Concordia Box Score | St. Thomas Box Score
NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Saint John's ended its 2010 baseball season with a pair of losses at the MIAC Tournament on Friday, May 14, in Northfield.
The Johnnies (21-18, 14-6 MIAC) allowed three runs with two outs in the bottom of the ninth in a demoralizing 4-3 loss, their fifth one-run loss of the season, to Concordia-Moorhead in the tournament opener. St. Thomas then blanked SJU 5-0 in the nightcap, eliminating the Johnnies from the tournament.
SJU answered a 1-0 deficit following the second inning with a pair of runs in the fourth and another in the fifth. Senior outfielder Andrew Gurbada (Royalton, Minn.) and freshman third baseman Max Forster (Minnetonka, Minn./Hopkins) tallied back-to-back singles in the fourth before sophomore outfielder Jimmy Loonan (Waseca, Minn.) plated Gurbada with a single of his own. Junior outfielder Matt Boys (Eden Prairie, Minn./Minnetonka) then gave SJU a 2-1 lead with a sacrifice fly.
Junior shortstop Matt Butorac (Maple Grove, Minn.) extended the lead to 3-1 with an RBI-single in the fifth.
Junior Brett Kramer (Baxter, Minn./Brainerd) allowed four runs thru eight innings but ran into some trouble in the top of the ninth, a half-inning after the Johnnies' left runners on second and third with one out. Kramer walked the leadoff hitter and then hit the second batter of the half-inning. Sophomore Hayden Zimmerman (New Richmond, Wis.) entered the game and struck out his first two batters faced. A passed ball, however, advanced the runners to second and third. Jake Krause then roped a single down the left-field line, his first hit in five trips, to tie the game at 3-3. He stole second and scored the winning run on a single in the next at-bat.
Loonan ended the game 3-for-4 with an RBI, while Henkemeyer went 2-for-4. The Johnnies out-hit Concordia 10-6 in the game. All 10 hits were singles.
The Tommies scored two runs in the first, fifth and added another in the eighth to shutout SJU. Matt Schuld struck out 10 and ran his scoreless streak to 28 innings as he broke the MIAC career wins record with 29 (29-5 on career).
Henkemeyer went 2-for-4 to lead the Johnnies. He ended his senior campaign with the third-most hits in a single season (56) and ninth with 119 in his career.
Zimmerman allowed four runs, three earned, in six innings to earn his second loss of the day. He ended the season with an 8-3 record, five saves and a .247 opponent batting average in a school-record 75.0 innings pitched. Senior Matt Johnson (Eagan, Minn.) allowed an unearned run in two innings of relief, while fellow senior Andrew Aebly (Madison, Wis./Edgewood) pitched a scoreless ninth.
