Box Score

MINNETONKA, Minn. – Saint John's posted 20 hits and staved off elimination for another day with a 9-5 win over Concordia-Moorhead in the MIAC Tournament on Saturday, May 9, at Veterans Field in Minnetonka.

The victory eliminated Concordia-Moorhead (26-11, 12-6 MIAC), which suffered a 12-6 loss to St. Thomas in the winner's bracket game Saturday afternoon.

The Johnnies (24-14, 12-6 MIAC) advance to play St. Thomas (24-14-1, 11-7 MIAC) in the championship round at 10 a.m. Sunday, May 10, in Minnetonka. SJU needs to defeat the Tommies twice to claim the MIAC Playoff championship and earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament. 

Junior catcher Gabe MacDonald (Minneapolis, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret's) put SJU on the scoreboard with a two-out, RBI single in the top of the third inning. The base knock extended his hitting streak to 24 games.

Sophomore third baseman Derek Schiebel (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) gave SJU a 3-0 lead with a two-out, two-run double down the left-field line in the top of the fourth. The double, his 16th of the season, is one shy of the school's single season record (17 by Ryan Roder '97 in 1997).

The Cobbers' first three batters reached base in the bottom of the fourth, a leadoff triple by Devin Johnson and two walks, but Concordia only tallied one run. 

Three consecutive one-out hits gave SJU a 5-1 lead in the top of the fifth inning. Back-to-back doubles from senior Kurt Jantscher (Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) junior rightfielder Mike Stegora (Red Wing, Minn.) plated the first run before senior leftfielder Tom Druk (Plymouth, Minn./Orono) roped an RBI single.

Stegora smoked a line drive over the center-field fence for a two-run homer, his fourth of the season, in the top of the seventh.

Aaron Green cut the Cobbers' deficit to two with a grand slam in the bottom of the seventh.

SJU left the bases loaded in the eighth and risked stranding a leadoff double from Stegora in the ninth, but Becker brought him in with a double of his own and scored on an RBI single off the bat of Pfaff. Pfaff reached base all six times and went 4-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored in the contest.

Sophomore Derek Graves (Mora, Minn.) improved to 4-2 on the year, allowing the five runs on six hits. He struck out a career-high 10 and walked four.

Freshman Ben Etzell (Greenbank, Wash./Coupeville) struck out two and pitched two scoreless innings of relief to earn his first collegiate save.

Druk went 4-for-5, while Jantscher, Schiebel and Stegora collected three hits apiece.

The Johnnies are batting .382 (50-for-131) with 14 extra-base hits (10 doubles and four home runs) so far in the MIAC Tournament. Individually, Becker (.571) and Pfaff (.500) have eight hits each in the three games.