Saint John's plays host to Bethel for its home opener at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 8, at Saint John's Field in Collegeville. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM, via Real Audio Player)

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: The rust showed for Saint John's (9-2, 1-1 MIAC) in its first baseball games in 30 days (since March 7 in Fort Myers, Fla.), but the Johnnies salvaged a doubleheader split at Saint Mary's in the conference opener for both teams on Sunday (April 6) in Winona. SMU scored four runs with two outs and SJU was 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position in game one's 4-2 loss, but the Johnnies salvaged the split with four unanswered runs, two unearned, to earn a 6-3 victory in the nightcap.

SOLID START: Junior righty Collin Felhaber (North St. Paul, Minn.) improved to 2-0 on the young season, allowing the three runs on four hits in a team-high eight innings of work in the 6-3 win in game two. He struck out six and walked two and now has a 5-to-1 strikeout/walk ratio on the year (20 strikeouts to four walks). SMU broke up Felhaber's no-hit bid and gained a 3-2 lead with three runs on three hits in the bottom of the fourth. He allowed one hit total in the other seven innings and was named the MIAC Pitcher of the Week for the second time this season.

SHORT AND SWEET: Sophomore shortstop Logan Hershey (Maple Grove, Minn.) went 3-for-6 (reached base 5-for-8) with three runs scored and an RBI against Saint Mary's. In the field, Hershey was perfect in 11 chances at shortstop, including two diving plays up the middle. He is currently tied for the team-lead with 11 runs scored and is second in on-base percentage (.487).

HACKS IN RIGHT: Outfielder Joe Lampe (Osceola, Iowa/Clarke) has certainly made the most of his senior season, and the starting lineup, so far this spring. He has a hit in each of his eight starts in right field, from the No. 9 spot in the lineup, and leads the team in batting average (.500), doubles (5), extra-base hits (6), RBI (10), slugging percentage (.769) and on-base percentage (.536). He entered his senior season with 16 varsity at-bats (.188, 3-for-16).

SOLID PITCHING STAFF: SJU's pitching staff combined for a 4.20 ERA on Sunday but allowed only nine hits (.173 average), one for extra bases (double), in 15 innings. The double was SMU's first extra-base hit against the Johnnies since 2012 and was just the sixth allowed in 84 innings so far this season (all doubles). The Johnnies coaxed 26 groundball outs in the two games (to only seven flyouts). Sixty-four percent (.639) of SJU's outs recorded, off the bat in play, have been groundouts so far this spring.

NEW SEASON: A handful of statistical categories either held true or were drastic in comparison for SJU in Sunday's doubleheader, compared to the stats accrued a month ago in Fort Myers. For example, 10 of the Johnnies' 16 leadoff batters, to start an inning, reached base successfully (.625). The stat was nearly 50 percent (.477), a strong number in its own right, in Florida. The Johnnies also left 17 men on base in the two games against SMU, holding true to form of their 8.1 average per game in Florida. SJU struggled at the plate with runners on base (.222) and with runners in scoring position (.250) Sunday, in comparison to .331 and .350, respectively, in nine games over spring break.

NEARING 100: A pair of SJU outfielders are close to the 100-hit plateau for their respective careers. Senior Dylan Graves (Mora, Minn.) has 94 hits in 311 at-bats (.302), while junior Aaron Pfaff (New Ulm, Minn./Cathedral) has 95 hits in 288 at-bats (.330). Thirty-one percent (.309) of Graves' hits have been for extra bases: 15 doubles, three triples and 11 home runs.  

NEARING 700: SJU head coach Jerry Haugen needs eight victories to become the 26th head coach in NCAA Division III baseball history to reach 700 career wins. He currently has a 692-585-5 (.542) career record in 37 seasons.

