Saint John's baseball plays host to Bethel for a single-elimination, MIAC Tournament game at 3 p.m. Wednesday, May 19, at Becker Park. – Live Audio (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats/Live Video

SPECTATORS
-Fans are permitted, with no limitations on the total number, and no charge for admittance.
-Masks are not required, social distancing is encouraged. 
-Fans should arrive no more than 30 minutes prior to their team's game and should depart within 30 minutes of the conclusion of their team's game(s).
-Fans should do a self "health check" prior to arrival to ensure they do not have COVID-19 symptoms.
-No dogs allowed on campus (except for registered service dogs) and no sunflower seeds allowed in the venue.
-Spectators must follow all host instructions and must always be 12 feet or more away from student-athletes, coaches and game personnel at all times before, during and after contests.
-Fans should limit themselves to the competition venue only and are not to go anywhere else on campus.

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (29-11, 16-9 MIAC) clinched its 11th straight MIAC Tournament appearance the hard way, averting elimination after losing the opener 2-1 in 10 innings May 15, by sweeping Hamline with a pair of 10-run rule wins May 16 in Collegeville.

Game 1 (at Hamline 2, Saint John's 1; 10 inn.)
The Johnnies, who scored 10 runs or more in the three MIAC meetings against the Pipers two weeks ago, collected three hits in 10 innings - all for extra bases - and gave away 14 at-bats (11 strikeouts and three foulouts). SJU batted 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position, 1-for-15 with runners on base and 0-for-10 with two outs. 

Senior Nick Penick (Cold Spring, Minn./Rocori) pitched a gem of a performance in the no-decision. He allowed three groundball singles and struck out seven, to two walks, in nine innings. He now touts a 6-0 record, 2.38 ERA, .200 opponent batting average and 56 strikeouts in a team-leading 64.1 innings this season.

Sunday
The Johnnies' offense erupted for the 30 runs and a .485 batting average (32-for-66), including 11 extra-base hits, in the sweep: 18-7 (7 inn.) and 12-2 (8 inn.). Five Johnnies batted .500 or better on the day, led by sophomore first baseman Zach Selchow's (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) 5-for-7 performance with seven RBI and five runs scored. 

Freshman center fielder Rodney Erickson (St. Paul, Minn./Woodbury) went 6-for-9 with five runs scored from the leadoff spot, while freshman left fielder Jack Schleper (Shakopee, Minn.) totaled 12 bases, going 6-for-10 with four doubles and a triple, and crossed the plate five times. Erickson recorded his first collegiate four-hit game in the opener. Schleper's three doubles in game two – one in each the sixth, seventh (ground-rule) and eighth (ground-rule) innings - tied the school record set by Brian Skluzacek '11 in 2011.

Junior right fielder Soren Roe (Golden Valley, Minn./Blake), sophomore shortstop Matt Hayford (Rochester, Minn./Lourdes) and sophomore designated hitter Max Nyrop (Alameda, Calif.) collected four hits apiece. Nyrop drove in six and hit his ninth home run of the season (10th of his career), and Roe cracked two doubles and a triple. 

Game 2 (at Saint John's 18, Hamline 7; 7 inn.)
SJU scored a run or more in all six innings in Sunday's game one. Each Johnnie in the lineup except for freshman third baseman Joe Becker (New Prague, Minn.) drove in at least one run. Becker, instead, walked four times and scored twice.

Freshman Kody Dalen (Carver, Minn./Chanhassen) improved to 7-0 on the year with the win in relief. He allowed four runs (three earned) on four hits and struck out five in 3.1 innings. Sophomore Hunter Ault (North Oaks, Minn./Mounds View) picked up the final two outs to end the game. Sophomore southpaw Casey Trapp (Blaine, Minn./Centennial) made the start and allowed three runs on five hits in 3.0 innings.

Game 3 (at Saint John's 12, Hamline 2; 8 inn.)
Offense was at a premium through the first five innings, until SJU scored the game's final 10 runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth.

Becker started the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the third inning, but HU gained a 2-1 lead with a pair of RBI, bloop singles in the fifth.

Soren Roe tied the game with a two-out, RBI single in the bottom half of the fifth and the Johnnies took the lead for good with three runs in the sixth. Hayford ripped a two-run double over the left fielder's head and scored on Becker's second sac fly of the game. Becker also laid down a sac bunt in the fifth. Selchow smoked a two-run single in the seventh, as part of a five-run inning, and ended the game with another in the eighth.

Junior Nathan Brandecker (South St. Paul, Minn.) went the distance, allowing the two runs (one earned) on five hits in eight innings. He struck out six to even his record at 3-3.

ALL-MIAC: Nyrop, Penick and junior catcher Ethan Roe (Golden Valley, Minn./Blake) were named All-MIAC earlier today (May 18). Senior pitcher Luke Zweber (New Prague, Minn.) was named to the MIAC All-Sportsmanship team. SJU has now had 43 All-MIAC honorees over the last 11 seasons.

