Game 1 Box Score |
Game 2 Box ScoreFORT MYERS, Fla. – Saint John's ran its winning streak to five with a doubleheader sweep, 10-0 and 14-13, of Bluffton (Ohio) on Thursday, March 5, in Fort Myers, Fla.
SJU (5-3 overall) batted .463, registering 38 hits in the 16 innings of play, including .538 (28-for-52) with runners on base, .514 (18-for-35) with runners in scoring position and .516 (16-for-31) with two outs in the doubleheader.
The Johnnies pounded out 15 hits, including nine consecutive with two outs for an eight-run third inning, in game one's 10-0 win. Junior
Logan Hershey (Maple Grove, Minn.) led the charge with a 4-for-4 performance at the plate, while senior
Aaron Pfaff (New Ulm, Minn./Cathedral) and sophomore
Derek Schiebel (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) added two hits apiece. All nine starters had a hit. Senior
Brett Becker (North Oaks, Minn./Mounds View) and juniors
Gabe MacDonald (Minneapolis, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret's) and
Mike Stegora (Red Wing, Minn.) tallied two RBI each.
Senior
Tyler Delwiche (Andover, Minn./Totino-Grace) allowed three hits in scoreless innings and struck out a career-high 10 to earn his first collegiate win. Junior
Marcus Barone (Eden Prairie, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret's) sealed the win with a scoreless seventh inning in relief.
Down 13-9 entering the bottom of the ninth in game two, SJU scored five runs and ended on senior
Kurt Jantscher's (Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) bases-clearing, walkoff double over the right-fielder's head.
Bluffton (3-4 overall) jumped on senior
Collin Felhaber (North St. Paul, Minn.) for four runs in the first inning, but SJU responded with two runs in its half of the first and three more in the second to take a 5-4 lead.
The Beavers scored two unearned runs in the sixth and four total in the eighth, due to three SJU errors in the inning, to gain an 11-7 lead. The Johnnies bounced back with two runs, but Bluffton answered with two more in the ninth to take a four-run lead into the bottom half.
Schiebel reached on an error by the shortstop to start the Johnnies' ninth inning and advanced to second on Hershey's single. A walk by junior
Dan Keller (Vadnais Heights, Minn./White Bear Lake) loaded the bases before senior
Tom Druk (Plymouth, Minn./Orono) brought SJU to within two with a two-run single. Junior
Patrick Strey (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) loaded the bases again with a single before Jantscher's game-winning double.
Felhaber allowed six runs (four earned) on 10 hits with seven strikeouts in seven innings. Freshman
Nick Noack (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Westlake) earned his first collegiate win in relief, allowing three runs (two earned) on three hits in two innings.
Pfaff went 5-for-6 with four RBI and two runs scored to lead SJU from the leadoff spot. The five hits moved into a tie with Tony Giuliani (1997-99) for eighth on SJU's all-time list with 124 and are the most by a Johnnie in a single game since Matt Schiller totaled five against St. Cloud State on April 15, 1998. Pfaff ended the day 7-for-10.
Hershey went 4-for-6 and now has nine hits in his last 12 at-bats. Strey batted 4-for-5 and Druk tallied three hits and three RBI. The Johnnies recorded 23 hits and left 14 men on base in game two.
SJU ends its Florida trip with a 9 a.m. EST, nine-inning game against Ohio Northern on Friday, March 6, at Terry Park in Fort Myers.
