*UPDATED due to postponement*

Saint John's plays host to Saint Mary's for a 2:30 p.m. doubleheader on Thursday, April 15, at Becker Park. - Live Stats/Live Video

SCHEDULE CHANGE: Thursday's doubleheader was originally scheduled for Wednesday, but was postponed and rescheduled due to the cold temperature.

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. 

-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 (11-7, 1-6 MIAC) struggled at the plate in three losses last weekend (April 10-11) to St. Thomas. Saturday's doubleheader sweep for the Tommies snapped SJU's seven-game win streak in the series. The Johnnies had won 12 of the previous 15 meetings entering the twin bill. 

Game 1 (at St. Thomas 5, Saint John's 1)
SJU mustered only two hits, both from junior catcher Ethan Roe (Golden Valley, Minn./Blake), off the Tommies' Andrew Tri in game one. Tri entered the contest with a 0.44 ERA, .167 opponent batting average and 33 strikeouts in 20.2 innings pitched and finished with 11 punchouts Saturday.

UST gained a 1-0 lead on an RBI, bloop single with two outs in the bottom of the second inning. The runner who scored reached on a supposed one-out walk. Junior Nathan Brandecker's (South St. Paul, Minn.) full-count pitch was a beautiful breaking ball and the Johnnies fired the ball around the horn believing it was strike three and the second out. The pitch, however, was called a ball.

The Tommies tacked on four runs in the bottom of the sixth. Three of the four runs came on a bases-clearing triple, which was a knuckling line drive that got past freshman Jack Schleper (Shakopee, Minn.) in left field, and UST added a sacrifice fly in the next at-bat.

The Johnnies scored an unearned run on a wild pitch and had runners on first and second with nobody out in the top of the seventh, but Tri recorded back-to-back strikeouts and a groundball out to end the game.

Brandecker posted a career-high eight strikeouts but suffered the loss (0-2 record), allowing the five runs on eight hits in 5.1 innings. Freshman Kody Dalen (Carver, Minn./Chanhassen) induced the sac fly and left a runner, who reached on a three-base throwing error, on third.

Game 2 (at St. Thomas 2, Saint John's 1)
Sophomore southpaw Casey Trapp (Blaine, Minn./Centennial) pitched a gem in game two but took the loss. He struck out eight and surrendered two unearned runs on three hits in eight innings pitched. 

The Tommies built a 2-0 lead with an unearned run in the second and third innings. The game's first run scored when junior right-fielder Soren Roe (Golden Valley, Minn./Blake) slipped and dropped what would have been the third out and the second was a leadoff double who crossed the plate on a two-out passed ball in the third inning. 

Ethan Roe doubled to start the fifth inning, moved to third on a sac bunt from freshman third baseman Joe Becker (New Prague, Minn.) and scored on an RBI groundout from his twin brother, Soren.

Trapp is now 0-1 with a 0.63 ERA, .089 opponent batting average and 16 strikeouts in 14.1 innings against St. Thomas in 2021. He is a tough-luck 0-3 with a 2.13 ERA, .170 opponent batting average and a team-leading 31 strikeouts in 25.1 innings this season.

UST's Graham Laubscher went the distance, allowing the lone run on four hits with 14 strikeouts.

Game 3 (St. Thomas 7, at Saint John's 2)
The Johnnies gifted the Tommies four runs - without a hit allowed - in the top of the first inning and batted 1-for-16 with runners on base (0-for-7 with runners in scoring position) in the loss.

UST scored two runs - a leadoff homer and back-to-back singles - off freshman Kody Dalen (Carver, Minn./Chanhassen) in the sixth inning and added an unearned run in the eighth.

Sophomore outfielder Luke McElroy (St. Paul, Minn./Central) erased the shutout for SJU with a two-run homer, the first of his collegiate career, with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Johnnies loaded the bases in the ninth but did not score.

Dalen gave up the two runs on five hits in five innings of relief, while the unearned run crossed the plate during sophomore Alex Otto's (Monticello, Minn.) 2.2 innings. Sophomore Hunter Ault (North Oaks, Minn./Mounds View) pitched a scoreless ninth.

QUIET BATS: In the five games against the St. Thomas this season (three MIAC games over the weekend and two non-conference matchups March 24 at U.S. Bank Stadium), the Johnnies batted just .146 (20-for-137), including .122 (6-for-49) with runners on base and .143 (3-for-21) with runners in scoring position. 

