Saint John's travels to Winona for a 1 p.m. doubleheader this Saturday, April 21, at Saint Mary's.
Preview Video:
-Head coach Jerry Haugen (2:33)
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (19-9, 7-3 MIAC) re-claimed second place with a doubleheader sweep of Hamline on April 18 in Collegeville. The Johnnies put together a three-run third inning, thanks to a two-run single from junior Connor Cline (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) and rode the arm of senior Hayden Zimmerman (New Richmond, Wis.) to a 4-2 victory in game one. Cline added two more hits and pitched a virtual shutout in the 6-1 win in game two. Sophomore Dylan Graves (Mora, Minn.) started the third inning of game one with a leadoff double. Junior Joey Long (Belvidere, Ill./Rockford Boylan) hit a groundout to short with the bases loaded to bring in Graves, before Cline cleared the bases with a single down the left side. SJU added a run in the bottom of the fifth. Zimmerman allowed two runs on three hits with four strikeouts and improved to 4-2 on the year. SJU turned three double plays and broke the game wide open with four consecutive two-out hits in the sixth inning of game two. SJU jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the second inning. With one down, Tom Druk (Plymouth, Minn./Orono) singled and sophomore Luke Larson (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) doubled. Freshman Billy Gregg (Minnetonka, Minn./Hopkins) smoked a line drive to left to give SJU a 2-0 lead and senior Ben Moen (Rochester, Minn./John Marshall) recorded an RBI double on the next pitch. Cline earned the complete-game win allowing the unearned run on three hits with six strikeouts. Long and junior Max Forster (Minnetonka, Minn./Hopkins) added two hits and an RBI each.
CLINE CONTINUES CONFERENCE GROOVE: Cline went 4-for-7 with three RBI in the doubleheader sweep of Hamline Wednesday to improve his conference batting average to .412 (14-for-34) at the halfway mark of the MIAC schedule (10 games). The rest of the team is batting only .207 (51-for-246). Eight of his 11 RBI have come in conference play. Cline is batting .400 (6-for-15) with five RBI in his current four-game hitting streak.
100 in 100th: Senior Bert Marsnik (Annandale, Minn.) became the 21st Johnnie in school history to reach 100 career hits with his single in game one's 4-2 win over the Pipers Wednesday afternoon. Coincidentally, Marsnik earned his 100th hit in his 100th game played.
A LOOK AT THE CARDINALS: Saint Mary's (15-14, 4-6 MIAC) recorded a doubleheader sweep of St. Olaf on Wednesday for its second consecutive sweep. SMU won game one 11-8 and held onto a 5-3 lead to win game two. Jon Schlemmer hit a pair of home runs going 2-for-2 with five RBI, while Matt Tessmer was 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored in game one. Sam Nord earned the game one victory, allowing one hit and one earned run over the final three innings. LaNasa and Geraghty each plated two hits in game two. Justin Kronebusch recorded the win, allowing three runs on six hits in six innings pitched. Gannon leads the Cardinals in runs (21), hits (37), RBI (27) and doubles (13), while Schlemmer leads the team in triples (4) and home runs (4). Teddy VanRanst leads SMU in pitching with a 4-3 record, 3.00 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 42 innings of work. The Cardinals' pitching staff allows a .316 batting average and has a 5.93 ERA so far this season.
LAST YEAR'S GAMES: Zimmerman pitched a no-hitter in game one's 3-0 victory and the Johnnies posted a 5-4 win in game two to complete the sweep last April 21 in Collegeville. Zimmerman struck out four and walked none. Back-to-back errors in the top of the sixth put runners on second and third with nobody out, but Zimmerman proceeded to record a strikeout and two consecutive unassisted outs at first to end the inning. SMU had a no-hitter going until the bottom of the sixth before a leadoff double, sac bunt and a fielder's choice from Brian Skluzacek '11 put SJU on the board. Brett Kramer '11 recorded a two-run, bases-loaded double to left field to give the Johnnies a 3-0 lead. The Johnnies jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first inning of game two, but the Cardinals answered with four runs in the second to take the lead. SJU tied the game in the bottom of the second as junior Alex Powell (Hopkins, Minn.) recorded his second hit of the game and came around to score on a fielder's choice by Cline. The Johnnies scored what proved to be the game-winning run in the fifth on a bases-loaded sac fly from Long. Forster earned the win, allowing four runs on seven hits with one strikeout and no walks. Long allowed one hit and struck out two for a scoreless seventh to pick up the save.
SERIES HISTORY: Since 1994, Saint John's is 23-13 against Saint Mary's, including a 9-5 record in Winona. The Johnnies have won 11 of the last 12 meetings overall.
