load the bases by walking Michael Donadio. That at-bat would signal the end of the day for Morton as he was replaced by Danny Pobereyko. The play of the game came down to a battle between Pobereyko and Josh Shaw which was won by Shaw as he delivered a two-RBI single to left field that won the game.

Butler was limited to just six hits in the opener with Michael Hartnagel extending his hitting streak with a 2-for-4 day at the plate. Hartnagel was the only Bulldog to record a multi-hit game.

Morton was hit with the loss (2-6) while the win went to Torres (3-1). The Red Storm would replace Torres after the seventh which gave Thomas Hackimer the six-out save (7).

Game two was more of the same early with each pitcher breezing through the first three innings. The action would pick up in the fourth however as Gehrig Parker gave Butler a two-run lead with his homerun to right field. Parker and Chris Marras scored on the long ball, a difference-maker that came with two outs in the inning.

The lead wouldn't last long however as St. John's responded with a three-run homerun in the bottom half of the inning by Anthony Brocato. A homer that also came with two away in the frame.

The scoring spree would extend to the fifth as Butler knotted up the game with an RBI double to left centerfield from Drew Small. Garrett Christman came around to score on the extra base hit.

Neither team could get things going in the sixth, but the seventh inning would once again tell the story. St. John's pinch hit John Valente for Gui Gingras at the start of the inning and Valente would get on by singling to the right side of the infield. A sac bunt from Caruso would move Valente into scoring position and a single down the leftfield line from Jamie Galazin would score the game-winning run.

BU went down in order in the eighth, and the ninth would be another save opportunity for Hackimer who once again closed the door on a comeback opportunity. The win went to Joe Napolitano while Bobby Napoleon wore the loss. Napoleon was solid over seven innings, striking out four and only walking one. The Red Storm would scatter eight hits off the lefty which resulted in the four earned runs.