MIAC Release

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Three Saint John's University student-athletes, two Californians and one Minnesotan, earned MIAC Men's Athlete of the Week honors in their respective sports on Monday, March 22.

Senior Thomas Gillach (Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes) received the honor for men's tennis, sophomore designated hitter Max Nyrop (Alameda, Calif.) picked up the player award for baseball and senior defenseman Cole Souto (Yorba Linda, Calif.) ended his career with the distinction in men's hockey.

Gillach moved to 3-0 at both No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles as SJU remained undefeated in the MIAC (3-0) with 8-1 home wins over St. Olaf (March 20) and Hamline (March 21) last weekend. He has won 17 of his last 20 doubles matches and 15 of his last 19 singles bouts going back to the 2019 season. The Johnnies host Minnesota-Morris for a 4 p.m. non-conference match on Friday, March 26, at Sta-Fit in Sartell and return to conference play with a 1:30 p.m. match on Saturday, March 27, at Gustavus Adolphus in St. Peter.

Nyrop batted .733 (11-for-15) with a home run, three doubles, seven runs scored and 10 RBI as SJU (7-0 overall) posted a 4-0 record last week. He was 8-for-10 with runners in scoring position and 5-for-7 (.714) with runners on base. Nyrop is batting .652 (15-for-23) with three homers, 14 RBI and nine runs scored this season. SJU and St. Thomas play a non-conference doubleheader at noon Wednesday, March 24, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

Souto totaled four points (3g/1a) as SJU (6-2-2, 4-0-1 MIAC) ended its 2020-21 season with a 2-0-1 record last week. He scored his first goal since Feb. 16, 2019 (at Gustavus Adolphus), 53 seconds into the third period of the Johnnies' 3-3 overtime tie March 16 against St. Thomas. Souto then hit the pipe twice and scored two third-period, power-play goals in March 18's 5-2 win over Saint Mary's. He suffered a shoulder injury during the first period of the March 19 season finale at Hamline and did not return in the Johnnies' 3-2 win, the 150th career victory for head coach Doug Schueller. Souto collected 36 points (15g/21a), including 10 power-play goals, in 62 career games for the Johnnies.