Game 1 Box Score |
Game 2 Box Score
ST. PETER, Minn. – No. 25 Saint John's baseball started its conference schedule with a doubleheader split at Gustavus Adolphus on Wednesday, April 11, in St. Peter.
The Johnnies (15-3, 1-1 MIAC) mustered only four hits but took advantage of seven walks and rode the arm of junior
Jake Dickmeyer (Woodbury, Minn.) in game one's 5-0 win. SJU held the Gusties (9-8, 1-1 MIAC) off the scoreboard for the first 7.1 innings of game two, thanks to another strong pitching performance from junior
Danny Kuhn (Alexandria, Minn.), but the home team tied the game at 1-1 in the eighth and earned the 2-1 walk-off win with a one-out single in the bottom of the ninth. All three losses for the Johnnies so far this season were decided by one run, while 14 of the 15 wins were by four runs or more.
The doubleheader ended a three-week hiatus from competition and served as the first form of outdoor baseball since March 20 for the Johnnies, who entered the MIAC opener as the NCAA Division III leader in batting average (.406) and slugging percentage (.592), and was second in on-base percentage (.471) and runs per game (10.6).
SJU batted .200 (11-for-55) on the day, including a .188 (3-for-16) showing with runners in scoring position and a .120 (3-for-25) average with runners on base. Senior catcher
Dominick Schleper (Shakopee, Minn.) accounted for nearly half of the team's hits (5-for-7).
Saint John's 5, Gustavus 0
Dickmeyer went the distance to earn the second complete-game shutout of his career and improve to 3-0 on the season. He struck out six and allowed six singles, four of which came in the final two innings, and did not issue a walk.
SJU broke the scoreless tie in game one with an RBI fielder's choice off the bat of sophomore third baseman
Jack Schramel (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral) in the top of the fourth inning and broke the game open with four runs in the fifth. Schleper singled with one out, while senior second baseman
Brennan Swan (Plymouth, Minn./Totino-Grace) and sophomore outfielder
Wyatt Ulrich (Indus, Minn./International Falls) walked to load the bases.
A wild pitch made it 2-0 before junior centerfielder
Max Jackson (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) walked with two outs to re-load the bases. Senior first baseman
Jeron Terres (Cold Spring, Minn./Rocori) came through with a two-out, two-RBI single. Jackson and Terres successfully executed a double-steal before Schramel and junior designated hitter
Thomas Meland (Northfield, Minn.) coaxed back-to-back walks for another run.
Gustavus 2, Saint John's 1
Terres gave SJU a 1-0 lead with a sacrifice fly in the in the third inning. The Gusties tied it at 1-1 with a one-out homer down the right-field line from Matt Berkner in the bottom of the eighth inning. Berkner entered the at-bat 4-for-31 (.129) on the year.
Nolan Lepel started the bottom of the ninth with an infield single off senior
Ben Etzell (Greenbank, Wash./Coupeville), advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on Nathan Lindberg's single to the left-field gap.
Kuhn allowed the one run on four hits in 7.1 innings for the no-decision. He struck out six with no walks and one hit batsman. Dickmeyer and Kuhn are a combined 6-0 with a 1.43 ERA, .196 opponent batting average (35-for-179) and 51 strikeouts to only two walks in 50.1 innings pitched this season.
The Johnnies are scheduled to host Bethel at 1 p.m. Saturday, April 14, but the weather forecast does not look favorable. SJU travels to Winona to face Saint Mary's at 1 p.m. Sunday, April 15. This doubleheader takes precedence over the two games with BU (since it was the original MIAC opener) and would be played either Monday or Tuesday, or rescheduled for later in the week, as Augsburg visits Collegeville Wednesday, April 18.
