The Saint John's University baseball team (13-12, 6-2 MIAC) travels to face Carleton (7-18, 3-5 MIAC) this Saturday, April 17. The doubleheader is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Mel Taube Field in Northfield.
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's split a doubleheader with Concordia-Moorhead on a windy April 13 in Collegeville. The Johnnies dropped the first game 4-2 before registering a six-run third inning enroute to a 6-2 win in game two. The Johnnies hit the ball hard in game one, collecting seven line-drive outs, but surrendered all four runs in the first inning. SJU also left a total of nine men on base. The Cobbers stretched a pair of singles into doubles and recorded two other wind-aided hits to take an early 4-0 lead. Senior Andrew Aebly (Madison, Wis./Edgewood) settled down after the outburst and took control, allowing just four hits over the next six innings in the complete-game outing. He struck out four and walked none. An interesting situation arose in the sixth inning with the Johnnies threatening. With runners on first (Andrew Gurbada) and second (Matt Butorac), junior outfielder Matt Boys (Eden Prairie, Minn./Minnetonka) ripped a line drive thru the right side and Butorac scored from second. The second-base umpire, however, ruled that the ball hit Gurbada, which ended the inning and kept the run off the scoreboard. Eight of the Johnnies' 10 hits in the contest came with two outs. SJU added two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning thanks to an RBI-single from junior outfielder Eric Smith (Rogers, Minn.) and a fielder's choice from Butorac. Sophomore designated hitter Bert Marsnik (Annandale, Minn.) then laced a double down the left-field line to extend the inning. Freshman third baseman Max Forster (Minnetonka, Minn./Hopkins) came to the plate as the tying run, but grounded out to the shortstop on a bang-bang play. Boys and Gurbada each went 2-for-3, while Smith was 2-for-4 in game one. The Johnnies' hard hitting finally paid off in the third inning of game two. Junior catcher Brian Skluzacek (Cold Spring, Minn./Rocori) led-off the inning with his first home run of the season, a blast to right field. Senior second baseman Joe Eiden (Maple Grove, Minn./Totino-Grace) then singled, followed by a hit batsman and a walk to load the bases. Butorac singled to give SJU its first lead of the day and chase starter Jake Torrison from the ballgame. Marsnik then tallied an RBI-single of his own before Forster recorded the first out of the inning. Gurbada and Boys followed with consecutive RBI-singles and Skluzacek plated another on a fielder's choice, his second RBI of the inning, to end the scoring. The Cobbers put together a bases-loaded threat with one out in the fifth. Boys, however, made a diving catch in centerfield and doubled off the runner at first to end the inning and preserve the 6-2 lead. Seven different Johnnies recorded a hit each in game two. Junior Brett Kramer (Baxter, Minn./Brainerd) allowed two runs, one earned, on seven hits in the complete-game victory. He struck out four and walked two to improve his record to 3-3 on the year.
A LOOK AT THE KNIGHTS: Carleton earned a split with Augsburg on April 13, winning the first game, 6-5 before dropping the second, 11-6. It was the third consecutive conference split for the Knights. In the opener, Jacob Anderson tossed 4.2 innings to earn the win. Russ Fujisawa and Grant Bowen each had four hits to lead the Knights offensively. In game one, the Knights got on the board in the first inning as Bowen plated a run with a single to right-center. Neither team would score until the fourth when Carleton put together a four-run rally highlighted by Clay Dewey-Valentine's run-scoring triple through a brisk wind. Dewey-Valentine later scored on a wild pitch for the final run of the inning. Meanwhile, Anderson (2-1) spent the early portion of the game on cruise control, allowing three hits over the first four innings. In the fifth, he ran into some trouble allowing three free passes and a single before being lifted from the game. Sam Cross-Knorr recorded the final out of the inning, but not before the Auggies had struck for three runs in the inning. The Knights added an insurance run in the sixth on a Kiyota Gomi single to increase the lead to 6-3. The run proved to be an important one as the Knights ran into some trouble in the seventh. Augsburg had only one hit in the inning, but four walks, including two with the bases loaded, brought the deficit within one. Paul Dimick replaced Gomi and earned his second save of the season. In game two, Augsburg jumped out to a 1-0 lead off starter David Ames, but Carleton answered in the second scoring with a run on an Anderson fielder's choice. The Auggies took advantage of two Carleton errors in the third inning, scoring four runs on three hits off reliever Geoff King. Another Carleton error in the fourth inning led to two more Augsburg runs, increasing the visitors' lead to 6-1. The Knights chipped away at the deficit scoring two runs in each of the fourth and fifth innings, but Augsburg would tack on one in the fifth and three more in the sixth to push their lead to six. The Knights would plate a run in the seventh on an Anderson double. The Knights enter Saturday's doubleheader with a .935 fielding percentage and a pitching staff that holds an 8.11 ERA with a .335 opponent batting average.
THE LAST MEETING: Saint John's dropped a pair of games to Carleton, 5-1 and 5-3, last season. Carleton posted 22 hits on the day, a .355 average (22-62), of which 20 were singles. The Knights entered the day tied with Saint Mary's with a MIAC-worst .273 average as a team. SJU, on the other hand, was 5-for-45 on the afternoon (.111 average) after entering the day with a .307 team batting average. Senior Kyle Henkemeyer (Sauk Rapids, Minn./Sauk Rapids-Rice) broke up a shutout in game one with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh. Henkemeyer went 1-for-2, while Marsnik added another hit for SJU. A one-run single by Boys tied game two at 1-1 in the bottom of the third. The Knights, however, added four runs, two earned, in the top of the fourth to increase their lead to 5-1. The Johnnies added two runs in the bottom of the seventh on a sacrifice fly from Eiden and a fielder's choice by Boys. Kramer pitched a complete game, allowing five runs (three earned) on nine hits while striking out seven in game two.
BRING ON THE LEFTIES: The Johnnies are projected to face a pair of left-handed starters, Paul Dimick (1-2, 6.25 ERA, .318 opponent batting average) and Aaron Troyansky (2-5, 6.35 ERA, .369 opponent batting average), this Saturday. Considering five of SJU's nine hitters in the starting lineup are lefties themselves, this should be of concern. The Johnnies, however, are batting .346 (53-153) against southpaws so far this season. Marsnik, a righty, is batting .600 (12-20), while Henkemeyer, a lefty, is batting at a .450 clip (9-20). Butorac and Smith, both lefties, follow at .313 (5-16) and 1.000 (4-4), respectively.
