Saint John's baseball opens the four-team, double-elimination MIAC Tournament against No. 8 St. Thomas at 3 p.m. Friday, May 9, at Veterans Field in Minnetonka. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM, via Real Audio Player) | Live Stats | Live Video | Championships Website

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-Head coach Jerry Haugen (2:11)

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (21-8, 13-7 MIAC) ended its regular season with a doubleheader sweep at Gustavus Adolphus, 6-5 and 10-0, to clinch its fifth consecutive MIAC-Tournament appearance on Saturday (May 3) in St. Peter. SJU scored four of game one's final five runs and rode the arm of senior Justin Thompson (Chanhassen, Minn./Chaska), in addition to a six-run fifth inning, in game two for the sweep. Game two was originally scheduled for nine innings but was shortened to seven due to the 10-run rule/option.

Senior outfielder Joe Lampe (Osceola, Iowa/Clarke) gave the visitors an early 2-0 lead with a two-run homer, his third of the season, in the first inning of game one. The lead was short-lived, however, as the first five Gusties reached en route to three runs in the bottom half of the inning off junior Collin Felhaber (North St. Paul, Minn.). GAC then made it 4-2 with an unearned run in the second. SJU cut its deficit in half with a run in the fourth and gained the lead with two more in the fifth. The Gusties answered with a run in the bottom half of the inning to tie it at 5-5, but the Johnnies tallied the deciding run in the top of the sixth on a fielder's-choice RBI off the bat of senior first baseman Tony Gazich (Arden Hills, Minn./Mounds View). Junior second baseman Brett Becker (North Oaks, Minn./Mounds View) went 3-for-4 with three stolen bases, while junior designated hitter Tom Druk (Plymouth, Minn./Orono), senior outfielder Dylan Graves (Mora, Minn.) and sophomore catcher Gabe MacDonald (Minneapolis, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret's) added two hits apiece.

SJU found the scoreboard with two runs in the third inning of game two and Gazich made it 3-0 with a solo homer, the first of his collegiate career, to start the fourth. The Johnnies posted their six-run fifth inning and ended the scoring with a single run in the top of the seventh.

TOUGH WINS: The Johnnies' sweep of the Gusties was their first in St. Peter since April 16, 1994 (7-6, 5-3). SJU was 6-12 in nine doubleheaders at Gustavus Field since then.

THOMPSON ON TOP: Thompson tied an SJU single-season record with his 10th save of the year in game one and then pitched a complete-game shutout in game two of Saturday's sweep. He improved to 2-0 on the year with his second complete-game victory of the season, allowing five hits with nine strikeouts (to three walks) in seven innings, and was named the MIAC Pitcher of the Week for his performance. Thompson has now pitched 18 consecutive scoreless innings on the mound, allowing 11 hits with 21 strikeouts (to five walks) during the stretch. He has allowed two runs and 18 hits in 29 innings pitched (14 appearances) and leads the MIAC in ERA (0.62) and saves (10).

HIT STREAKS: Becker and Lampe begin the MIAC Tournament riding an 11- and 10-game hit streak, respectively. Becker started the conference season 0-for-11 but has batted 24-for-53 (.453) since, including a 5-for-8 (.625) performance against the Gusties. He leads the team in batting (.413), hits (38) and on-base percentage (.460). Lampe, meanwhile, either leads or is tied for the team-lead in doubles (7), triples (6), home runs (3), RBI (22) and slugging percentage (.689).

SWIPERS KEEP SWIPING: The Johnnies are 40-for-45 on stealing bases for the year. Junior outfielder Aaron Pfaff (New Ulm, Minn./Cathedral) leads the team with 13 (13-for-13), while Becker has 12 (12-for-14). Becker stole six bases in the doubleheader sweep at Gustavus last Saturday.

THOU SHALT NOT STEAL: Opponents stole bases at a 58.1-percent success rate (18-for-31) against SJU this spring. MacDonald threw out five attempting base-stealers (allowed 9-for-14) and Thompson sent seven to the bench (allowed 5-for-12).

ON-BASE vs. AVERAGE: Pfaff tallied one hit in four games (1-for-9, in his first at-bat, last week. The Johnnies' lead-off hitter, however, registered a .556 on-base percentage thanks to nine walks.

A LOOK AT THE TOMMIES: St. Thomas (30-7, 18-2 MIAC) reached the 30-wins plateau with a 14-2 home win over Northwestern Monday (May 5). Senior first baseman Tyler Peterson had five RBI in the third with a three-run homer and a two-run double as UST sent 14 to the plate in a nine-run inning.  Over the past two seasons, Peterson has 95 RBI. Senior catcher J.D. Dorgan also hit his 19th career home run. Senior outfielder Tim Kuzniar extended his hitting streak to 14 games and hit his eighth triple of the season, one off the MIAC record of nine held by teammate Ben Podobinski. Peterson currently leads the MIAC (all games) in batting average (.468) and RBI (48). Kuzniar is second with a .435 average and Dorgan is third with 39 RBI. Junior third baseman Jack Hogan is tied for fourth with 34 RBI. UST led the MIAC with a 3.19 ERA, 0.05 ahead of SJU. Junior righty Collin Wendinger (6-0, 2.78 ERA, 45.1 innings) and sophomore lefty Eric Veglahn (6-0, 2.01 ERA, 44.2 innings) lead the rotation. The two, coupled with seniors Tommy Danczyk (4-1, 2.20 ERA, 41.0 innings) and Steve Maher (3-1, 5.59 ERA, 29.0 innings), have 157 strikeouts to 49 walks on the year.

LAST WEEK: SJU dropped a pair of games to then-No. 12 St. Thomas, 13-6 and 10-4, a week ago (May 1) in Collegeville. The Tommies broke a 4-2 deficit with 11 straight runs in game one's win and broke out of another tight score with five runs in the final three innings in game two. UST batted .408 (29-for-71) with eight extra-base hits on the day. Senior outfielder Joe Lampe (Osceola, Iowa/Clarke) ended the day 4-for-8 with eight total bases, a home run and double, while sophomore shortstop Logan Hershey (Maple Grove, Minn.) drove in five runs. SJU entered the doubleheader batting .324 on the year but posted a .218 performance (12-for-55) at the plate.

SERIES HISTORY: St. Thomas holds a 41-15 lead in the series since 1991, including a 6-2 mark in postseason play. SJU is 2-6 against the Tommies in its last eight meetings away from Collegeville. Five of those eight games were decided by three runs or less (1-4 record).

ROUND TWO: The winner/loser between SJU and UST will face the winner/loser of Friday's nightcap, Bethel and Saint Mary's, on Saturday. Friday's losers are scheduled to face each other at 11 a.m. Saturday, followed by the winners at 2 p.m.