Box ScoreMINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Division I Minnesota scored its last seven runs of the game with two outs to defeat Saint John's 9-8 in non-conference action on Tuesday, March 31, in Minneapolis.
The Johnnies (9-7, 0-0 MIAC) led by as much as 7-4 in the bottom of the fifth inning and left eight men on base. Minnesota held a slim edge in hits, 12-11, and scored eight of its nine runs with two outs.
The Gophers (9-15, 1-2 B1G) gained an early 4-0 lead with four unearned runs off junior
Joe Stanton (Stillwater, Minn.) in the second inning. The first two runs scored on base-loaded freebies, a balk and walk, before Matt Fiedler drove in two more with a two-out single.
A two-out, two-run single off the bat of senior
Tom Druk (Plymouth, Minn./Orono) cut SJU's deficit in half before senior
Kurt Jantscher (Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) ripped a two-run double to right to tie it at 4-4 in the top of the third inning.
SJU erupted for three runs in the top of the fifth inning to gain a 7-4 lead. Junior
Logan Hershey (Maple Grove, Minn.) was hit by a pitch to start the inning and was followed by infield singles from classmate
Dan Keller (Vadnais Heights, Minn./White Bear Lake) and Druk to load the bases. The runners moved up on a wild pitch, which plated Hershey, before junior
Mike Stegora (Red Wing, Minn.) roped a one-out, two-run double into the right-field gap.
A two-run single from Dan Motl cut the Johnnies' lead to 7-6 before Matt Stemper lifted a two-run homer to left in the bottom half of the inning. All four runs were scored with two outs off junior
Brad Luebbert (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley Northwest).
Keller tied the game with a two-out, RBI double down the right-field line in the top of the sixth and the Johnnies stranded runners on second and third base, with one out, in the top of the seventh inning.
The Gophers rallied for the game-winning run with two outs against freshman
Nick Noack (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Westlake) in the bottom of the eighth inning. Connor Schaefbauer doubled off the right-field wall and Fiedler drove him in with a single to centerfield. Fiedler is batting .398 (33-for-83) on the year.
Druk, Jantscher and Stegora all had two hits and two RBI on the day. Keller posted a 2-for-3 day at the plate with an RBI and two runs scored.
Senior
Tyler Delwiche (Andover, Minn./Totino-Grace) started the game and pitched a scoreless first inning, which extended his scoreless-innings streak to 14.2. Junior
Patrick Strey (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) and sophomore
Derek Graves (Mora, Minn.) each pitched two scoreless innings of relief.
The Johnnies open MIAC play with a 2:30 p.m. doubleheader on Wednesday, April 1, at Concordia-Moorhead.
