Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Saint John's baseball opened conference play with a pair of losses, 1-0 and 12-5, to Bethel on Saturday, April 1, at Becker Park in Collegeville.

The Johnnies (9-7, 0-2 MIAC), who had not played since March 10, struck out 16 times and batted .186 (11-for-59) on the day, including a .063 showing (1-for-16) with runners in scoring position. Of the 16 strikeouts, seven were on three pitches.

Junior Nick Noack (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Westlake) suffered another tough-luck loss in game one, allowing one run on eight hits in the complete-game, seven-inning effort. Seven of the eight hits were groundballs and the other was a Texas-leaguer into centerfield. He struck out one and did not walk a batter. The Johnnies have now scored a total of two runs in his 27 innings pitched this season. Noack is 1-1 with a 2.00 ERA and a .235 opponent batting average on the year.

The Johnnies managed only two hits off BU's Michael Willman, who improved to 4-1 with the win. Jake Marsh relieved him with one out and runners on first and second in the bottom of the seventh inning, and registered back-to-back, three-pitch strikeouts for the save. He also pitched a two-inning save in game two.

The Royals (17-3, 2-0 MIAC) jumped on senior Alex Kendall (St. Cloud, Minn./Saint John's Prep) for four runs in the second inning and added two more, one unearned, in the third of game two.

A two-run double off the left-field fence from junior infielder Jeron Terres (Cold Spring, Minn./Rocori) made it 6-2 in the third inning and two more crossed the plate, on a sacrifice fly from sophomore outfielder Max Jackson (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) and a wild pitch, in the fourth.

Sophomore designated hitter Thomas Meland (Northfield, Minn.) cut the Johnnies' deficit to one (6-5) with a solo homer, SJU's first of the season, in the fifth inning. The Johnnies had runners on first and second with nobody out in the sixth inning but did not score.

BU tacked on an unearned run in the seventh and plated five in the top of the ninth to end the scoring.

Sophomore Jake Dickmeyer (Woodbury, Minn.) allowed an unearned run on two hits in four innings of relief in game two. Kendall suffered the loss, allowing six runs (five earned) on six hits in three innings.

Freshman outfielder Wyatt Ulrich (Indus, Minn./International Falls) led SJU with three hits on the day, including a double, to extend his hitting streak to seven games.

The Johnnies play host to Carleton (6-8, 0-2 MIAC) for a 2:30 p.m. doubleheader on Wednesday, April 5, in Collegeville.