Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Saint John's baseball saw its 14-game win streak come to an end in a doubleheader split with Wisconsin-Superior on Sunday, March 28, in Collegeville.

UWS (7-5 overall) scored an unearned run in the top of the ninth inning to win game one, 8-7 in extras, but SJU (10-1 overall) bounced back with a 9-3 victory in the nightcap to earn the split.

Game 1
Superior gifted the Johnnies extra life with two unearned runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, thanks to two errors on the same play, only to claim victory due to a miscue in the top of the ninth.

SJU was down to its final strike, an 0-2 count, with runners on the corners when sophomore shortstop Matt Hayford (Rochester, Minn./Lourdes) chopped a groundball to the third baseman, who whipped the throw wide of first base. Junior Peter Schroeder (Minneapolis, Minn./Providence Academy), the pinch-runner on first base, wheeled around second and reached third, and tied the game when the throw home was off the mark.

Sophomore southpaw Casey Trapp (Blaine, Minn./Centennial) took over in the top of the eighth and struck out the side. His first batter of the ninth inning reached on a two-base throwing error, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a two-out, groundball up the middle. Despite the hard-luck loss, Trapp posted a 1.08 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 8.1 innings this week (including March 24 vs. St. Thomas).

The Johnnies broke open a 1-1 game with three, two-out runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Yellowjackets, however, answered with five runs on three hits - one left the infield - in the top of the fifth. UWS totaled 15 hits (13 singles) in the win.

Sophomore Alex Otto (Monticello, Minn.) allowed one run on four hits in 2.1 innings in relief of junior Nathan Brandecker (South St. Paul, Minn.), who surrendered six runs (five earned) on nine hits in the first 4.2 innings. 

Game 2
The tide shifted for UWS in game two, as the visitors were held to four hits. The Yellowjackets did, however, gain an early 2-0 lead, thanks to two singles and two hit batsmen, off senior Nick Penick (Cold Spring, Minn./Rocori) in the top of the first inning. 

The Johnnies responded with three runs in the second inning and a tally each in the third and fourth. Junior third baseman Casey Lieser (Circle Pines, Minn./Centennial) put SJU on the scoreboard with a bases-loaded walk in the second and sophomore shortstop Lucas Ammons (Minneapolis, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) followed with a two-run double in the ensuing at-bat. Ammons finished 2-for-3 with four RBI in his first collegiate appearance/start.

Freshman outfielder Jack Schleper (Shakopee, Minn.) brought in junior outfielder Soren Roe (Golden Valley, Minn./Blake) with a sacrifice fly in the third inning and SJU's other outfielder, freshman Rodney Erickson (St. Paul, Minn./Woodbury), launched his first collegiate home run with two outs in the fourth.

SJU broke the game open with four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Ammons brought in two more with a single and sophomore second baseman Owen Dauk (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) copied a page from UWS' game-one playbook with an RBI, infield single two batters later. Dauk stole second and scored on a throwing error by the third baseman.

Penick earned the win, allowing three runs on four hits. He struck out four and walked two. Sophomore Matt Herold (North Oaks, Minn./Mounds View) pitched a scoreless seventh inning.

The Johnnies open the MIAC schedule with a nine-inning game against Gustavus Adolphus at 1 p.m. on Good Friday, April 2, in St. Peter. SJU returns home to finish the three-game series with a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday, April 3, at Becker Park. Fans of the visiting team are not allowed to attend at either venue.