Saint John's (9-10, 2-0 MIAC) hits the road to face top-ranked St. Thomas (15-1, 2-0 MIAC) this Wednesday, April 7. The doubleheader is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. at Koch Diamond on the campus of UST in St. Paul.
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's opened its 2010 MIAC schedule with a sweep of Bethel, 3-1 and 12-2, on April 3 in Collegeville. The Johnnies out-hit the Royals 22-5 on the afternoon and received a pair of fine performances from the starting pitcher. SJU jumped out to a 2-0 lead in game one thanks to a sacrifice fly from junior shortstop Matt Butorac (Maple Grove, Minn.) and an RBI-double from sophomore Bert Marsnik (Annandale, Minn.). The rest was all senior pitcher Matt Johnson (Eagan, Minn.), who allowed only one hit thru the first five innings. Bethel added an unearned run in the top of the sixth inning to cut the deficit to 2-1, but SJU added an unearned run of its own in the bottom half of the inning on an RBI-double from senior second baseman Joe Eiden (Maple Grove, Minn./Totino-Grace). Both Eiden and Marsnik collected two hits apiece. Johnson allowed three hits, one run (unearned), and struck out four in 6.2 innings. Sophomore Hayden Zimmerman (New Richmond, Wis.) recorded the final out to earn the save. The Johnnies took an early 10-0 lead, thanks to eight runs in the second inning, enroute to the 12-2 victory in game two. Batters one thru four combined to bat 8-for-15 with eight RBI and six runs scored. A two-run single by Butorac followed by a three-run homer from Marsnik, all with two outs, capped the eight-run second. Zimmerman allowed one run on two hits in five innings of work to improve his record to 4-1 on the season. Freshman Connor Cline (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) pitched a scoreless sixth, before junior Brett Kramer (Baxter, Minn./Brainerd) surrendered a bases-loaded walk in the seventh. Butorac, Marsnik, junior outfielder Matt Boys (Eden Prairie, Minn./Minnetonka), freshman third baseman Max Forster (Minnetonka, Minn./Hopkins) and senior first baseman Kyle Henkemeyer (Sauk Rapids, Minn./Sauk Rapids-Rice) each had two hits and an RBI or more. A number of Johnnies recorded fine afternoons. Marsnik ended the day 4-for-6 with four RBI, a double, home run and three runs scored, while both Butorac and Eiden went 3-for-5. Boys and Henkemeyer each went 3-for-6.
A LOOK AT THE TOMMIES: Charles Bruchu's two-out, bases-loaded triple broke a 1-1 tie in the sixth inning and propelled the No. 1-ranked Tommie baseball team to a 4-1 victory over Carleton in game one of the MIAC opener at Koch Diamond on April 3. UST won the nightcap 9-4 to complete the sweep. St. Thomas ran its winning streak to 13 games. Sophomore Bryce Gapinski, the MIAC Pitcher of the Week, allowed one run, seven hits and one walk in the complete-game win in the opener. Sophomore John Licht allowed three earned runs in five innings for the win in game two. Bruchu drove in the game's first run in the second inning with a single that followed Drew Cremisino's triple to right field. Carleton tied the game 1-1 in the fourth on a single, sacrifice bunt and two-out double by Clay Parrish. In the Tommie sixth, Matt Olson walked and Tom Wippler and Roy Larson had infield hits to load the bases. Bruchu's triple scored three runs and put UST ahead 4-1. Cremisino had two hits and two runs scored. The Knights loaded the bases in the top of the seventh, but Gapinski got a game-ending double-play. In game two, Larson's two-run homer in the third inning broke a 3-3 tie. He added an RBI single in the sixth inning. Matt McQuillan went 3-for-4 to lead an 11-hit attack for UST.
LAST YEAR'S MEETING: Two-out hitting sparked nationally-ranked St. Thomas to a pair of wins, 6-2 and 13-2, over Saint John's last April 11 in Collegeville. In total, the Tommies were 14-for-23 at the plate and drove in 14 runs with two outs on the afternoon. In fact, UST was 11-for-16 and drove in 12 of its 13 runs with two outs in game two alone. A leadoff double by senior outfielder Aaron Traut (St. Cloud, Minn./Rocori) ended a stretch of four hitless innings in game one. After advancing to third on a groundout to second, senior outfielder Andrew Gurbada (Royalton, Minn.) poked a sacrifice fly to left field, which cut the deficit to 4-1. After the Tommies added two runs with two outs in the top of the seventh, Boys and Gurbada started the Johnnies' half of the inning with back-to-back singles. Eiden then reached on a fielder's choice, which plated Boys to make it 6-2. SJU pounded out 10 hits in game two, but hit into four double plays and stranded eight men on base. Marsnik was 2-for-3, while Eiden added an RBI double.
GOOD TIME TO RIGHT THE SHIP: Johnson allowed three runs, only one earned (0.77 ERA), in 11.2 innings of work last week. He recorded an opponent batting average of .200, including a .156 (5-32) mark against fellow righties. Johnson suffered a tough-luck 4-2 loss to Wis.-La Crosse on March 30, allowing two runs, one earned, in five innings pitched. He then allowed three hits, one run (unearned), and struck out four in 6.2 innings to earn the 3-1 victory over Bethel in the MIAC opener Saturday. Prior to last week's performances, Johnson had an 11.12 ERA in 11.1 innings pitched (seven appearances, one start) while surrendering a .340 opponent batting average (.343 against righties).
A LEAD-OFF…FIRST BASEMAN?: Henkemeyer batted .571 (8-14) with six runs scored and 13 total bases (one double, two triples) in the Johnnies' four games last week. A lefty, Henkemeyer batted .667 (4-6) against southpaws during the week and had an overall on-base percentage of .625. He currently leads SJU in both runs (24, which also leads the MIAC) and total bases (39) and is second in hits (28), triples (3) and RBI (13). Henkemeyer opened MIAC play by batting 3-for-6 with three runs scored, two RBI and a double from the lead-off spot in SJU's sweep of Bethel last Saturday.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE: The Johnnies have a 7-10 record against NCAA Division III opponents who have accumulated an 82-60-1 record so far this season (thru April 5; does not include SJU's 2-0 record against Concordia-St. Paul, which has a 9-19 mark).
