Box Score

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Saint John's baseball ended its 2021 season with a 16-8 loss to Bethel in the single-elimination round of the MIAC Tournament on Wednesday, May 19, at Becker Park.

The Johnnies (29-12, 16-9 MIAC) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second inning on a sacrifice fly from sophomore first baseman Zach Selchow (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) and a two-run homer from sophomore second baseman Owen Dauk (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview).

Bethel (24-15, 14-11 MIAC), however, answered with 11 straight runs (eight earned) on nine hits in the next four innings. The Royals cracked 18 hits, including 15 singles, and batted 11-for-19 with runners in scoring position (13-for-27 with runners on base) in the win.

SJU plated a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth, the first on a wild pitch and the second on an RBI single from Selchow, but BU responded with three more in the top of the seventh. Selchow and Dauk led SJU with two hits apiece.

Sophomore designated hitter Max Nyrop (Alameda, Calif.) blasted his 10th home run of the season – a line-drive, three-run shot – in the bottom of the seventh. He ended the season with 51 RBI, one shy of the program's single-season record of 52 set by Ryan Order in 1997. His 103 total bases were third-most in school history and the 10 homers were fourth. 

The Royals ended the scoring with two runs in the ninth.

Senior Nick Penick (Cold Spring, Minn./Rocori) cruised through the first two innings and took the loss, the first of his collegiate career, allowing eight runs (five earned) on six hits in four innings. He struck out one and walked three.

Freshman Kody Dalen (Carver, Minn./Chanhassen) and sophomore Alex Otto (Monticello, Minn.) were tagged with three earned runs allowed each, while sophomore Hunter Ault (North Oaks, Minn./Mounds View) surrendered two. Sophomore Casey Trapp (Blaine, Minn./Centennial) recorded the final three outs in the ninth.

Bethel's Matthew Bohlke gave up all eight runs on nine hits and earned the win. He struck out eight, including the first four batters he faced, and walked three. One of the first-inning strikeouts was controversial, as freshman third baseman Joe Becker (New Prague, Minn.) was hit by a horizontal curveball on a 3-2 count. The umpire stopped Becker, who was already 10 feet down the first-base line, and called him out for allegedly leaning into the pitch.

Nick Wibben led BU at the plate, going 3-for-5 with six RBI, while Matthew Carlsen was 4-for-6 with four RBI and four runs scored from the leadoff spot.

The fifth-seeded Royals will face the top seed, St. Thomas, in the first game of the double-elimination tournament at 3 p.m. Thursday, May 20, in Collegeville. Second-seeded Gustavus Adolphus takes on third-seeded Saint Mary's at 7 p.m.