Saint John's baseball plays host to Carleton for a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday, April 24, at Becker Park and visits the Knights for a nine-inning game at 1 p.m. Sunday, April 25, in Northfield. – Live Stats/Live Video (Saturday) | Video (Sunday)

SATURDAY'S SPECTATOR POLICY: Spectators are limited to SJU baseball parents first, then CSB/SJU students and staff (with a CSB/SJU ID), then CSB/SJU alumni on a first-come, first-served basis for the remaining seats available. 

-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 (17-8, 7-7 MIAC) launched five home runs in a doubleheader sweep of Bethel, 8-0 and 5-4, on Wednesday (April 21) in Arden Hills.

Junior catcher Ethan Roe (Golden Valley, Minn./Blake) hit two home runs in game one, his second and third homers in five at-bats going back to Sunday's 11-5 win over Augsburg, and senior Nick Penick (Cold Spring, Minn./Rocori) pitched the complete-game shutout.

The Johnnies came back from two, two-run deficits and crushed three homers in game two.

Game 1
Roe blasted his first homer on the first pitch he saw with one out in the top of the second inning and made it 3-0 with a two-out, two-run shot in the top of the fourth. 

Sophomore second baseman Owen Dauk (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) walked to start the fifth, moved to third on a double from junior outfielder Soren Roe (Golden Valley, Minn./Blake), and both runners scored on one-out, two-run single from freshman outfielder Rodney Erickson (St. Paul, Minn./Woodbury).

A two-out, two-run double from Soren Roe and an RBI single from sophomore shortstop Matt Hayford (Rochester, Minn./Lourdes) ended the game's scoring in the top of the sixth inning.

Penick allowed five hits, all singles, and struck out four in the shutout. The Royals threatened in the bottom of the fifth when a leadoff single advanced to second on a wild pitch with nobody out. Penick, however, struck out two and coaxed a groundout to end the inning. He is now 5-0 with a 2.40 ERA, .197 opponent batting average and 36 strikeouts in a team-leading 41.1 innings this season.

Although he struck out six in five innings, SJU tagged BU's Matthew Bohlke with five runs on five hits. He entered Wednesday's start with a 3-0 record, 2.10 ERA and a .192 opponent batting average in 34.1 innings pitched this spring.

Game 2
The Royals gained a quick 2-0 lead with a pair of unearned runs off sophomore Casey Trapp (Blaine, Minn./Centennial) in the bottom of the first inning.

Soren Roe tied the game with a two-out homer in the top of the third inning, but BU regained the lead with two runs in the bottom of the fourth.

The long ball came in handy for SJU once again, as freshman third baseman Joe Becker (New Prague, Minn.) and sophomore designated hitter Max Nyrop (Alameda, Calif.) hit back-to-back homers with two outs to tie the game in the top of the sixth inning.

Sophomore shortstop Lucas Ammons (Minneapolis, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) brought in what proved to be the game-winning run with a two-out single in the top of the seventh. 

Trapp earned his first win of the season (1-4 record), allowing the four runs (two earned) on seven hits in seven innings. He now touts a 1.83 ERA, .188 opponent batting average and a team-high 45 strikeouts in 39.1 innings this spring.

Junior Nathan Brandecker (South St. Paul, Minn.) struck out two in a scoreless eighth inning and sophomore Alex Otto (Monticello, Minn.) pitched a scoreless ninth to record his second save of the season.

The tying run reached third (with the go-ahead run on second) with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but Otto induced a groundball to end the game.

BU left 17 men on base and batted .167 (3-for-18) with runners in scoring position on the day.

Soren Roe led SJU's bats with a 4-for-6 performance, including the homer and two doubles. His twin brother, Ethan, scored four runs and also posted a double with the two dingers.

ROE BOMBS: Ethan Roe now has 11 home runs in 23 games this spring, which ties him with Brent Schloe '00 for the second-most in an SJU season, one behind the record of 12 set by former teammate Joey Stock '20 in 2019.

