The Johnnies (11-8, 5-3 MIAC) play host to Saint Mary's (8-18, 2-8 MIAC) for a 2:30 p.m. doubleheader today at Saint John's Field in Collegeville.
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's smacked nine extra-base hits in an MIAC doubleheader sweep of Carleton on Sunday, April 17, in Collegeville. The Johnnies (11-8, 5-3 MIAC) jumped out to an 8-0 lead en route to an 8-5 win in game one and carried the second contest with a low-scoring 3-1 decision. Game two lasted just one hour and 15 minutes. Back-to-back doubles from seniors Brian Skluzacek (Cold Spring, Minn./Rocori) and Matt Butorac (Maple Grove, Minn.) gave SJU an early 2-0 lead in the first. The Johnnies tacked on four more runs in the second thanks to a two-run triple by sophomore Alex Powell (Hopkins, Minn.), a sacrifice fly from Skluzacek and a solo home run by Butorac. SJU extended its lead to 8-0 thanks to a sacrifice fly from sophomore Max Forster (Minnetonka, Minn./Hopkins) and an RBI double by senior Brett Kramer (Baxter, Minn./Brainerd). Meanwhile on the mound, sophomore Connor Cline (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) cruised through the first 16 Carleton batters and posted five no-hit innings before things began to unravel in the sixth. Ben Walsh broke up the no-no with a single to start the sixth, followed by a walk and a hit batsman by Cline. He then walked in a run before Alex Wirta blooped a Texas-leaguer to left centerfield. Freshman Dylan Graves (Mora, Minn.) looked to make a diving catch but the ball skipped out of his glove, which added another run, 8-2. The very next batter did the same thing, this time to Graves' right. Again, Graves stretched out to make a diving catch but the ball trickled out upon hitting the ground, which plated another run. A sac fly and an RBI single made it 8-5 before Cline retired a pinch hitter to end the inning.
Freshman Joey Long (Belvidere, Ill./Rockford Boylan) tallied a 1-2-3 seventh to record his second save of the season. Cline improved to 4-1 on the season with the win. He was charged with all five runs, on just four hits, with five strikeouts. Skluzacek was 3-for-3 and set a new school record with three doubles in the game, while Butorac was 3-for-4. Butorac, SJU's all-time leader with 39 doubles, has had nine career games of two doubles but has never hit three in the same contest. The 1-2-3 hitters for SJU (Powell, Skluzacek and Butorac) combined for a 7-for-10 performance at the plate with six RBI and six runs scored.
Butorac gave SJU another early lead in game two with a sac fly in the first inning. Senior Matt Boys (Eden Prairie, Minn./Minnetonka) added to the lead with an RBI triple, the 10th of this career, in the second. Carleton (8-16, 3-7 MIAC) cut its deficit to 2-1 with an unearned run in the fourth inning before the Johnnies added an unearned run of their own with an RBI double by Skluzacek, his fourth of the day, in the fifth. Skluzacek ended the day a perfect 5-for-5 with four doubles and three RBI. Kramer improved to 3-2 with the virtual shutout, allowing the unearned run on five hits with two strikeouts in the complete-game victory. He has allowed just two earned runs in 25 innings since SJU's Spring Break trip in Arizona, which lowered his ERA from 3.65 to 1.69. Kramer is now 2-0 with a 0.86 ERA in 21 MIAC innings. Boys, Cline, Powell and Skluzacek all had two hits apiece.
A LOOK AT THE CARDINALS: Saint Mary's brings a four-game losing streak to Collegeville after dropping both games to both Augsburg (April 17) and Concordia (April 12). Both of the Cardinals' two MIAC wins were in Winona (Carleton, Gustavus). Junior Curt Swanson leads the team in batting average (.374) and hits (34), followed closely by sophomore Vince Lulic (.359, 28 hits). Freshman Jon Schlemmer currently has a team-best 23 RBI and a .500 slugging percentage. SMU averages nearly five runs scored per game (4.9) but has been tagged with a 6.96 team ERA as opponents are batting a collective .325.
THE LAST MEETING: The Johnnies and Cardinals split last year's doubleheader in Winona, as SMU won game one 5-3 before SJU earned an 8-7 in the nightcap. SJU allowed four runs in the third inning of game one's 5-3 loss. Skluzacek tallied two hits and an RBI as the Johnnies' one-thru-five batters in the lineup batted 2-for-17 in the contest.
The bats came alive in game two as the Johnnies pounded out 10 hits, including five extra-base hits, to build an 8-1 lead thru the first 4.5 innings. The Cardinals, however, scored six unanswered runs to cut the deficit to 8-7. Junior Hayden Zimmerman (New Richmond, Wis.) stopped the rally, allowing one hit in 1.1 innings to earn his fourth save of the season. Junior designated hitter Bert Marsnik (Annandale, Minn.) had two hits, while Forster added a triple.
Skluzacek added three RBI as he went 3-for-4 on the day with two sacrifice files and a sac bunt. He also threw two potential base-stealers on the day to improve to a 61.9-percent opponent success rate (13-21) on the season. Kramer improved his record to 4-4, allowing six runs (four earned) on seven hits thru 4.2 innings.
BULLPEN BULLIES: The Johnnies' bullpen has now combined for a 1.32 ERA in 13.2 MIAC innings so far this season. In their last 10 games, including the doubleheader split at Luther (Iowa) March 29, the bullpen has a 0.96 ERA and a 2.46 opponent batting average in 18.2 innings.
