Saint John's hosts nationally-ranked St. Thomas for a 2:30 p.m. doubleheader today at Saint John's Field in Collegeville.

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (10-9, 1-3 MIAC) returned to action following a 17-day hiatus with a doubleheader split against Saint Mary's on April 24 in Collegeville. SJU out-hit the Cardinals 12-5 but needed a walk-off single from sophomore Geno Larkin (Eden Prairie, Minn.) with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning to earn a 6-5 win in game one. Saint Mary's put together back-to-back four-run innings en route to an 11-7 win in game two. Six of the 11 runs scored were earned.

The Johnnies answered SMU's 2-0 lead with six consecutive hits, highlighted by senior Max Forster's (Minnetonka, Minn./Hopkins) second home run of the season, and five runs in the bottom of the first in game one. The Cardinals responded with three runs in the top of the second to tie the game, which remained scoreless until the seventh. With one out, Forster drove a deep fly to center that carried in the wind long enough for the centerfielder to drop it. Forster advanced all the way to third base and scored the game-winning run on Larkin's line drive that bounced past the shortstop.

Senior Ryan Spengler (St. Cloud, Minn./Tech) improved to 3-0 with the win. His stat sheet was littered with the number five: five runs on five hits with five strikeouts and five walks in the complete-game effort. Junior Josh Groth (Fridley, Minn.) went 3-for-4 as the designated hitter, while Forster, Graves and Larkin all added two hits each.

Graves gave SJU a 2-0 lead with a first-inning homer, his second of the season. The visitors cut their deficit to 2-1 in the third before SJU tacked on another run in the bottom half of the inning. Junior Justin Thompson (Chanhassen, Minn./Chaska) started the inning with a double, advanced to third on a single by senior Alex Powell (Hopkins, Minn.) and scored on a sacrifice fly from Graves. Thompson went 3-for-3 with two doubles and three runs scored from the No. 9 spot in the lineup.

The Cardinals tallied eight runs, four earned, in the fourth and fifth innings. Both innings were fueled by infield/groundball singles, walks and botched double plays in each inning. The Johnnies committed six errors on the day. Powell matched Thompson's three hits with a 3-for-4 performance, while Graves went 2-for-3 with three RBI and two runs scored.

SJU totaled six extra-base hits (four doubles, two home runs) on the day, while all 13 of SMU's hits were singles. The Cardinals batted .232 on the day but took advantage of the six SJU errors, 11 walks and six wild pitches.

LARSON AT 12: Junior third baseman Luke Larson (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) extended his current hit streak to 12 games with a single in each of the contests against Saint Mary's yesterday. Last year's team leader in RBI with 31, Larson has raised his batting average 109 points by batting .409 (18-for-44) with 10 runs scored and 11 RBI during this streak.

JUST NEEDED CONFERENCE PLAY: Graves entered conference play batting .246 (14-for-57) in 15 games but has put together a 6-for-13 showing (.462) at the plate with six RBI in four MIAC games so far this spring. The team-leader with 18 RBI overall, Graves is 6-for-10 with a home run and five RBI in his last three games.

MIAC STATS, SO FAR: If you take a look at SJU's conference statistics through its first four games, you'd be hard-pressed to believe the Johnnies are 1-3. SJU is currently batting .300 in MIAC play with eight extra-base hits, including three home runs, and the pitching staff has held its opponents to a .204 batting average (.091 with two outs and .156 with runners in scoring position). The negative factors, however, include 36 SJU runners left on base in 29.1 innings and the staff's 22 walks (to 21 strikeouts) and 10 wild pitches.

A LOOK AT THE TOMMIES: St. Thomas (16-4, 4-0 MIAC) enters today's doubleheader ranked fifth nationally with wins in each of its last eight games (11 of last 12). The Tommies opened MIAC play with 5-4 and 6-0 wins over Augsburg April 4 and swept Saint Mary's in Winona, 7-0 and 11-2, April 7. Sophomore outfielder Ben Podobinski, the team's leadoff hitter, leads the team in hits (28) and stolen bases (10), and is second to classmate Jack Hogan (.392) with a .389 batting average. UST touts a .324 batting average and has accrued a 6.80 ERA off the opposition's pitching. The Tommies, meanwhile, boast a 3.88 ERA with 131 strikeouts (to 52 walks) in 144 innings pitched. Senior Dylan Thomas is 4-1 with a 3.07 ERA in a team-leading 29.1 innings of work. He has struck out 30 while issuing only six walks.