MIAC Release

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – The Saint John's University baseball team was picked to repeat as regular-season champions in the 2019 MIAC Preseason Coaches' poll released Tuesday, Feb. 19.

The Johnnies collected 96 points and six first-place votes to open the 2019 season as the conference favorite. St. Thomas earned four first-place votes and 88 points to finish second, just ahead of Bethel in third (one first-place vote, 85 points). Gustavus Adolphus (67 points) and Saint Mary's (62) rounded out the top five.

SJU posted a 33-8 record and won the MIAC regular-season championship, the program's 14th and first since 1998, with a 16-4 mark in conference play in 2018. The Johnnies made their ninth consecutive appearance in the MIAC Tournament and finished second with a 2-2 record. SJU set school records for wins (33), fielding percentage (.974), ERA (2.73) and WHIP (1.18) last spring.

The Johnnies ended the season ranked in Division III's top 10 in seven statistical categories: second in walks allowed per nine innings (2.02), third in both ERA (2.73) and WHIP (1.18), fourth in shutouts (8), fifth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.33), seventh in fielding percentage (.974) and ninth in batting average (.341).

Saint John's was ranked No. 33 in Collegiate Baseball's preseason poll and received votes in D3baseball.com's rankings. The Johnnies open the 2019 season with nine games in five days March 4-8 in Fort Myers, Fla., and travels to Tucson, Ariz., for seven games in four days March 16-19. SJU begins conference play March 30 against Saint Mary's at home and hosts Gustavus April 9. The Johnnies visit Bethel April 13 and St. Thomas April 23. 

The Johnnies return three of their five All-Midwest Region honorees from last season in senior pitcher Jake Dickmeyer (Woodbury, Minn.), the reigning MIAC Pitcher of the Year, senior center fielder Max Jackson (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) and senior pitcher Bennett Wiggins (St. Anthony, Minn.).

The 2019 season is the 42nd for head coach Jerry Haugen '76, who was named the MIAC Coach of the Year last spring for the second time of his career. He has a 820-644-5 (.560) career record, which places him in the top 15 on the NCAA Division III winningest active coaches win list.

The four-team, double-elimination MIAC Tournament is scheduled for May 9-11 at CHS Field in St. Paul.

2019 MIAC Preseason Coaches' Poll
Coaches voted for every team in the conference except their own team. Points were assigned for each vote (10 for first, nine for second, etc.). Teams are ranked in order of highest point total to lowest with first place votes shown in parentheses, followed by the total points collected.

1. Saint John's (6), 96
2. St. Thomas (4), 88
3. Bethel (1), 85
4. Gustavus, 67
5. Saint Mary's, 62
6. Macalester, 57
7. Concordia, 46
8. St. Olaf, 39
9. Hamline, 32
10. Augsburg, 23
11. Carleton, 10