St. John's has seen steady improvement through five seasons under head coach Mike Hampton. The Johnnie's won the Big East Tournament in three games to reach the NCAA Baseball Tournament for the first time since 2018. They're a scrappy bunch that aren't going to back down at the sight of two of college baseball's power programs in MSU and UVA.
Biggest Strength: St. John's was the top pitching team in the Big East with a team ERA of 4.26 and a batting average allowed of .251.
Player to Know: RHP Mario Pesca earned 1st Team All Big East honors. The 6'8" Bronx-native was 6-1 with a 2.94 ERA. His strikeout to walk ratio of 51/36 isn't great, but he gets outs.
Key Stat: SJU went 9-4 in one run games this season. Meanwhile State went just 7-12 in such games. The Johnnie's have found ways to win close games, while State has let many such opportunities slip away. If Friday night's game is close late, SJU might have an edge.