Saint John's looks to bounce back into the win column on the road this weekend, beginning with a 1:30 p.m. doubleheader against Hamline Saturday, April 27, at Midway Stadium in St. Paul. The Johnnies then travel to face Bethel for a 1 p.m. doubleheader Sunday, April 28, at Hargis Park in Arden Hills. – Live Stats (Hamline) | Live Stats/Live Video (Bethel)
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: The Johnnies (10-11, 1-5 MIAC) dropped both games of a doubleheader to No. 5 St. Thomas 16-3 and 10-1 on April 25 in Collegeville. St. Thomas jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first thanks to four consecutive two-out hits, led by Tyler Peterson's solo home run. St. Thomas added another run in the second before the Johnnies scored a pair of runs in the third and left the bases loaded. Sophomore Geno Larkin (Eden Prairie, Minn.) started the inning with a double, his first collegiate extra-base hit. He then scored on a fielder's choice off the bat of senior Alex Powell (Hopkins, Minn.), who later scored on a double from junior Dylan Graves (Mora, Minn.). The Tommies then scored seven runs on five extra-base hits in the fourth and added six more runs in the sixth. Saint John's then scored an unearned run in the sixth to end the scoring. The Tommies jumped on sophomore Jack Hamilton (Minnetonka, Minn.), in his first varsity start, for three first-inning runs in game two and added four more in the third. The Johnnies' lone run came in the fifth. Sophomore Kurt Jantscher (Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) started the inning with his first collegiate triple and scored on a groundout off the bat of junior Joe Lampe (Osceola, Iowa). SJU batted .176 (9-for-51) on the day, while UST scored 26 runs on 27 hits, including 13 extra-base hits (nine doubles and four home runs). The Johnnies allowed two extra-base hits in their first four MIAC games this spring (vs. Concordia-Moorhead and Saint Mary's).
BASES LOADED: The Johnnies are only 1-for-8 with the bases loaded through six conference games this season, and 9-for-38 overall (.237).
SOUTHPAWS: SJU entered conference play with a .386 batting average (49-127) against left-handed pitchers, but is only batting 11-for-46 (.239) against southpaws through the first six MIAC games.
ROAD STRETCH: The Johnnies begin a stretch of four consecutive MIAC doubleheaders Saturday, only to return to Collegeville to end the regular season with three conference doubleheaders at home starting May 4.
A LOOK AT THE PIPERS: Hamline (13-5, 0-2 MIAC) dropped both games of its conference opener to Bethel, 7-5 and 7-3 in 10 innings, back on April 4. The Pipers travel to Gustavus Adolphus today before returning home to face SJU Saturday. Senior first baseman Mark Radmacher leads the Pipers in batting average (.438), doubles (6), triples (3) and slugging percentage (.750). Freshman outfielder Dan Moro leads the Pipers in runs scored (20) and stolen bases (9), while sophomore infielder Jordan Rubbelke leads the team in RBI (17). Senior Dan Ellefson leads the Pipers' pitching staff with a 3-1 record and a 1.60 ERA, while holding batters to a .202 average.
LAST YEAR: The Johnnies swept last season's doubleheader with Hamline (4-2, 6-1) in Collegeville. In game one, the Johnnies jumped out to 3-0 lead in the bottom of the third. SJU loaded the bases before senior Joey Long (Belvidere, Ill./Rockford Boylan) drove in Graves with a groundout to short for the game's first run. Senior Connor Cline (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) then drove in junior Justin Thompson (Chanhassen, Minn./Chaska) and sophomore Aaron Pfaff (New Ulm, Minn./Cathedral) with a single down the left-field line. Hamline responded with a two-run homer in the top of the fourth before Pfaff scored the game's final run off the bat of junior Tom Druk (Plymouth, Minn./Orono) in bottom of the fifth. Zimmerman picked up the win for the Johnnies, improving his record to 4-2 on the season.
The Johnnies jumped out to a 3-0 lead on three unearned runs in the second inning of game two. With one out, Druk singled and junior Luke Larson (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) doubled before sophomore Billy Gregg (Minnetonka, Minn./Hopkins) smoked a line drive to left off the fielder's glove to give SJU the 2-0 lead. Ben Moen '12 jumped on the very next pitch for a double to drive in Gregg. Hamline responded with an unearned run of their own in the top of the fifth. In the bottom of the sixth, the Johnnies added three more runs on five hits. Graves led off the inning with a single and advanced to third on a two-out hit from Pfaff. Graves came in on a single from Long, while Pfaff made it 5-1 on a single from Cline. Senior Max Forster (Minnetonka, Minn./Hopkins) ended the scoring with an RBI double. Cline pitched a complete game, allowing an unearned run on three hits with six strikeouts.
SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 28-12 against Hamline since 1993, but just 10-6 in St. Paul. Last year's sweep in Collegeville snapped a string of four consecutive doubleheader splits with the Pipers.
A LOOK AT THE ROYALS: Bethel (17-6, 4-2 MIAC) earned a split (8-1, 2-8) in its conference doubleheader with St. Olaf April 7 and returned to action with another split against Saint Mary's (0-2, 5-1) April 25. BU hosts Macalester today before the Johnnies come to town Sunday. The reigning MIAC Player of the Year, senior outfielder/pitcher Matt Rowley leads the Royals in batting average (.382) and is tied for the team-lead in doubles (9), triples (4) and home runs (2). He also leads the way for the Royals pitching staff with a 5-0 record and 1.50 ERA, while holding opponents to a .225 batting average.
LAST YEAR: The teams split last year's regular-season doubleheader in Collegeville before SJU posted a 7-3 win in the first round of the MIAC Tournament. Graves drove in the first four runs of the game, blasting a three-run homer in the first inning and with a solo shot in the third. Bethel scored a run in the top of fourth off a wild pitch from Hayden Zimmerman '12. The Johnnies responded with three runs in the bottom half of the inning when Long, Thompson and Becker connected on consecutive doubles to drive in two runs. Cline drove in the final run of the inning on a sac fly. Bethel added single runs in the fifth and sixth to end the scoring.
SERIES HISTORY: SJU is 34-17 against the Royals since 1988, but only 8-6 in Arden Hills.
