Saint John's and St. Thomas play a non-conference doubleheader at noon Wednesday, March 24, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. – Live Stats

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 (7-0 overall) continued its winning ways with a doubleheader sweep of Bethany Lutheran, 5-3 and 12-5, on Sunday (March 21) at Becker Park.

Junior catcher Ethan Roe (Golden Valley, Minn./Blake) recorded his second, three-homer game of the young season in game two, while sophomore designated hitter Max Nyrop (Alameda, Calif.) went 6-for-9 with a home run, two doubles and five RBI in the two victories.

The Johnnies committed seven errors, but batted .426 (26-for-61) – to the Vikings' .196 (11-for-56) – on the day. SJU out-hit BLC .522 (12-for-23) to .063 (1-for-16) with two outs.

Game 1
The Johnnies came back from a 3-1 deficit in game one by scoring the game's final four runs. Bethany Lutheran started the doubleheader with a quick 2-0 lead thanks to three SJU errors. The Johnnies answered with an unearned run of their own in the bottom of the third inning, but BLC made it 3-1 in the top of the fourth. 

Freshman outfielder Jack Schleper (Shakopee, Minn.) drove in an unearned run with a two-out, RBI single in the bottom half of the fourth and Nyrop brought in sophomore second baseman Owen Dauk (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview), who tripled, with an RBI double to tie the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the fifth.

SJU padded its lead with a pair of two-out runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, an RBI triple off the bat of junior outfielder Soren Roe (Golden Valley, Minn./Blake) and another RBI single from Nyrop.

Sophomore Alex Otto (Monticello, Minn.) earned the win (2-0 record) in relief, allowing one baserunner (a walk) in two scoreless innings.

Junior Nathan Brandecker (South St. Paul, Minn.) allowed three runs, one earned, on four hits in the no-decision. He struck out a career-high seven and walked one.

Game 2
SJU totaled 17 hits, including seven for extra bases, and scored at least one run in all six innings at the plate in game two. 

The home team built a 7-1 lead after three innings, but the Vikings combined four hits with two SJU errors to plate four in the top of the fourth. Freshman Kody Dalen (Carver, Minn./Chanhassen) relieved senior starter Nick Penick (Cold Spring, Minn./Rocori) with one out and the bases loaded, and ended the threat with two swinging strikeouts. He allowed a single in 1.2 innings to earn his third win of the season (3-0 record).

Nyrop homered for the third time this season to start the bottom of the fourth inning and Ethan Roe launched his third long ball of the game three batters later. Roe finished 3-for-3 with four RBI in the win.

Nyrop went 4-for-5 with three RBI and three runs scored at the No. 3 spot in the lineup, while Brandecker posted a 3-for-4 showing with two RBI from the cleanup spot.

Three underclassmen – Schleper and sophomores Matt Hayford (Rochester, Minn./Lourdes) and Zach Selchow (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) – added two hits apiece.

Sophomore lefty Casey Trapp (Blaine, Minn./Centennial) walked one and struck out four in two scoreless innings of relief.

RAKING AT THE PLATE: Nyrop batted .733 (11-for-15) with a home run, three doubles, seven runs scored and 10 RBI as SJU went 4-0 last week to earn MIAC Baseball Player of the Week honors. 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 a 1.174 slugging percentage, .692 on-base percentage, three homers, 14 RBI and nine runs scored this season.

DINGERS IN BUNCHES: Ethan Roe batted .417 (5-for-12), in which all five hits were for extra bases, with seven RBI and five runs scored in the Johnnies' four wins last week. He is currently tied for the NCAA Division III (through March 21) in home runs per game (1.00), is second in slugging percentage (1.478) and third in total home runs (7). Roe is already tied for the ninth-most home runs in a season, five moonshots behind the program record of 12 set by former teammate Joey Stock '20 in 2019 (38 games, 199 at-bats), and leads the team in total bases (34) and slugging percentage (1.478), while batting .435 (10-for-23) from the plate.