AND THEM, TOO: Even though SJU's bats were quiet against St. Thomas, the pitching staff held St. Thomas to similar struggles at the plate. The Tommies batted just .193 (26-for-135), including .132 (5-for-38) with runners in scoring position, with 36 strikeouts.

FIRST 9 GAMES vs. LAST 9 GAMES: The Johnnies have shown a drastic change in play, statistically, over the last nine games (2-7 record) compared to the previous nine (9-0 record). 

Batting Average
First 9 – SJU: .323 (84-for-260), Opponents: .196 (48-for-245)
Last 9 – SJU: .215 (60-for-279), Opponents: .271 (79-for-292)

On-Base Percentage
First 9 – SJU: .405, Opponents: .328
Last 9 – SJU: .298, Opponents: .352

Batting Average w/Runners on Base
First 9 – SJU: .360 (49-for-136), Opponents: .146 (19-for-130)
Last 9 – SJU: .188 (24-for-128), Opponents: .281 (41-for-146)

Batting Average w/Runners in Scoring Position
First 9 – SJU: .385 (35-for-91), Opponents: .153 (13-for-85)
Last 9 – SJU: .197 (13-for-66), Opponents: .260 (26-for-100)

ERA
First 9 – SJU: 2.86, Opponents: 8.46
Last 9 – SJU: 4.88, Opponents: 2.68

STAT COMPARISONS: Statistically, the Johnnies top the Cardinals at the plate and on the mound, while SMU have a slight edge (.002) defensively.

Batting Average
-SJU, .267
-SMU, .243

Slugging Percentage
-SJU, .465
-SMU, .305

ERA
-SJU, 3.91
-SMU, 4.78

Opponent Batting Average
-SJU, .237
-SMU, .268

Fielding Percentage
-SMU, .955
-SJU, .953

A LOOK AT THE CARDINALS: Saint Mary's (12-7, 6-4 MIAC) enters Wednesday's doubleheader riding a five-game win streak after sweeping Carleton (two games) and Augsburg (three games) last week. Senior Ryan Wolfe has a 3.86 ERA and leads the team in innings pitched (28.0) and strikeouts (20). He was named the MIAC Baseball Pitcher of the Week yesterday (April 12) following his complete-game, one-hit shutout of Augsburg on Saturday (April 10). Senior Will Matthews leads the Cardinals in batting average (.368), hits (21), doubles (7) and RBI (13). 

BACK IN 2019: The Johnnies and Cardinals split their last meeting, a doubleheader on March 31, 2019, in Collegeville. SMU snuck a close 2-1 victory in the first game, followed by a strong 12-1 showing by the Johnnies in game two.

Game 1 (Saint Mary's 2, at Saint John's 1)
SMU found the scoreboard first with a pair of runs thanks to a two-run, two-out single from Connor Cornell in the top of the fourth inning.

SJU cut its deficit in half with a manufactured run in the bottom of the sixth inning. Wyatt Ulrich '20 singled to start the inning, stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on an RBI groundout from Max Jackson '19 in the ensuing at-bat. The Johnnies only recorded four hits in the loss.

Jake Dickmeyer '19, took the loss, his first of the season and first since April 21, 2018 (Bethel). He allowed six hits and struck out five in the complete-game outing. For the first time in his collegiate career, Dickmeyer issued three free passes (two walks and one hit batsman) in an appearance.

Game 2 (at Saint John's 12, Saint Mary's 1)
SJU's bats woke up in the nightcap for 15 hits (three for extra bases) in only six innings.

SMU gained a quick 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but pitcher Danny Kuhn '19 responded by setting down nine straight Cardinals. The Johnnies answered with two runs in the bottom of the first inning and tossed up three runs in both the fifth and sixth.

Ulrich went 4-for-5 with two runs scored and Jack Schramel '20 went 3-for-4 with a double. The duo combined for a 9-for-15 day at the plate.

Michael Gruber '20 posted his second 4-RBI game of the season, thanks to a two-run triple in the sixth inning, while Jackson, Tomas Meland '19 and Ethan Roe collected two hits apiece. Jackson drove in three. SJU's Nos. 6-9 batters accounted for seven of the team's 12 runs scored.

Kuhn improved to 4-0 with the complete-game victory, allowing six hits with five strikeouts.

SERIES HISTORY: SJU is 42-28 against Saint Mary's since 1987, including a 23-15 record in Collegeville. The Johnnies are 8-1 in the last nine meetings overall.