Ben Etzell (Sean Donohue)
Sophomore Ben Etzell earned the complete-game victory for SJU (courtesy of Sean Donohue).
8
Winner Saint John's Univ. SJU 30-13
2
North Central Col. NCC 31-12
Winner
Saint John's Univ. SJU
30-13
8
Final
2
North Central Col. NCC
31-12
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Saint John's Univ. SJU 0 0 0 1 3 0 2 2 0 8 14 2
North Central Col. NCC 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 9 1

W: Etzell, Ben (4-1) L: Polowy (5-3)

Game Recap: Baseball |

SJU Tops No. 15/16 North Central, Faces Luther Tonight in Another Elimination Game


Box Score

LA CROSSE, Wis. – Saint John's baseball scored eight unanswered runs in an 8-2 victory over No. 15/16 North Central (Ill.) in an elimination game at the NCAA Midwest Regional on Friday, May 20, in La Crosse, Wis. 

The Johnnies (30-13 overall) advance to play No. 29 Luther of Iowa (34-13 overall) in another elimination game at 7:45 p.m. tonight at Copeland Park.

The victory gave SJU its first 30-win season in program history.

The Cardinals (31-12 overall) gained a 2-0 lead after three innings, but SJU answered with eight runs and 12 hits the rest of the way to pick up the win.

Sophomore Ben Etzell (Greenbank, Wash./Coupeville) went the distance, allowing the two runs on nine hits. He struck out five and walked two to improve to 4-1 on the year.

Senior shortstop Logan Hershey (Maple Grove, Minn.) started the rally with a solo home run, his fourth of the season and second of the tournament, to start the fourth inning and cut the Johnnies' deficit in half, 2-1.

SJU tacked on three more runs in the fifth inning. Senior catcher Gabe MacDonald (Minneapolis, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret's) tallied his first triple of the season to start the inning and scored on an RBI single from freshman outfielder Max Jackson (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall). Freshman second baseman Cole Weaver (Carlsbad, Calif./Santa Fe Christian) followed with another single and junior third baseman Derek Schiebel (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) advanced both runners with a sacrifice bunt. Hershey brought in Jackson with a sac fly and senior first baseman Patrick Strey (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) plated the inning's third run with his second double of the day.

Weaver singled to start the seventh inning and came around on Schiebel's fourth home run of the season, a two-run shot off the scoreboard in left-centerfield.

The Johnnies ended the scoring with two more runs in the eighth inning via RBI singles from Jackson and senior outfielder Dan Keller (Vadnais Heights, Minn./White Bear Lake).

NCC's Bryan Polowy, a second-team All-American a year ago, struck out seven SJU batters through the first four innings but was saddled with the loss, allowing six runs on 11 hits in six frames.




 
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