Saint John's (14-6, 2-0 MIAC) plays host to Concordia-Moorhead (10-9, 2-2 MIAC) for its home opener this Saturday, April 7. The doubleheader is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Saint John's Field in Collegeville.
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's opened its MIAC schedule with a sweep at Carleton, 7-5 and 3-2, and head coach Jerry Haugen earned his 650th career win this past Wednesday, March 4, in Northfield. In addition, junior Joey Long (Belvidere, Ill./Rockford Boylan) became the school's all-time save leader (8) with a pair against the Knights. SJU jumped out to a 6-0 lead in game one with three runs each in the third and fourth innings. Sophomores Tom Druk (Plymouth, Minn./Orono) and Dylan Graves (Mora, Minn.) started the third with a walk and double, respectively. Following a strikeout, freshman Aaron Pfaff (New Ulm, Minn./Cathedral) brought Druk in with a sacrifice fly. Graves scored on a two-base throwing error by the third baseman and junior Max Forster (Minnetonka, Minn./Hopkins) made it 3-0 with an RBI single. Sophomore Luke Larson (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) led off the fourth with a double and scored on a fielding error. Forster registered his second RBI of the game with a bases-loaded walk and junior Connor Cline (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) increased the lead to 6-0 with an RBI single. A leadoff walk came back to haunt senior Hayden Zimmerman (New Richmond, Wis.) in the bottom half of the fourth, as the free base-runner came around to score from first base on a two-out double. Carleton (6-11, 1-3 MIAC) cut its deficit to 6-4 with three runs on four hits in the fifth. Both teams exchanged an unearned run in the sixth to end the scoring. Zimmerman allowed a season-high four earned runs on six hits but hung on for the win, improving his record to 3-1. He struck out four and walked three in five innings of work. Freshman Collin Felhaber (North St. Paul, Minn.) battled out of a jam in the sixth but tallied strikeouts for all three outs to escape unblemished. Long walked his leadoff hitter in the seventh but responded with a 1-2-3 inning out of the stretch. Cline led the Johnnies with a 3-for-4 performance at the plate, while Larson was 2-for-4.
Long gave SJU a 2-0 in game two with a two-run single in the third inning. The Knights reacted quickly, however, tying the game with two runs with two outs in the bottom half of the third. Carleton threatened to take its first lead of the day with runners on second and third and nobody out in the fifth, but Cline persevered with three straight strikeouts to end the inning. The momentum sparked the Johnnies to manufacture a run in the top of the sixth. Senior Bert Marsnik (Annandale, Minn.) started the inning with a walk, advanced to second on a balk and took third on a groundout. He scored what proved to be the game-winning run on a sac fly from Larson in the next at-bat. Marsnik is now two hits away from 100 for his career. Cline improved to 4-2, allowing both runs on six hits. He struck out five and walked four in six innings. Long had an easier seventh this time around, posting a 1-2-3 seventh to earn his fourth save of the season and eighth of his career.
A LOOK AT THE COBBERS: Concordia split with St. Olaf Wednesday despite out-hitting the Oles 24-10. Sophomore Jackson Meland held the Oles to just a pair of hits, but the Cobbers left 13 runners on base and were just 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position in game one's 1-0 loss. CC loaded the bases on three different occasions but failed to score each time. St. Olaf's Brady Sand struck out 10 and escaped with a win after Concordia loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh inning. The tides turned in game two, however, as Concordia scored eight times in the first inning. The Cobbers had six of their top seven hitters in the lineup all get two hits in the second game. Junior Michael Olson leads CC in batting average (.377), runs (13), hits (23), doubles (9) and slugging percentage (.574). Senior Brad Olson is close behind with a .375 average, 12 runs, 21 hits and five doubles. Both enter this weekend's doubleheader riding seven-game hitting streaks. The Cobbers' pitching staff touts a 3.57 ERA but allows a .275 opponent batting average and has walked more batters (53) than it has struck out (51).
LAST YEAR'S TRIP TO MOORHEAD: Saint John's split with the Cobbers last May in Moorhead. The Johnnies hit two home runs and turned four double plays in game one's 11-5 win. Game two, however, was a different story. SJU out-hit the Cobbers 12-9 but committed five errors and hit into three double plays. Only one of the seven runs allowed was earned. Concordia posted an early 1-0 lead with an RBI double in its half of the first. The Johnnies, however, answered with four two-out, unearned runs in the top of the second. Andrew Hengel '11 brought in Cline with an RBI single. Cline started the inning with a two-base error credited to the shortstop. Matt Boys '11 and Graves gave SJU the lead with back-to-back RBI doubles. Junior Alex Powell (Hopkins, Minn.) followed with an RBI single. The Cobbers cut their deficit to 4-2 before SJU recorded a five-run fifth inning to bust the game wide open. Matt Butorac '11 hit a two-run, bases-loaded single to chase the Cobbers' starting pitcher from the game. Cline welcomed the relief pitcher by smacking a three-run homer, his second of the season. SJU added two more runs in the sixth thanks to a leadoff home run from Hengel, the first of his collegiate career, and an RBI double from Brian Skluzacek '11. Concordia's Tony Emmerich ended the scoring with a two-out, three-run homer in the bottom half of the sixth. Zimmerman allowed five runs, four earned, off seven hits in six innings of work. Junior Adam Wenker (Sartell, Minn./Sartell-St. Stephen) allowed one hit and struck out two in a scoreless seventh.
The Johnnies grabbed an early 1-0 lead with an RBI double from Hengel in the second, but Concordia answered with five unearned runs in its half of the inning. The Cobbers added two more in the fifth before SJU put together a two-out threat in the seventh. Skluzacek recorded his 10th double of the season and scored on an RBI single from Butorac. He then scored on an RBI single from Cline. Forster took the loss, allowing all seven runs. Only one run was earned, though much of the Cobbers' five-run inning was prolonged by two of his own errors.
SERIES HISTORY: Since 1989, the Johnnies are 22-26 against Concordia, including a 7-11 record in Collegeville. SJU was 20-2, however, when it scored five runs or more during that span.
