Box Score

Box Score

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Saint John's baseball ended its spring-break trip with an 8-1 record following a 7-3 victory over Cornell (Iowa) on Friday, March 7, in Fort Myers, Fla.

The Johnnies jumped out to a 5-0 lead after the first three innings and never looked back. Junior Aaron Pfaff (New Ulm, Minn./Cathedral) reached on an error and advanced to second to start the bottom of the first inning, stole third and scored on a groundout from classmate Brett Becker (North Oaks, Minn./Mounds View).

Back-to-back singles from seniors Dylan Graves (Mora, Minn.) and Tom Druk (Plymouth, Minn./Orono), followed by a sacrifice fly from sophomore Logan Hershey (Maple Grove, Minn.) made it 2-0 in the second inning.

SJU started the fourth inning with four straight singles to total three runs, and added a single run each in the sixth and eighth innings to clinch the win.

Junior Jack Hamilton (Minnetonka, Minn./Hopkins) allowed two runs on five hits to earn the win. He struck out five and walked one in 5.1 innings. Freshman Rhyan Bett (West Covina, Calif./Bishop Amat) surrendered an unearned run on one hit in 2.2 innings of relief, while sophomore Patrick Strey (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) pitched a scoreless ninth.

Senior Josh Groth (Fridley, Minn.) went 3-for-5 with two RBI and junior Kurt Jantscher (Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) posted a 3-for-4 performance with a double at the plate. The Johnnies' Nos. 2-5 hitters combined to go 9-for-17 with five RBI and four runs scored in the game.

SJU travels to face Mount Union (Ohio) for three games next Friday-Saturday, March 14-15. The Johnnies are scheduled to play a nine-inning game at 3 p.m. EST Friday, followed by a 1 p.m. EST doubleheader on Saturday.