Saint John's returns to U.S. Bank Stadium for a noon doubleheader against Northland (Wis.) on Wednesday, March 17. - Live Stats/Live Video

NO FANS AT U.S. BANK STADIUM: At this time, U.S. Bank Stadium does not allow spectators. 

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (3-0 overall) offense came alive at the right time as the Johnnies swept Bethany Lutheran with a pair of 2-1, 8-inning wins last Wednesday (March 10) at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The early-morning start (7 a.m.) may have aided the strong pitching performances. The two teams combined for 15 hits in 31 innings of play, a .140 average (15-for-107), and 40 strikeouts. 

Game 1
Junior catcher Ethan Roe (Golden Valley, Minn./Blake) gave SJU (3-0 overall) a 1-0 lead in game one with his fourth home run of the young season (in seven at-bats) with two outs in the top of the fourth inning. 

Bethany Lutheran tied the game in the bottom of the fifth thanks to a leadoff double and three consecutive walks with two outs.

Sophomore shortstop Matt Hayford (Rochester, Minn./Lourdes) singled to start the eighth inning and advanced to second on a passed ball. He then moved up to third when sophomore second baseman Owen Dauk (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) singled for his first collegiate hit with one out, and advanced to second on the throw. Hayford scored the go-ahead run on another passed ball.  

Senior pitcher Nick Penick (Cold Spring, Minn./Rocori) did not allow a baserunner in two scoreless innings of relief, including three strikeouts to seal the win in the bottom of the eighth, to earn the victory. 

Junior Nathan Brandecker (South St. Paul, Minn.) started the game and allowed one run on two hits in 4.2 innings. He struck out four and walked three. Sophomore Alex Otto (Monticello, Minn.) relieved Brandecker in a tight spot, the bases loaded, and issued the run-scoring walk. He settled down to end the inning and tossed a scoreless sixth.

Game 2
The Johnnies used a pair of solo home runs to win game two and complete the doubleheader sweep.

Down 1-0 with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning, sophomore designated hitter Max Nyrop (Alameda, Calif.) tied the game with his second homer of the season and third in nine collegiate at-bats. 

Freshman outfielder Jack Schleper (Shakopee, Minn.) played the hero role with a walk-off homer to right-center to start the bottom of the eighth. The blast was his first collegiate hit, in his first collegiate start.

Freshman Kody Dalen (Carver, Minn./Chanhassen) allowed one hit and struck out five in two scoreless innings of relief to pick up the victory.

SJU was held hitless until Hayford recorded an infield single with one out in the bottom of the sixth.

Sophomore southpaw Casey Trapp (Blaine, Minn./Centennial) made his second collegiate start and gave up two hits in three scoreless innings. He struck out four and walked two. 

Sophomore Cade Marsolek (Savage, Minn./Burnsville) surrendered the lone BLC run on two hits in three innings. Marsolek set down the first six batters he faced until the Vikings' Reed Brown led off the sixth inning with a single, advanced to second on a groundout and scored on an RBI single.

The two teams combined to go 2-for-39 (.051) with runners on base and 2-for-23 (.087) with runners in scoring position.

FOUR MORE THIS WEEKEND: SJU and BLC are scheduled to play a home-and-home series this weekend, beginning with a 1 p.m. doubleheader Saturday, March 20, in Mankato. The Johnnies return home to host the Vikings for two more games at 1 p.m. Sunday, March 21, at Becker Park.

DÉJÀ VU BACK TO 2017: Prior to last Wednesday's early trek to Minneapolis, SJU last played at U.S. Bank Stadium on March 1, 2017, vs. Valley City State (N.D.). The Johnnies, like a week ago, earned a doubleheader sweep, 9-3 and…2-1 in eight innings. Meaning, SJU's last three games at "The Bank" were 2-1 wins in eight innings. Max Jackson's '19 RBI single with nobody out in the bottom of the eighth inning brought in the winning run for SJU back in 2017. Jack Wingerd '19 tripled to deep, left-centerfield to lead off the bottom half before Jackson's full-count poke down the left-field line. 

