Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Nationally-ranked Carthage (Wis.) swept Saint John's, 15-1 and 9-7, on Sunday, March 21 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. The Red Men (7-4, 0-0 CCIW), who were ranked No. 5 in the American Baseball Coaches Association preseason poll and No. 9 in the latest D3baseball.com poll, batted .480 (12-25) and scored 15 of their 24 runs with two outs.
Carthage scored 13 unanswered runs thru game one's first four innings, including eight with two outs (a total of 10 for the game). All five runs in the third inning came with two outs. The Red Men's sixth, seventh and eighth hitters combined for nine of 17 at the plate with nine RBI and seven runs scored.
Senior Andrew Aebly (Madison, Wis./Edgewood) was saddled with the loss, allowing seven runs on seven hits thru 2.2 innings. The Johnnies collected six hits and left eight men on base despite hitting into three double plays.
SJU (6-7, 0-0 MIAC) jumped out to leads of 4-0 and 7-4 before falling 9-7 in game two. The Johnnies scored three runs of their own with two outs to take a 3-0 lead in the third inning. Junior outfielder Matt Boys (Eden Prairie, Minn./Minnetonka) tripled with two outs before senior first baseman Kyle Henkemeyer (Sauk Rapids, Minn./Sauk Rapids-Rice) and sophomore third baseman Bert Marsnik (Annandale, Minn.) followed with back-to-back singles. Junior shortstop Matt Butorac (Maple Grove, Minn.) lifted a deep fly-ball to right-center but the ball was dropped by the right fielder, plating both Henkemeyer and Marsnik.
Freshman Max Forster (Hopkins, Minn.) led-off the fourth inning with his first career home run to make it 4-0.
Carthage, which mustered only one hit thru the first three innings off senior Matt Johnson (Eagan, Minn.), rallied for four runs on four hits to tie the game in the bottom of the fourth.
Henkemeyer and Marsnik led-off the fifth inning with back-to-back walks before sophomore Hayden Zimmerman (New Richmond, Wis.) and senior Andrew Gurbada (Royalton, Minn.) notched back-to-back RBI singles. Sophomore Jared Blitvich (St. Cloud, Minn./Tech) added a sacrifice fly later in the inning to make it 7-4.
The Red Men rallied again, however, with five runs in the fifth inning to take the lead for the first and last time of the game.
Johnson took the loss, allowing eight runs, six earned, on eight hits in 4.1 innings of work. Marsnik finished 2-for-3 with a double.
The Johnnies return to action Wednesday, March 24, against Wis.-Oshkosh. The doubleheader is set for 7 p.m. at the Metrodome.
