Game 1 Box Score |
Game 2 Box ScoreCOLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Saint John's batted .563 (9-for-16) with runners in scoring position and .481 (13-for-27) with two outs in a key doubleheader sweep over Carleton, 7-5 and 5-4, on Saturday, April 18, in Collegeville.
Nine of the Johnnies' 12 RBI on the day were recorded with two outs.
Carleton (10-16, 6-4 MIAC) jumped on sophomore
Derek Graves (Mora, Minn.) for five runs on six singles, five of which were groundballs, in the first inning in game one. Graves settled down, however, and allowed only two singles over the next five innings to earn the win (3-2). He struck out seven and did not issue a walk.
SJU (16-12, 7-5 MIAC) stormed back to tie the game with a five-run inning of its own in the bottom of the third. Four of the five runs were scored with two outs, thanks to four straight hits following a sacrifice fly from junior shortstop
Logan Hershey (Maple Grove, Minn.) that plated senior second baseman
Brett Becker (North Oaks, Minn./Mounds View) for the first run of the game. Two of the four two-out hits were doubles from junior catcher
Gabe MacDonald (Minneapolis, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret's) and junior first baseman
Patrick Strey (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview).
Senior outfielder
Aaron Pfaff (New Ulm, Minn./Cathedral) drove in Strey on a sac fly for what proved to be the game-winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning. Sophomore third baseman
Derek Schiebel (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) brought in Becker for an insurance run with a two-out, RBI single in the next at-bat.
Senior
Kurt Jantscher (Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) pitched a scoreless seventh inning to earn his sixth save of the season.
Senior outfielder
Tom Druk (Plymouth, Minn./Orono) started the Johnnies' four-run fourth inning in game two with a sacrifice fly, before junior outfielder
Mike Stegora (Red Wing, Minn.) made it 2-0 with an RBI single. Jantscher doubled SJU's lead with his team-leading fifth home run to right field in the next at-bat.
The Knights cut their deficit to 4-3 with a run in the sixth inning and two more in the seventh before the home team tacked on a crucial insurance run in the bottom half of the inning. Becker led off with a single, advanced to second on a sac bunt from Pfaff and scored on a two-out double off the bat of Hershey. Hershey was thrown out at the plate attempting to score from second base on a MacDonald single to end the inning.
A pair of two-out, infield singles cut the Johnnies' lead to 5-4 in the eighth, but Jantscher slammed the door by striking out the side in the ninth to tally his MIAC-leading seventh save of the season (and third of the week).
Strey earned the win in game two, allowing one run on six hits. He induced three double plays, struck out five and walked one in six innings on the hill.
Becker, Jantscher and Hershey all went 3-for-6 on the day. Becker added three runs scored and his team-leading 10th stolen base of the season. MacDonald extended his hitting streak to a team-best 14 games with a hit in each game.
The Johnnies host St. Scholastica for a nine-inning, non-conference game at 1 p.m. Sunday, April 19, in Collegeville.
