QUEENS, N.Y. – Holy Cross junior designated hitter Jack St. Clair (Newton, Mass.) went ­3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs, but the Crusaders were defeated by St. John's, 4-3, in non-conference baseball action on Sunday afternoon at Kaiser Stadium. With the win, the Red Storm improve to 8-10 on the season, while Holy Cross falls to 3-12 overall.

Holy Cross scored the first run of the game in the opening frame, as St. Clair drove home junior outfielder Evan Ocello (Camarillo, Calif.) on and RBI-single to give the Crusaders the 1-0 lead. St. John's, however, tallied two runs in the bottom half of the first to gain the 2-1 edge.

After three scoreless innings by the two teams, Holy Cross grabbed the lead back in the top of the fifth. Crusader senior outfielder Brandon Cipolla (Abington, Mass.) got the inning going with a one-out double into the right-center gap. St. Clair drove in Cipolla during the next at bat on an RBI-double to tie the game at 2-2. After the Red Storm walked the bases loaded, St. Clair scored on another walk to give the Crusaders the 3-2 lead.

St. John's pushed across a run in the bottom of the sixth and again in the bottom of the eighth to gain the 4-3 advantage. The Crusaders had a chance to tie the game in the eighth inning, as freshman infielder Tyson Youngs (San Diego, Calif.) tried to score on a double by sophomore outfielder Bobby Indeglia (North Kingstown, R.I.), but he was thrown out at the plate.

Red Storm reliever Chris Kalica picked up the win (2-1), as he pitched 3.1 scoreless innings and allowed two hits. Holy Cross freshman pitcher Jon Escobar (Inverness, Ill.) was charged with the loss (0-1), as he surrendered two runs (one earned) in 2.1 innings pitched.

St. Clair was the only Holy Cross player with multi-hits, as the Crusaders held the 9-7 edge in hits.

Holy Cross returns to action on Tuesday, March 18, when it travels to Boston College for a 3:00 p.m. contest.