Saint John's baseball visits St. Thomas for a 1 p.m. doubleheader today in St. Paul and returns home to host the Tommies for a nine-inning game at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 11, at Becker Park. – Live Stats (Saturday) | Live Video (Saturday) | Live Stats/Live Video (Sunday)

SUNDAY'S SPECTATOR POLICY: Spectators will be limited to SJU baseball parents first, then CSB/SJU students and staff (with a CSB/SJU ID) on a first-come, first-served basis for the remaining seats available. The baseball parents will receive an online document for pre-registration.

-No fans from the opposing team will be allowed at this time. This policy will be revisited in early April.

-Spectators allowed in Becker Park may sit in groups of 4. Available seating areas will be labeled.

-The area above the dugouts in Becker Park are reserved for the student-athletes (for additional social distance seating).

-No tailgating or gatherings in the parking lot or around the stadium will be allowed before, during or after the game/s.

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (11-4, 1-3 MIAC) returned to the win column with a 3-1 victory over Concordia yesterday (April 9) in Moorhead. The Johnnies and Cobbers were scheduled to play a doubleheader on Wednesday (April 7) but the games were postponed and rescheduled for Thursday, and then Friday, only to have the doubleheader changed to a single nine-inning game.

Sophomore second baseman Owen Dauk (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) gave the Johnnies a 2-0 lead with a two-run homer, the first of his collegiate career, in the top of the fourth inning. Concordia answered with a single run, a walk and RBI double with one out, in the bottom half.

Junior catcher Ethan Roe (Golden Valley, Minn./Blake) added an insurance run with a one-out homer to straight away center in the top of the ninth inning. The blast was his eighth of the season.

Senior Nick Penick (Cold Spring, Minn./Rocori) allowed one run on five hits and struck out six. He is now 3-0 with a 2.96 ERA, a .200 opponent batting average and 26 strikeouts in 27.1 innings pitched this season.

Sophomore Alex Otto (Monticello, Minn.) gave up a single and struck out three in two shutout innings to earn his first collegiate save.

Sophomore designated hitter Max Nyrop (Alameda, Minn.) went 2-for-3 with a double and a walk to lead the Johnnies' bats.

CC's Ty Syverson entered the game with a 4-0 record, 0.92 ERA and 35 strikeouts in 19.2 innings. The quality pitching on both sides contributed to the snappy game in 1:55.

WIN STREAK vs. CC: The Johnnies have now won each of the last seven meetings with the Cobbers, though eight (6-2 SJU record) of the last 12 matchups were decided by two runs or less.

STAT COMPARISONS: Statistically, the Johnnies have the edge at the plate, while the Tommies tout the better numbers on the mound and in the field.

Batting Average
-SJU, .294
-UST, .274

Slugging Percentage
-SJU, .507
-UST, .375

ERA
-UST, 1.25
-SJU, 3.83

Opponent Batting Average
-UST, .173
-SJU, .241

Fielding Percentage
-UST, .978
-SJU, .954

A LOOK AT THE TOMMIES: St. Thomas (10-3, 5-0 MIAC) ran its win streak to seven and completed the sweep of Macalester with a 13-3 win yesterday (April 9) on the home diamond. The game, which started Tuesday and was suspended by lightning, resumed Friday with the Scots coming to bat in the top of the fifth inning trailing UST, 5-2. 

Freshman outfielder Jake Porter leads the team in batting average (.472), slugging percentage (.806), hits (17), RBI (15) and stolen bases (6). On the mound, senior pitcher Andrew Tri is 2-1 with a 0.44 ERA, .167 opponent batting average and 33 strikeouts in 20.2 innings.

TWO WEEKS AGO: The Johnnies improved to 9-0 with a sweep of UST, 3-2 and 3-2 in eight innings, back on March 24 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

Junior first baseman Nathan Brandecker (South St. Paul, Minn.) went 3-for-6 on the day, including a two-run homer and the walk-off, RBI single in game two. Offense was at a premium, as the two teams combined to bat .170 (17-for-100) on the afternoon.

Game 1
SJU issued eight free passes (seven walks and one hit batsman) through the first three innings of game one. UST, which entered the day batting .186 (22-for-118) with 11 walks in 33 innings, gained a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second thanks to four straight walks and a sacrifice fly.

Otto ended the bases-loaded threat in the bottom of the second with a strikeout and eventually earned the win. He struck out four and allowed one hit in 4.1 scoreless innings of relief to improve to 3-0 on the year.

Freshman outfielder Rodney Erickson (St. Paul, Minn./Woodbury) started the Johnnies' three-run sixth inning with a leadoff single. Dauk followed with a sacrifice bunt, but the catcher's throw was off the mark to second base, placing runners on the corners. Nyrop put SJU on the scoreboard with an RBI single and both runners advanced a base on the throw. Junior outfielder Soren Roe (Golden Valley, Minn./Blake) brought in Dauk with a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 2-2 and Brandecker did the same for the go-ahead run in the ensuing at-bat.

Freshman Kody Dalen (Carver, Minn./Chanhassen) stranded the tying run at third base in the bottom of the seventh to collect his first collegiate save.

Game 2
Brandecker blasted the two-run shot, his first collegiate homer, with one out in the bottom of the fourth inning. Nyrop started the half inning by smoking a line drive off the left-field fence, but was held to a single, extending his hit streak to seven games. Brandecker's home run was in a similar spot, 12 rows into the stands, two batters later.

The rest belonged to sophomore southpaw Casey Trapp (Blaine, Minn./Centennial), who threw six hitless innings. The Tommies' Matthew Enck ended the no-hit bid with a leadoff single to start the seventh inning. Trapp recorded his eighth strikeout of the game for the inning's first out and was relieved by Dalen. 

A fielder's choice served as the second out for UST, which was down to its last strike before Josh Thorp singled to put runners on first and second. The Tommies were down to their last strike once again when Charlie Bartholomew dropped a pinch-hit, two-run double down the left-field line to tie the game. The two outs allowed for UST's baserunners to sprint on contact and the short flyball was just missed by a diving Jack Schleper (Shakopee, Minn.).

Sophomore Matt Herold (North Oaks, Minn./Mounds View) allowed two singles in the eighth inning but kept UST scoreless.

The Tommies brought in Tri, who had 26 strikeouts in 13.1 scoreless innings, to pitch the bottom half of the eighth. Erickson reached first thanks to a throwing error by Tri and moved to second on a sac bunt from Dauk. UST intentionally walked senior pinch-hitter Trey Cavello (Minnetrista, Minn./Holy Family Catholic) and Tri tallied a strikeout, but Brandecker ripped a single to right field for the walk-off win.

SJU was 3-for-6 with runners in scoring position in the two games, while UST was 2-for-14 (.143) and 0-for-3 with the bases loaded.

SERIES HISTORY: SJU has won each of the last seven meetings with UST and 12 of the last 15. The Johnnies' last loss to the Tommies occurred in the first round of the 2017 MIAC Tournament in Cold Spring, a 1-0 defeat in which the lone run scored on a two-out wild pitch in the bottom of the sixth inning.