Baseball | 3/5/2009 7:36:56 PM

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PHOENIX, AZ - The RIT Tigers fell to St. John's University (MN) 17-7 in Thursday's nine-inning game in Phoenix. The Johnnies jumped to an early lead, plating 10 runs in the first five innings, but the Tigers came back, scoring three in the seventh and four in the eighth to put the Tigers within five at 12-7. St. John's bats proved to be too much for the Tigers, plating five more runs in the top of the ninth.

RIT's offensive effort was led by Jeremy Tosh (Woodbine, MD/Glenelg) (Woodbine, MD/Glenelg), who went 3-for-5 with four RBI, two doubles, and a homerun. Freshman Kreag Bradley (Victor, NY/Victor) (Victor, NY/Victor) recorded his first collegiate hits, also going 3-for-5 with three singles. Justin Smith (Livonia, NY/Livonia) (Livonia, NY/Livonia), Dave Kernan (North Syracuse, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse) (Liverpool, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse), and Geoff Dornes (Landsville, PA/Hempfield) (Landisville, PA/Hempfield) each had two hits apiece for the Tigers, while Tosh and Bradley each scored twice.

Jeff Bibbens (Weedsport, NY/Weedsport) (Weedsport, NY/Weedsport) started for the Tigers, going two and two-thirds innings. Cory Langtry (Moravia, NY/Moravia) (Moravia, NY/Moravia) relieved Bibbens, pitching two and one-third innings, striking out two. Rory Camardello (Brighton, NY/Brighton) (Brighton, NY/Brighton) relieved Langtry in the top of the sixth, going two and two-thirds innings while successfully keeping the Johnnies hitters off-balance. Dan Greco (Lockport, NY/Lockport ) (Lockport, NY/Lockport) and Dan Schuster (Livonia, NY/Livonia) (Livonia, NY/Livonia) also saw time on the mound.

The Tigers are now 2-3 overall, and look to get back to .500 as they play the College of New Jersey Friday afternoon in Phoenix, AZ.