The Saint John's baseball team (8-7, 2-2 MIAC) travels to take on No. 11 St. Olaf (16-3, 4-0 MIAC) this Saturday, April 9. The doubleheader is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Mark Almli Field in Northfield.

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's split a doubleheader with St. Thomas for its home opener this past Wednesday in Collegeville. The Tommies, backed by the arm of Kris Edwards, won the first game 5-0 before SJU came back to win game two, 6-5. SJU erased a 2-0 deficit with three runs in the bottom of the first of game two. Seniors Eric Smith (Rogers, Minn.) and Brian Skluzacek (Cold Spring, Minn./Rocori) each singled and sophomore Connor Cline (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) moved them up a base with a sacrifice bunt. Senior Matt Butorac (Maple Grove, Minn.) then belted a two-run triple to right centerfield. Butorac scored on a bloop single from junior Luke Sweeter (Sartell, Minn./Sartell-St. Stephen). UST (6-11, 2-2 MIAC) tied the game with a run in the second and regained the lead at 4-3 with another in the fourth. The Johnnies tied the game with an unearned run via RBI single from sophomore Alex Powell (Hopkins, Minn.) in the bottom half of the inning. The Tommies took a 5-4 lead into the bottom of the fifth before SJU added two runs in its half of the inning. Sophomore Max Forster (Minnetonka, Minn./Hopkins) drove in Skluzacek with an RBI single and Cline scored on a fielder's choice. Cline improved to 3-1 on the year after allowing five runs on nine hits. Freshman Joey Long (Belvidere, Ill./Rockford Boylan) pitched two innings of scoreless relief, including a 1-2-3 seventh versus the heart of UST's lineup, to earn his first career save. The Johnnies mustered only two hits in game one as Edwards pitched a complete-game shutout for UST, striking out seven with no walks. Cline and senior Andrew Hengel (Bemidji, Minn.) tallied a single each for SJU. UST jumped on Forster with three runs on four hits in the top of the first and added two more in the fifth. He fell to 1-1 on the season, allowing all five runs on nine hits. Long and sophomore Scott Schroeder (Richmond, Minn./Rocori) posted an inning of scoreless relief each.

A LOOK AT THE OLES: In its most recent action, St. Olaf swept Gustavus Adolphus by scores of 3-2 and 9-0 Wednesday afternoon. The Oles were led by junior Andy Bartz, who went a combined 4-for-7 and drove in five runs, including the game-winner on a double in the seventh inning of game one. Ben Hughes pitched the final two innings to get the win in game one to improve his record to 4-0 on the season. In game two, sophomore Jake Schmiesing, senior Brandon Agneberg, and freshman Erik Olson combined for the shutout. Sophomore Brady Sand went 2-for-3, while senior Sean Dube was 2-for-2. Offensively, freshman Sam Maus leads the team in batting average (.387), runs (19), hits (24), doubles (7) and total bases (33). The Oles have recorded 30 doubles so far on the season and have stolen 12 bases in 15 attempts. The pitching staff is led by sophomore Anders Dzurak, who has posted a 3-1 record and 2.25 ERA in 20 innings pitched, while Hughes has a 3.21 ERA in five appearances. He has struck out 40 of the 102 batters he has faced (28.0 innings pitched). 

THE LAST MEETING: The Johnnies swept the Oles, 6-5 and 5-3, last season for the first time since 1998. SJU erased a 3-0 deficit with a five-run fifth inning, all with two outs, in game one. A two-run single by junior Bert Marsnik (Annandale, Minn.), followed by a three-run bomb from Forster, accounted for all five runs. Junior Hayden Zimmerman (New Richmond, Wis.) pitched a scoreless seventh to tally his third save of the season. Following his save in game one, Zimmerman went on to pitch a complete-game victory in game two, allowing three runs on eight hits while striking out seven.  A sacrifice fly from Marsnik tied the game at 1-1 after one inning, but the Oles re-gained the lead at 2-1 in the second. The Johnnies added two runs, both unearned, to take a 3-2 lead in the third inning. Senior outfielder Matt Boys (Eden Prairie, Minn./Minnetonka) slapped an RBI-triple to right center and the second run scored on a double-play ball that would have ended the inning. The lead did not last long; however, as St. Olaf tied the game in the next half inning. Skluzacek ripped an RBI-single thru the right side to give SJU a 4-3 lead in the sixth inning. The Johnnies added another run two batters later on a bases-loaded double play.

SERIES HISTORY: Since 1997, Saint John's is 8-22 against St. Olaf with a 3-11 record in Northfield. Fourteen of the last 18 meetings have been decided by two runs or less (3-11 record for SJU).

KRAMER: Senior Brett Kramer (Baxter, Minn./Brainerd) improved to 2-2 on the season with a complete-game win at Bethel last Tuesday, April 5. He allowed just one run off seven hits and struck out six to lower his ERA from 2.76 to 2.31 in 23.1 innings so far this season. At the plate, Kramer is currently second on the team with a .345 batting average (min. 25 at-bats) and has three doubles with eight RBI on the season. He will likely start one of Saturday's games on the mound.