Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score

ST. PAUL, Minn. – St. Thomas snapped a five-game losing streak to Saint John's with a doubleheader sweep, 3-2 and 10-2, on a frigid Thursday, April 27, in St. Paul.

Most, if not all of the doubleheader was played with temperatures below 40 degrees and a wind chill in the mid-20's.
 
SJU (22-10, 11-5 MIAC) batted .242 (15-for-62), all singles, including .200 (5-for-25) with runners in scoring position and .194 (7-for-36) with runners on base, and left 22 men on base in the 16 innings.

Game 1
SJU had leads of 1-0 and 2-1 in game one, but Jake Smith tied it with a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth and the Tommies won it with a two-out, walk-off balk. The Johnnies left 13 men on base, to the Tommies' four, and batted 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position in game one alone.

The Tommies (20-11, 12-2 MIAC), who were ranked fourth in the first NCAA Midwest Regional rankings released earlier today, continued to threaten after Smith's solo homer, placing runners on the corners with one out. Junior Ben Etzell (Greenbank, Wash./Coupeville) came on in relief and posted a strikeout and flyout to end the inning.

UST's Hunter Hart doubled to start the bottom of the seventh and moved up to third on a sacrifice bunt. Etzell walked the next batter but registered a strikeout for the second out before he was called for a balk prior to his 1-0 pitch. 

Freshman outfielder Wyatt Ulrich (Indus, Minn./International Falls) singled with one out in the top of the fifth inning, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from sophomore centerfielder Max Jackson (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) and scored on an RBI single off the bat of senior third baseman Derek Schiebel (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview), which broke the scoreless tie in game one. The Johnnies extended the inning and loaded the bases before senior outfielder Blake Langerud (Faribault, Minn./Bethlehem Academy) lifted a deep flyball to right, but UST's Joe Burnley made an over-the-shoulder catch for the final out just in front of the fence.

The mojo carried over to the batter's box as Burnley tied the game at 1-1 with a two-out, RBI single in the bottom half of the inning.

Schiebel gave the lead back to SJU in the top of the sixth inning on a two-out, bases-loaded walk by UST's Shaun Falbo. Falbo walked three in 1.1 innings and earned the win.

Sophomore Jake Dickmeyer (Woodbury, Minn.) allowed two runs on six hits in 5.1 innings in the no decision.

Game 2
St. Thomas jumped out a 4-0 lead with four unearned runs in the bottom of the first inning in game two. UST got on the board on a fielder's choice before Burnley cleared the bases with a two-out double. Eight of the Tommies' 10 runs scored in game two came with two outs.

SJU loaded the bases with one out in the top of the third and junior first baseman Jeron Terres (Cold Spring, Minn./Rocori) put the visitors on the scoreboard with an RBI, fielder's choice to make it 4-1.

UST made it 5-1 with a two-out, RBI single in the bottom of the third inning and broke the game open with back-to-back two-out, two-run doubles in the bottom of the sixth.

Ulrich extended his hit streak to 23 games with a two-out, RBI single in the top of the ninth inning.

Senior Alex Kendall (St. Cloud, Minn./Saint John's Prep) suffered the loss, falling to 5-4 on the season. He allowed five unearned runs on three hits in three innings.

Henry DeCaster, a transfer from Division I South Dakota State, improved to 7-0 for the Tommies. He struck out 11 and allowed an unearned run on five hits in seven innings.

The Johnnies return home to host Macalester for a 2:30 p.m. doubleheader on Monday, May 1, at Becker Park.