Game 1 Box Score |
Game 2 Box ScoreCOLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Saint John's swept Augsburg in walk-off fashion, 4-3 and 11-9 in 11 innings, on Saturday, April 11, in Collegeville.
The Johnnies (13-11, 4-4 MIAC) have now swept the Auggies with walk-off wins twice in the past three seasons (8-7 in nine innings and 3-2 in Collegeville on May 6, 2013).
Down 3-2 in game one, SJU recorded three straight hits with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning to tie the game. The third hit, an RBI single, came off the bat of senior centerfielder
Aaron Pfaff (New Ulm, Minn./Cathedral).
Junior shortstop
Logan Hershey (Maple Grove, Minn.) nearly ended the game with a walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh inning, but his leadoff blast went off the top of the left-field fence for a standup double. Senior leftfielder
Tom Druk (Plymouth, Minn./Orono) brought in Hershey for the game-winning run on a one-out, RBI single.
Senior
Kurt Jantscher (Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) earned the win in relief, allowing a hit with two strikeouts in a scoreless seventh inning. Sophomore
Derek Graves (Mora, Minn.) allowed the three runs on eight hits in six innings of work.
Jantscher gave himself the win in game two with a walk-off, two-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning in game two. The opposite-field blast was his team-leading fourth of the season.
SJU trailed 7-2 after five innings and entered the bottom of the ninth down 9-6. Druk cut it to 7-3 with his first collegiate homer in the sixth inning before the Johnnies stormed back with a vengeance in the seventh. Sophomore third baseman
Derek Schiebel (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview), Hershey and junior catcher
Gabe MacDonald (Minneapolis, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret's) hit back-to-back-to-back home runs, all on the first pitch, with two outs to cut the Auggies' lead to 7-6. The homer was Schiebel's second of the day.
Augsburg (10-14, 3-7 MIAC), however, bounced back with single runs in the eighth and ninth to gain a three-run lead.
SJU started the ninth with three straight hits, including an RBI double from Hershey. MacDonald brought in another run with an RBI groundout in the next at-bat, before Druk tied the game with an RBI single.
Hershey started the 11th with a single and provided the game-winning run on Jantscher's walk-off home run.
Jantscher improved to 2-1 on the season with two more innings of scoreless relief. Junior
Patrick Strey (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) made the start and pitched his four scheduled innings, due to arm soreness suffered last week, allowing three runs on three hits with six strikeouts.
The Johnnies' Nos. 1-3 batters (Pfaff, Schiebel, Hershey) were a combined 0-for-6 three times through the order in game two, only to finish 6-for-15 with three RBI and seven runs scored.
Hershey batted 5-for-9 with four runs scored, two RBI, two doubles and the solo homer on the day. Jantscher followed with three hits in seven trips with three RBI, a double and the game-winning home run.
MacDonald extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a 3-for-9 afternoon. He is batting .417 (15-for-36) with four doubles, a triple, two home runs, nine runs scored and 13 RBI over the stretch.
Senior second baseman
Brett Becker (North Oaks, Minn./Mounds View) became the 25th Johnnie in school history to reach 100 for a career with a bunt single in game two.
Dylan Graves '14 achieved 100 career hits against the Auggies last spring.
The Johnnies travel to face nationally-ranked St. Thomas for a 2:30 p.m. doubleheader on Wednesday, April 15, in St. Paul.
Notes: The Johnnies have now won 10 of the last 11 meetings with Augsburg…nine of the 11 games were decided by two runs or less (8-1 record)…SJU currently leads the MIAC with 16 home runs in eight conference games…the next closest is St. Thomas' eight in eight league games.
