QUEENS, N.Y.— The LIU Brooklyn baseball team fell to St. John's, 11-10 in extra innings on Wednesday afternoon. In the marathon game at Jack Kaiser Stadium that saw four lead changes the Red Storm edged out the Blackbirds with a walk-off double in the bottom of the 11th inning.

The Blackbirds registered 16 hits in the game, one hit short of tying a season high. All nine batters collected a hit and the two through seven spots in the lineup finished with multi-hit games for LIU. Senior Alex Briggs led the way with three hits and three runs scored. Junior Tim Bechtold paced the team with a season-high three runs batted in.

The Red Storm got off to an early lead with two-out hitting, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first inning.

LIU  answered in the next half inning as senior Briggs picked up a leadoff double before senior Brock Hallum reached on a walk. A fielding error by St. John's allowed Briggs to score from second and give the Blackbirds runners at the corners as senior Alex Smith reached base. Junior Tim Bechtold stepped up to the plate and lifted a fly ball to left, allowing Hallum to score to cut the deficit to one run at 3-2.

St. John's added another run in the bottom of the second on a balk by freshman Chris Buehler with runners on the corners and two outs.

The Blackbirds responded in the top of the fourth inning starting off with a pair of walks to open the frame with one out. A throwing error by the Red Storm looking to turn two allowed Briggs to score from second to bring the score to 4-3. LIU tied the game up as Bechtold lined a single to left field to score Smith from second base.

The back and forth game continued in the bottom half of the fourth as Red Storm reclaimed the lead on a two out double to jump ahead 5-4.

LIU didn't falter, loading up the bases in the top of the fifth as senior Joe Mercadante led off with a hit by pitch followed by a pair of singles from junior Rob Griswold and senior Gregory Vaughn Jr. The Blackbirds would score one run on a double plat to knot the game up at 5-5. A RBI single from Hallum gave the LIU its first lead of the game to pull ahead 6-5.

St. John's worked back to tie the game up in the bottom half of the fifth inning on a two-out RBI single.

The Blackbirds grabbed the lead again in the top half of the sixth inning. Senior Luiny Monegro lined a ball to right field that just got past the reach of the right fielder, rolling to the fence. Monegro hustled all the way to score the inside the park home run on the misplay for his first career home run. LIU continued the inning with runners on first and second with two outs as Briggs stepped to the dish and delivered a RBI double to left field to take an 8-6 lead.

The Red Storm knocked a leadoff home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to bring the score to 8-7.

Back-to-back one-out singles from Briggs and Hallum gave LIU runners in scoring position in the top of the eighth inning. After a sacrifice bunt from Smith advanced both runners, a wild pith by St. John's brought Briggs in from third. Bechtold continued his strong day at the dish with a RBI single to short for the 10-7 lead.

St. John's loaded up the bases to open up the bottom half of the ninth looking to tie the game up. A RBI single and a pair of walks allowed the Red Storm to tie the game up at 10-10. Senior Mike Kreiger escaped the bases loaded with a strikeout and pop up with the bases loaded to push the game to extra innings.

LIU threatened in the top of the 10th inning as Smith opened with a single and advanced to third after a pair of ground outs but St. John's escaped the inning with one last groundout to second base. The Red Storm had a runner on first with one out before the game ending double to right field closed out the midweek matchup.

It was an arm day for the LIU with 10 members of its pitching staff throwing against St. John's. Senior Jonathan Schreier suffered the loss for the Blackbirds.

UP NEXT

The Blackbirds make the trip to Staten Island for a weekend series against Wagner at Richmond County Ballpark. The series opens on Friday, April 12 at 3:00 p.m.