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Erickson was named the MIAC Baseball Player of the Week, the Johnnies' third consecutive, on Monday (May 17). He batted .500 (7-for-14) with a .533 on-base percentage from the leadoff spot in the three-game series vs. Hamline. Erickson went 6-for-9 at the plate with two RBI and five runs scored as SJU (29-11, 16-9 MIAC) averted elimination with a doubleheader sweep of the Pipers, 18-7 (7 inn.) and 12-2 (8 inn.), May 16 at Becker Park.

He has reached base safely in each of the Johnnies' last 15 games and is batting .484 (15-for-31) with nine runs scored and three RBI during his current seven-game hit streak.

RIBBIES: Nyrop's 48 RBI tie him with Patrick Strey '16 for second-most in an SJU season, four behind Ryan Roder's record of 52 set in 1997. Nyrop is also in SJU's top 10 for season records in three other stat categories: third in total bases (100), tied for fourth in home runs (9) and tied for seventh in doubles (14).

FRESHMAN RECORD: Dalen's seventh pitching win of the season (7-0 record) Sunday set a new program record for a freshman. Hayden Zimmerman '12 and Nick Noack '18 won eight games, and Joel Swenson '99 and Andy Schneider '00 won seven, as sophomores. Dalen boasts a 2.85 ERA, .241 opponent batting average and 37 strikeouts in 41 innings (14 appearances, three starts) this spring.

DOUBLES: As mentioned above, Schleper's three doubles in game two Sunday tied the school record set by Brian Skluzacek '11 in 2011. Skluzacek, a left-handed-hitting catcher, went 3-for-3 with a sac fly in the Johnnies' game-one, 8-5 win over Carleton on April 17, 2011, in Collegeville.

THE SCHEDULE: The schedule for this week's MIAC Tournament is below.

Wednesday, May 19 | Site: High Seed
Game 1: (#6) Concordia at (#3) Saint Mary's, 3 p.m.
Game 2: (#5) Bethel at (#4) Saint John's, 3 p.m.

Thursday, May 20, 2021 | Site: SJU
Game 3: (#1) St. Thomas vs. (#4/5/6) | 3 p.m.
Game 4: (#2) Gustavus vs. (#3/4/5) | 7 p.m.

Friday, May 21, 2021 | Site: SJU
Game 5: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner | 12 p.m.
Game 6: Game 3 Loser vs. Loser Game 4 Loser | 3 p.m.
Game 7: Game 5 Loser vs. Winner Game 6 Loser | 7 p.m.

Saturday, May 22, 2021 | Site: SJU
Game 8: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 7 Winner | 3 p.m.
Game 9: Game 8 Winner vs. Game 8 Loser | 25 minutes after Game 8 (if necessary)

SJU's MIAC TOURNAMENT HISTORY: The MIAC Tournament appearance is the Johnnies' 11th consecutive and 13th overall since the postseason structure was established in 2000. SJU is 19-18 in MIAC Tournament games with titles in 2012, 2015, 2016 and 2019.

STAT COMPARISONS: SJU holds statistical advantages over BU in five of the six major categories.

Batting Average
-SJU, .308
-BU, .289

Slugging Percentage
-SJU, .492
-BU, .416

On-Base Percentage
-SJU, .398
-BU, .385

ERA
-SJU, 3.22
-BU, 4.28

Opponent Batting Average
-SJU, .240
-BU, .263

Fielding Percentage
-BU, .977
-SJU, .959

A LOOK AT THE ROYALS: Bethel (23-15, 14-11 MIAC) enters the MIAC Tournament with a four-game win streak – and wins in six of its last seven – in which three of the four victories were decided by two runs or less. The Royals won the MIAC Round's opener at Macalester, 7-4, and took the series with a 5-4 walk-off Sunday. Game three was not played. Junior outfielder Caleb Brandt, who completed the comeback from a 4-3 deficit with the walk-off single in the ninth inning Sunday, leads BU in at-bats (119), runs (27), hits (36) and stolen bases (13). Senior Mathew Bohlke leads the pitching staff with a 6-1 record, 3.08 ERA, .211 opponent batting average and 79 strikeouts in 64.1 innings.

EARLIER THIS SEASON: SJU launched five home runs in a doubleheader sweep of Bethel, 8-0 and 5-4, earlier this season on April 21 in Arden Hills. Ethan Roe hit two home runs in game one, his second and third homers in five at-bats going back to April 18's 11-5 win over Augsburg, and Penick pitched the complete-game shutout. The Johnnies came back from two, two-run deficits and crushed three homers in game two.

Game 1
Ethan 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 Soren Roe, and both runners scored on one-out, two-run single from Erickson. A two-out, two-run double from Soren Roe and an RBI single from Hayford 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. 

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

Game 2
The Royals gained a quick 2-0 lead with a pair of unearned runs off Trapp 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 Becker and Nyrop 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, allowing the four runs (two earned) on seven hits in seven innings. Brandecker 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.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 44-28 against BU since 1988, including an 18-12 mark in Collegeville, and a 2-4 record in the MIAC Tournament (0-1 in single-elimination games). SJU has won each of the last four meetings, all in Arden Hills.