ROE-ING RIGHT ALONG: Ethan Roe was named the MIAC Baseball Player of the Week Monday (March 15) after he batted .455 (5-for-11) with four home runs, a double and five RBI (a 1.636 slugging percentage) as SJU started its 2021 season with a 3-0 record last week. He was named to D3baseball.com's National Team of the Week March 8 after hitting three home runs, the first of his collegiate career, to tie SJU's single-game record in the Johnnies' 13-10 win March 7 over Crown. His 14 total bases, thanks to an eighth-inning double, set a program record. 

He hit his fourth homer of the young season (in seven at-bats) with two outs in the top of the fourth inning of SJU's eventual 2-1 win in eight innings - in game one - March 10 vs. Bethany Lutheran at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

MAX POWER: Down 1-0 with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning, sophomore designated hitter Max Nyrop (Alameda, Calif.) tied game two with his second homer of the season and third in nine collegiate at-bats (going back to last season). His first homer of the season was a two-run shot in the bottom of the eighth inning in the Johnnies' season opener March 7 against Crown. Nyrop finished that game 3-for-4 with three RBI. Nyrop leads the team in batting average (.500, 4-for-8) and on-base percentage (.600), and is second in home runs (2), wo home runs, RBI (4) and total bases (10). 

FRESHMAN DUO SHINE IN GAME 2: Dalen made his second collegiate appearance on the mound in the second game of Wednesday's doubleheader and allowed one hit with five strikeouts in two scoreless innings of relief to pick up the victory. He has six strikeouts in three scoreless innings so far this season.

Schleper struck out swinging in his first two collegiate at-bats in game two before the walk-off homer. The last freshman to record a game-winning, walk-off hit was Michael Gruber '20 on May 2, 2017, in Collegeville. He ripped an RBI single up the middle, with one out in the bottom of the 10th inning, in the Johnnies' 5-4 win over Macalester in game two of the day's doubleheader.

A LOOK AT THE LUMBERJACKS: Northland (0-3 overall) started its 2021 season with three losses over the weekend. The Lumberjacks were swept by Lawrence (Wis.), 19-4 and 7-4, on Saturday (March 13) and suffered a 16-6 defeat at Concordia (Wis.) Sunday afternoon. The Falcons scored six runs in the bottom of the eighth inning Sunday to initiate the 10-run rule (12 combined runs over the sixth, seventh and eighth innings).

Northland's 22-man, 2021 roster includes 10 freshmen and eight student-athletes from Wisconsin. The other 14 represent nine states and Canada (British Columbia). The Lumberjacks went 1-9 - with the lone win coming against Augsburg (4-3) in the season opener - before COVID-19 halted the 2020 season. NC finished 11-23-1 (5-11 UMAC) in 2019, highlighted by a .291 team batting average, with a 10.91 team ERA.

Junior outfielder/pitcher Adrian Bethel appeared in every game for the Lumberjacks in 2019 (35) and led the team in doubles (15), home runs (3), RBI (31) and slugging percentage (.564). In the shortened 2020 season, Bethel led the team in batting average (.387), hits (12) and doubles (5). On the mound in 2019, Bethel made eight appearances with a record of 4-2 in 35 innings. He recorded 26 strikeouts, a .267 opponent batting average and a 7.46 ERA.

The team's top hitter in 2019, sophomore outfielder Jake Schramm, also returns. In 33 appearances, he led the team in batting average (.436), runs scored (26) and hits (51). He has a team-leading four hits and four runs scored so far in 2021. 

Junior infielder/pitcher Noah Cross rounds out the Lumberjacks' top returnees from the past two years. In 2019, Cross recorded a .383 batting average, with only 10 strikeouts, in his team-leading 120 at-bats.

SERIES HISTORY: Wednesday's meeting is the second (third and fourth games) between Saint John's and Northland. The first was a doubleheader sweep, 12-4 and 9-1, for the Johnnies on March 5, 2014, in Ft. Myers, Fla. Outfielder Dylan Graves '14 ended the day 5-for-7 with five RBI, while second baseman Brett Becker '15 (3-for-6) and outfielder Aaron Pfaff '15 (3-for-8) combined to score nine of the team's 21 runs from the Nos. 1 and 2 spots in the lineup. SJU batted .444 (12-for-27) with runners in scoring position and .435 (10-for-23) with two outs in the doubleheader.