CHAPEL HILL, N.C— In the opening game of the NCAA Tournament, junior righthander Kyle Hansen provided St. John’s with 7 1/3 quality innings for the Red Storm, as they beat East Carolina 11-3 in the first game of the Chapel Hill Regional.

In a rematch of last year’s Charlottesville Regional, Hansen shut out the Pirates for the first six innings while the offense was firing on all cylinders—pounding out 16 hits, six of which went for extra bases. Hansen (5-5, 3.48) ran out of gas in the eighth, but got ahead of nearly every batter and commanded the strike zone very well. He gave up three runs on eight hits, while striking out eight and not issuing a walk.

“It sets us up very good," St. John's coach Ed Blankmeyer said. "They gave us the length of the game and Stephen (Rivera) did a nice job to come in and finish up.” [...] Continue Reading »