A LOOK AT THE ROYALS: Bethel (9-4, 2-0 MIAC), like SJU, has had its schedule greatly altered by winter. Six of the Royals' last eight games, three of four scheduled doubleheaders, have been postponed. The lone doubleheader that the Royals did play was a sweep of Macalester, 4-3 and 11-6, March 29 in Mount Vernon, Iowa. Freshman Bryce Marquardt leads the team in batting average (.370), runs (12) and hits (20), while freshman Bret Neuville touts a team-leading 14 RBI and is tied for second with 15 hits. Sophomore pitchers Jake Hanzalik, Tyler Heitmann and Matt Herringshaw have combined for a 1.62 ERA and a .236 opponent batting average in 55.2 innings pitched (11 games, nine starts) this season.

LAST YEAR'S MEETINGS: SJU swept the regular-season series against BU before falling 4-2 in the first round of the MIAC Tournament in May. The Johnnies produced 13 runs on 19 hits in the sweep at Bethel, 7-2 and 6-0, last April 28 in Arden Hills. The visitors pounded out 12 hits and rode the complete-game effort of Ryan Spengler '13 in game one and Scott Schroeder '13 in game two's shutout.

SJU turned its first triple play since 2002 to get out of a jam in the bottom half of the first inning in game one. The Johnnies built a 4-0 lead with three runs in the third. Connor Cline '13 and senior first baseman Josh Groth (Fridley, Minn.) started the inning with back-to-back singles before Graves reached on a bunt single. An error by the second baseman, however, enabled Cline to score on the play, leaving runners at the corners. Graves then stole second and Groth advanced home on the throw. A double from senior third baseman Luke Larson (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) scored Graves. Bethel chipped away with single runs in the third and fourth innings before SJU added three more in the sixth. With two outs, BU intentionally walked Cline to load the bases but then hit two batters and walked another to plate three runs.

SJU broke a scoreless tie with a single run in the third inning of game two. With one down, junior Brett Becker (North Oaks, Minn./Mounds View) singled, stole second, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on an infield single by Cline. The Johnnies added four more in the sixth and another in the seventh. Cline and Graves tallied RBI singles in the sixth, while junior catcher Kurt Jantscher (Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) poked a two-run single down the right-field line. Larson ended the scoring with a sac fly in the seventh. Schroeder carried the no-hitter into the seventh, where he induced a flyball out to the first batter before Luke Schultz slipped a groundball single into right field. An infield single with two outs and a walk loaded the bases, forcing the decision to bring in Joey Long '13, who ended the game with a three-pitch strikeout. Cline finished the day 4-for-6 with four runs scored in his first appearance in the lineup since injuring his throwing hand April 7. Larson matched his 4-for-6 performance with a double and four RBI. Pfaff ended his weekend (2-2 record) 8-for-13 with two doubles and a .688 on-base percentage.

Three runs with two outs in the first inning proved to be the difference for Bethel in a 4-2 win over Saint John's in the first game of the six-team, single-elimination MIAC Tournament May 10 in Minnetonka. SJU out-hit the Royals 10-8 but was only 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and 1-for-9 with two outs on the day. A walk and an infield single followed by a pair of two-out doubles from Luke Schultz and Jarad Watts gave Bethel the early 3-0 lead. SJU had runners on the corners with nobody out in the second inning but did not score. A sacrifice fly from Matt Rowley, the Royals' starting pitcher, gave BU a 4-0 lead in the fifth. SJU had a leadoff hit in three consecutive innings but finally capitalized in the eighth. Max Forster '13 started the inning with a single and advanced to third on a two-out base-hit from Cline. Forster tallied the Johnnies' first run on a wild pitch before a throwing error by the third baseman, on a groundball off the bat of Groth, brought in Cline from second. Cline suffered the loss, allowing the four runs on eight hits in eight innings. He struck out six and walked three. Rowley tallied the win, allowing the two runs (one earned) on 10 hits with nine strikeouts and no walks in the complete-game outing. Graves was 2-for-4 with a double and a stolen base, while Cline added two hits to help his cause.

SERIES HISTORY: Since 1988, SJU is 36-18 against Bethel, including a 14-8 record in Collegeville. Five of the last seven meetings at the old Saint John's Field were decided by three runs or less (3-2 record). Two of SJU's three wins were recorded in extra innings.