Saint John's plays host to Concordia-Moorhead for its conference and stadium opener on Sunday, April 7. The doubleheader is scheduled for 1 p.m. at the new Saint John's Field in Collegeville. The games were originally scheduled for April 6 in Moorhead.
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (9-6 overall) posted a 6-2 record in four days in Tucson, Ariz., last week. Aside from its two losses, SJU outscored the opposition 59-20 on the trip. The Johnnies swept their first doubleheader of the trip against Middlebury (17-3, 10-4) March 25, then fell to Buena Vista (10-9) March 26. SJU rattled of four straight wins against Carthage (10-5), Oberlin (6-3, 6-3) and Lewis & Clark College (10-2) before falling to the Pioneers 8-5 in the trip's finale. The Johnnies allowed seven runs on nine hits and surrendered a six-run lead (9-3) in the game's final two innings to Buena Vista. SJU flipped a majority of its lineup in game two against Lewis & Clark after winning the first half of the doubleheader, 10-2. The Johnnies batted .364 (92-for-253) to their opponents' .256 average (60-for-234) on the trip. Twenty-six of the 60 hits allowed (43.3 percent), however, went for extra bases, as compared to 21 extra-base hits for the Johnnies.
LEADOFF PRODUCTION: Sophomore outfielder Aaron Pfaff (New Ulm, Minn./Cathedral) batted .452 (14-for-31) from the leadoff spot in Tucson last week. He led the team in hits (14), doubles (5), runs scored (11) and stolen bases (4), while finishing in a tie for second with 10 RBI.
CLUTCH HITTER: Nine of junior third baseman Luke Larson's (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) 11 RBI on the trip came with two outs. He led the Johnnies with 31 RBI last season.
STRANDED RUNNERS: The Johnnies scored a total of 73 runs but left 79 men on base in 57 innings at the plate in Arizona. The team has left a total of 139 runners on base in 110 innings this season.
SCRAMBLED SCHEDULE: Due to postponements, SJU is scheduled to have four home doubleheaders this week: Sunday, April 7: 1 p.m. vs. Concordia-Moorhead (Concordia is the home team in both games); Tuesday, April 9: 2:30 p.m. vs. St. Thomas; Wednesday, April 10: 2:30 p.m. vs. Carleton; and Saturday, April 13: 1 p.m. vs. Saint Mary's. The Johnnies' nine-inning game scheduled for April 10 at Minnesota has been postponed to a later date.
A LOOK AT THE COBBERS: After a nearly two-week hiatus from its last pair of games against Carroll (Wis.) March 16, Concordia (7-5 overall) returned to action with a split (4-2 win and 4-3 loss) to Dickinson State (N.D.) March 28. Junior Braden Rahman leads the team in batting (.378), hits (14), runs (10) and RBI (7). Freshman Devin Johnson has six extra-base hits. The Cobbers' pitching staff touts a 3.18 ERA and a .201 opponent batting average, but has walked 51 in 85 innings pitched (to 68 strikeouts. SJU has walked 51 in 112 innings on the hill (to 83 strikeouts).
