Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score
ST. PETER, Minn. – Saint John's battled frigid conditions and settled for a split at Gustavus Adolphus on Tuesday, May 2. The Gusties scored all of its runs with two outs in game one's 4-3 victory before the Johnnies bounced back with a 5-0 shutout in game two.
GAC (11-18, 7-9 MIAC) grabbed an early 2-0 lead with a pair of two-out runs off senior Brett Kramer (Baxter, Minn./Brainerd) in the first inning. Kramer went four innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on seven hits with four strikeouts and three walks.
SJU (17-10, 11-5 MIAC) earned a 3-2 lead with three runs on five hits in the third. Senior shortstop Matt Butorac (Maple Grove, Minn.) hit a bases-loaded, two-run single before sophomore first baseman/pitcher Connor Cline (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) brought in another run on a fielder's choice.
Gustavus tied the game with an unearned run, via passed ball, off Kramer with two outs in the fourth. The Gusties scored what proved to be the game-winner on a sacrifice fly off freshman Joey Long (Belvidere, Ill./Rockford Boylan) in the sixth. The run is just the second in 17.1 innings of relief for Long, who dropped to 3-1 on the year. The earned run is also the first allowed by SJU relievers since the MIAC opener at Bethel April 5 (a span of 16.2 innings).
Kramer started the sixth with a single and stole second base, but was stranded.
Butorac was 2-for-4 with two RBI, while sophomore third baseman/pitcher Max Forster (Minnetonka, Minn./Hopkins) had a double.
Cline traded his first baseman's mitt for a pitcher's and dismissed the Gusties for his second consecutive complete-game shutout in the nightcap. Cline scattered six hits, struck out seven and walked four to improve to 6-1 on the year (4-0 MIAC).
The Johnnies, led by senior outfielder Matt Boys' (Eden Prairie, Minn./Minnetonka) 4-for-4 performance, tallied three runs in the second and two more in the third. Freshman outfielder Dylan Graves (Mora, Minn.) posted his first collegiate RBI with a single and senior catcher Brian Skluzacek (Cold Spring, Minn./Rocori) followed with the same. Butorac brought home the third run with a sac fly.
Boys ripped an RBI single with the bases loaded in the third and sophomore outfielder Alex Powell (Hopkins, Minn.) recorded an RBI single of his own two batters later. Boys was thrown out at the plate attempting to score on what would have been a sacrifice fly by Skluzacek.
The Johnnies hit the road again this Wednesday, May 4, at Concordia-Moorhead. The doubleheader is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