Soren Roe, meanwhile, hit his second home run of the season (and third of his SJU career) in game 2 at Bethel. The homer was the 10th of his collegiate career, including the seven he hit as a freshman at Macalester in 2019. 

NATIONAL STATS: The Johnnies are currently (through games of April 22) 21st in NCAA Division III with 26 home runs this season. Individually, Ethan Roe is tied for third nationally with the 11 home runs. The two ahead of Roe are also catchers, and tied for first with 12: Willamette (Ore.) senior Michael Nelsen and Wittenberg (Ohio) senior Jack Hollinshead. 

ROUND-TRIPPERS: The 26 home runs are the fifth-most in an SJU season, six behind the three-way tie for the record of 32 set in 1993, 2000 and 2016.

THE LAST 7: The last seven games (6-1 record) have been a breath of fresh air for SJU's offense, which produced 55 runs and 24 extra base hits (14 doubles, 3 triples, 7 home runs). The Johnnies batted a strong .332 (76-for-229) with a .511 slugging percentage, including .365 (46-for-126) with runners on base and .368 (28-for-76) with runners in scoring position. The pitching staff, meanwhile, has a 1.11 ERA and a .225 opponent batting average over the last seven games (57 innings).

Individually, Hayford has a .529 (9-for-17) batting average over the seven-game span with eight runs scored. Soren Roe is a steady .500 (11-for-22) with two doubles, a homer and six RBI, while Ethan Roe batted .391 (9-for-23) with three home runs and eight RBI. His slugging percentage is a team-best .913.

STAT COMPARISONS: The Johnnies have the edge statistically in all six, major categories. Carleton stats below are entering today's (April 23) doubleheader at Augsburg.

Batting Average
-SJU, .286
-CAR, .263

Slugging Percentage
-SJU, .471
-CAR, .345

On-Base Percentage
-SJU, .363
-CAR, .346

ERA
-SJU, 3.09
-CAR, 6.57

Opponent Batting Average
-SJU, .233
-CAR, .300

Fielding Percentage
-SJU, .954
-CAR, .953

A LOOK AT THE KNIGHTS: Carleton (2-8, 0-8 MIAC) dropped all three games to Gustavus Adolphus last weekend (17-18): 4-2, 8-7 and 9-2. The Knights batted .221 (21-for-95), despite not seeing Gustavus' top three starting pitchers, and visit Augsburg today for a doubleheader before Saturday's trip to Collegeville. Junior Jacob Smith leads the team in batting (.361), hits (13), doubles (4) and RBI (6). The pitching staff currently has more walks (54) than strikeouts (53), and has allowed 90 hits (26 for extra bases) in 76.2 innings.

TWO YEARS AGO: The Knights swept SJU, by scores of 5-0 and 5-3, the last time these teams met on April 6, 2019, in Collegeville. 

The Johnnies batted only .175 on the day, down .135 from their season average of .310, which included .107 (3-for-28) with runners on base. Five of the 10 runs allowed were unearned, due to five errors in the field.

Danny Kuhn '19 allowed five runs (two earned) on seven hits for his first loss of the season (4-1 record) in game one. He struck out six and walked a career-high three.

Stock pitched six scoreless innings in game two, allowing five hits with three strikeouts, in the no-decision. Tommy Auger '19 took the loss, allowing two unearned runs on four hits in 1.1 innings of relief. 

Jack Schramel '20 served as a catalyst for single runs in the first and sixth innings of game two as SJU grabbed a 2-0 lead.

Carleton gained a 3-2 lead with three runs with two outs in the top of the eighth inning but Taylor Fourre '20 tied up the game in the bottom half of the inning after he drove a 2-2 pitch back up the middle for an RBI single scoring Jack Wingerd '19.

SJU's lead was short-lived as the Knights scored two unearned runs with two outs in the top of the ninth. 

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 38-16 against Carleton since the 1993 season, including a 7-3 record in the last 10 meetings in Collegeville.