The Johnnie baseball team travels to face Concordia for a nine-inning game at 4 p.m. Friday, April 9, in Moorhead. - Live Stats | Live Video

SCHEDULE CHANGE: Friday's doubleheader was originally scheduled for Wednesday, April 7, but was postponed and rescheduled to Thursday, and now to Friday, due to the rainy forecast. Due to field conditions and wet weather, Friday's doubleheader was trimmed to a single nine-inning game.

IN MOORHEAD: Spectators will be asked to sign-in upon arrival for contact tracing purposes. Capacity is limited to 250 spectators at each venue.

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Gustavus Adolphus handed then-No. 22 Saint John's (10-4, 0-3 MIAC) two defeats, 9-3 and 7-2, last Saturday (April 3) in Collegeville. The Gusties broke game one open with a four-run fifth inning and dissolved a 2-2 stalemate with five runs in the eighth inning of game two. The Johnnies totaled 20 strikeouts at the plate, left 20 men on base and batted 6-for-31 (.194) with runners on base (4-for-16 with runners in scoring position) in the two games.

Game 1
The Gusties coaxed three groundball singles for a run in the first inning and put together back-to-back singles with two outs for another in the second. Cole Pengilly singled to start the third inning, stole second and scored when Ethan Mocchi's line drive went off junior pitcher Nathan Brandecker (South St. Paul, Minn.) and into right field. It was that kind of day for GAC.

The Johnnies tallied two unearned runs in the bottom of the third inning, but Pengilly hit a two-run homer in the top of the fourth to give the visitors a 5-2 lead. The Gusties added four runs, three earned, in the fifth.

Sophomore designated hitter Max Nyrop (Alameda, Calif.) ended the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning. Nyrop finished 2-for-2 in game one and 4-for-6 in the doubleheader.

Brandecker was saddled with the loss (0-1 record), allowing four runs on nine hits in three innings. Freshman Kody Dalen (Carver, Minn./Chanhassen) was tagged for five runs, four earned, on five hits in two innings. Sophomore Sam Hanson (Sartell, Minn./St. Cloud Cathedral) held the Gusties off the scoreboard for the final two innings.

Game 2
Senior pitcher Nick Penick (Cold Spring, Minn./Rocori) held Gustavus, which recorded 27 hits in the series' first two games, to two runs (one earned) on six hits in the first seven innings for the no-decision.

GAC manufactured a run in the fifth inning thanks to a bloop single, infield single and a fielder's choice. The Gusties made it 2-0 in the sixth inning on consecutive errors by SJU and a chop single to the shortstop.

SJU answered in the bottom half of the sixth when freshman third baseman Joe Becker (New Prague, Minn.) ripped a two-out, RBI single up the middle for his first collegiate hit.

The Johnnies tied the game at 2-2 with an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh, but the Gusties responded with five runs – in which four were unearned – in the top of the eighth.

Sophomore Matt Herold (North Oaks, Minn./Mounds View) took the loss in game two. He surrendered five runs (one earned) on two hits, but one was a three-run homer off the bat of the reigning MIAC Player of the Week, Jack Hanson.

Sophomore Hunter Ault (North Oaks, Minn./Mounds View) struck out two in a scoreless ninth.

NEGATIVE STATS: SJU's struggles in last weekend's three-game series vs. Gustavus, as evidenced in the stats below:

-SJU's leadoff batter (in each inning) did a decent job getting on base, 9-for-25 (.360). GAC, however, saw its leadoff man reach base safely half the time (12-for-24, .500).
-The Johnnies then batted .196 (9-for-46) with runners on base, to the Gusties' .345 (20-for-58).
-SJU totaled 28 strikeouts at the plate in 25 innings.
-The Johnnies collected five RBI in the three games (25 innings). Three of the five RBI came on one swing - a three-run homer from Brandecker - in the first inning of game one (Friday, April 2) in St. Peter.

STAT COMPARISONS: The Johnnies and Cobbers are statistically similar so far this spring.

Batting Average
-CC, .306
-SJU, .303

Slugging Percentage
-SJU, .513
-CC, .460

ERA
-SJU, 4.08
-CC, 4.92

Opponent Batting Average
-SJU, .245
-CC, .274

Fielding Percentage
-CC, .973
-SJU, .953

A LOOK AT THE COBBERS: Concordia (7-4, 2-1 MIAC) allowed 17 hits, seven of which were home runs, in an 18-13 loss on Monday (April 5) at NAIA Jamestown (N.D.). The Jimmies erased a 12-5 deficit with a 13-run fifth inning. The Cobbers took two of the three games against Hamline last weekend in the MIAC opener. 

Junior infielder Matt Gruber, a transfer from Division II Augustana (S.D.) and the younger brother of former SJU shortstop Michael Gruber '20, leads CC in hits (20) and batting average (.465). Senior righty Ty Syverson is already 4-0 with a 0.92 ERA and 35 strikeouts in 19.2 innings this spring.

IN 2019: The Johnnies swept the Cobbers with a pair of one-run wins the last time these two teams met on April 4, 2019, in Collegeville. The doubleheader was originally scheduled for the previous day at Concordia, but was moved to Becker Park due to unplayable field conditions in Moorhead. The Cobbers were the "home" team in both games.

Jake Dickmeyer '19 recorded his third complete-game shutout of the season in game one, allowing six hits (three infield singles) in seven innings. He struck out three and did not issue a free pass.

The Johnnies cracked three triples in game two but left 15 men on base in the nine innings. Each team posted three errors apiece.

at Saint John's 1, Concordia 0
Tommy Auger '19 Syverson's perfect game for CC with a one-out home run, the first of his collegiate career, in the top of the fifth inning. Syverson allowed three other hits and struck out six in the complete-game effort.

Dickmeyer took care of the rest, as the Cobbers reached second base only once in the game (on a two-base throwing error with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning).

at Saint John's 6, Concordia 5
SJU broke a 1-1 tie with four runs in the top of the fifth inning of game two, but CC answered with three runs in the bottom half of the inning and tied it with an unearned run in the sixth.

Wyatt Ulrich '20 tripled with one out in the top of the seventh, his fourth three-bagger of the year, and crossed the plate on an RBI bunt single from Max Jackson '19 for what proved to be the game-winning run. Jackson became SJU's all-time leader in games played (148) and at-bats (539) in the doubleheader.

Bennett Wiggins '19 improved to 4-2 with the win. He allowed five runs (three earned) on eight hits in six innings of work. Alex Budde '19 allowed one hit in three scoreless innings to earn his second career save.

Jackson and Gruber led SJU with two hits and two RBI apiece. Gruber tripled and scored to tie the game at 1-1 on a sacrifice fly from Jackson in the third inning and drove in two with a single in the fifth. 

SJU batted .176 (3-for-17) with runners in scoring position, .185 (5-for-27) with runners on base and left 18 men on base in the doubleheader.

SERIES HISTORY: SJU leads the series with a 34-32 record against CC since 1989, including a 16-10 mark in Moorhead and wins in each of the last six meetings overall. Seven (5-2 SJU record) of the last 11 matchups, and 12 (8-4 record) of the last 18, were decided by two runs or less.