STARK STAT CONTRASTS: Although SJU's opponents currently combine for a 4-26 record so far this spring - four games against Bethany Lutheran (1-6), two against Northland (0-9) and one against Crown (3-11) - the stats speak for themselves. Of note, BLC was picked to win the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) in the league's 2021 preseason coaches' poll. 

SJU has batted .357 (75-for-210) with a .700 slugging percentage, 65 runs scored, 58 RBI, 13 home runs, 17 doubles and eight triples. The opposition, meanwhile, has batted .205 (40-for-195) with a .282 slugging percentage and 21 runs scored. The Johnnie pitching staff has a 3.00 ERA, a fraction of the opponents' combined ERA of 10.57, with 64 strikeouts in 51 innings.

A LOOK AT THE TOMMIES: St. Thomas (3-1 overall) started its 2021 season with a split March 11 at Northwestern and bounced back with a sweep of the Eagles, 2-0 and 4-2, on Saturday (March 20) at UNW. Senior outfielder Avery Lehman leads UST, which is batting .186 (22-for-118), with a .267 average (4-for-15). Fifth-year senior (due to the 2020 COVID-19 season) Andrew Tri is 1-0 with a spotless ERA and 26 strikeouts (to three walks) in 13.1 innings.

BACK IN 2019: SJU climbed into first place in the MIAC with a doubleheader sweep of St. Thomas, 5-4 and 1-0, the last time these teams met on April 23, 2019, in St. Paul. The sweep was the first for the Johnnies at St. Thomas since 1998.

Joey Stock '20 went 4-for-7 with two home runs, four RBI and three runs scored in the doubleheader. The rest of the Johnnies' lineup, however, batted only .104 (5-for-48) on the day. Three SJU pitchers did the rest, allowing the four runs (three earned) on 16 hits, 15 of which were singles, in 16 innings.

Saint John's 5, at St. Thomas 4
SJU answered the Tommies' single run in the bottom of the first inning with five straight over the second and third innings. Jack Wingerd '19 tied the game at 1-1 with an RBI triple and Thomas Meland '19 brought him in with and RBI groundout. Stock made it 5-1 in the top of the third inning with a three-run blast on a 2-2 pitch with two outs. 

The Tommies cut it to 5-2 with a two-out, solo home run from Jake Husnick in the bottom of the fourth. UST started the bottom of the fifth with two straight singles, but pitcher Bennett Wiggins '19 battled back with a strikeout and induced a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning. 

Like the fifth inning, St. Thomas started the bottom of the sixth with two consecutive singles. A sacrifice-bunt attempt turned into a hit and a throwing error brought in a run to make it 5-3, which ended Wiggins' afternoon in favor of pitcher Tommy Auger '19. Auger prompted a 6-4-3 double play, which brought in another run, and ended the inning with a fly out to right.

Wiggins allowed the four runs, three earned, on 10 hits in five innings to improve to 7-2 on the year (14-4 in his career). He struck out four and walked one. Auger recorded a 1-2-3 seventh inning to complete his two innings of hitless relief and earn his second save of the season (fifth of his career).

Saint John's 1, at St. Thomas 0
Stock scored the game's lone run with an opposite-field homer in the top of the fourth inning. SJU loaded the bases in the fifth but did not score. Danny Kuhn '19 cruised through the first six innings, but ran into trouble in the seventh. UST started the inning with a pair of singles, but Kuhn coaxed a 4-6-3 double play and a fly out to end the threat.

Auger issued a two-out walk to UST's Sam Cobbs in the bottom of the ninth and Josh Thorp followed with a Texas-leaguer to center field. The Johnnies threw behind Cobbs, who rounded third base too far, to get the third out and clinch the sweep.

Kuhn pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing five singles with four strikeouts, to move his season record to 6-1 (13-2 in his career). Auger added two more scoreless innings to his ledger for another save.

SERIES HISTORY: SJU has won each of the last five meetings – and 10 of the last 13 – overall. On a neutral field, the Johnnies have won four of the last six.