Box Score

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Saint John's baseball advanced to the MIAC Championship with an 8-4 win over St. Olaf on Friday, May 10, at CHS Field in St. Paul.

SJU (30-12, 13-7 MIAC) faces Gustavus Adolphus (25-11, 14-6 MIAC) at noon Saturday, May 11, in St. Paul. The Johnnies need to defeat the Gusties twice to win the MIAC Playoff title and earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament. 

The MIAC Championship appearance is the fourth in the last five years for SJU, which has now recorded 30 wins or more in three of the last four seasons.

Friday night's victory was the 850th for SJU head coach Jerry Haugen '76 (850-656-5 career record).



Senior Bennett Wiggins (St. Anthony, Minn.) went the distance, allowing four runs (three earned) on 10 hits to improve to 8-2 on the year (15-4 in his career). He struck out five and totaled 138 pitches, 94 for strikes. 

A bases-loaded, sacrifice fly from senior center fielder Max Jackson (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) broke a 4-4 tie in the top of the eighth inning proved to be the game-winning run. The RBI, Jackson's 29th of the season, tied SJU's career record of 107 held by Jay Kasner '07.  

The Johnnies padded their lead with three runs, two on bases-loaded walks, in the top of the ninth inning. SJU left 12 men on base and batted only 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position (4-for-18 with runners on base) in the win.

The Oles (27-15, 13-7 MIAC) found the scoreboard first with a two-out, infield single and throwing error to gain the quick lead in the bottom of the first inning.

SJU responded with a pair of runs in the top of the second inning. Senior second baseman Thomas Meland (Northfield, Minn.) singled with one out and scored from first on a deep double from freshman catcher Ethan Roe (Golden Valley, Minn./Blake). Roe scored when a groundball off the bat of Jackson went through the second baseman's legs. 

The Johnnies manufactured a pair of runs in the top of the fourth inning. Meland led off with a double and moved to third on a sac bunt from Roe. Junior shortstop Michael Gruber (Glenwood, Minn./Minnewaska Area) walked and stole second. The catcher's throw, however, was off the mark and enabled Roe to score and Gruber to move up to third. Ulrich brought him in with a sac fly in the ensuing at-bat. 

The lead didn't last long, however, as STO cut its deficit to one with a two-run single and tied the game at 4-4 on a two-out, Texas-leaguer in the bottom half of the inning.

Junior designated hitter Joey Stock (Cold Spring, Minn./Saint John's Prep) walked to start the ninth and  moved all the way to third on a failed pickoff attempt. Wingerd walked to force STO's first pitching change of the inning. The new reliever, however, walked junior first baseman Aaron Kloeppner (Dayton, Minn./Champlin Park) and junior second baseman Taylor Fourre (Albany, Minn.) on eight straight pitches to bring in a run. A new Ole reliever walked Roe walked on a full count to make it 7-4 before Gruber singled through the right side for the game's final run.