The Johnnie baseball team wraps up its conference schedule with a three-game series vs. St. Olaf this weekend, beginning with a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday, May 8, in Northfield. SJU hosts its Senior Day, the nine-inning series finale, at 1 p.m. Sunday, May 9, in Collegeville.

LIVE COVERAGE
-Saturday in Northfield: Live Stats | Live Video

-Sunday in Collegeville: Live Stats/Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (26-8, 15-7 MIAC) set a program record with its 14th consecutive win with a 16-3 non-conference victory over Minnesota-Morris on Tuesday, May 4, at Becker Park.

Junior catcher Ethan Roe (Golden Valley, Minn./Blake) hit for the cycle and drove in five runs as SJU (26-8, 15-7 MIAC) totaled 19 hits in six innings at the plate. The Johnnies batted around in the first two innings and posted 14 runs on 14 hits through the first three frames. The game was called in the seventh inning due to the 10-run rule.

Roe started his day with a two-run triple in the first inning, followed by an RBI double in the second and a two-run homer in the third. The home run, his 12th of the season, tied SJU's single-season record set by former teammate Joey Stock '20 in 2019. Roe completed the cycle with a single in his final at-bat in the fourth inning. He is batting .481 (13-for-27) with 12 runs scored, nine RBI and six extra-base hits during his current seven-game hit streak.

SJU changed over its entire lineup in the bottom of the fifth (pinch hitters) and top of the sixth (in the field).

Junior outfielder Soren Roe (Golden Valley, Minn./Blake) went 3-for-3 with a double, RBI and four runs scored, while sophomore third baseman Zach Selchow (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) went 3-for-3 with three RBI.

Sophomore designated hitter Max Nyrop (Alameda, Calif.) extended his hit streak to 14 games with a solo home run, his eighth of the season, in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Freshman outfielder Jack Schleper (Shakopee, Minn.) moved his hit streak to 10 games by going 2-for-3 with three runs scored. Freshman outfielder Rodney Erickson (St. Paul, Minn./Woodbury) and sophomore shortstop Matt Hayford (Rochester, Minn./Lourdes) each added two singles.

The Cougars mustered only four hits, though three came in the top of the first inning off sophomore Jack Haring (Ham Lake, Minn./Blaine). The third hit was a three-run, inside-the-park home run by UMM's Joe Pelle. Erickson slid in an attempt to catch Pelle's bloop, but the ball skipped past him and rolled to the center-field fence. Haring made his first collegiate start and gave up the three runs with three strikeouts in two innings of work.

Sophomore southpaw Sam Hanson (Sartell, Minn./St. Cloud Cathedral) struck out six in three innings of hitless relief to earn the win. Junior Peyton Yurek (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) allowed one hit in the game's final two innings.

STREAK STATS: It should be no surprise that SJU's statistics during its current 14-game win streak are rather gaudy. The Johnnies have out-scored the opposition 142-49, while batting .365 – 3.92 with runners on base and .380 with runners in scoring position - with a 1.053 OPS (.595 slugging percentage + .458 on-base percentage). The pitching staff, meanwhile, has a 2.81 ERA.

Five Johnnies are batting over .400 during the streak:

-Matt Hayford: .459 (10 runs, 10 RBI)
-Max Nyrop: .453 (25 RBI, 16 runs, 5 homers, 8 doubles)
-Soren Roe: .447 (20 runs, 13 RBI, 2 homers, 6 doubles) 
-Ethan Roe: .417 (17 RBI, 17 runs, 4 homers, 5 doubles)
-Jack Schleper: .407 (14 runs, 11 RBI, 2 homers, 4 doubles) 

REGIONAL RANKINGS: SJU was listed at No. 7 in the first NCAA Division III Midwest Region rankings released Wednesday (May 5). The regional rankings will an even more important role in this year's at-large bids to the 2021 NCAA Division III Tournament, which will consist of 48 teams - down 10 from the 58-team field in 2019 - due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

1. Wisconsin Whitewater
2. Gustavus Adolphus
3. St. Thomas
4. Aurora (Ill.)
5. Northwestern
6. Wisconsin-Stevens Point
7. SJU
8. Saint Mary's

STAT COMPARISONS: The Johnnies have the statistical edge over the Oles in all six major categories.

Batting Average
-SJU, .310
-STO, .304

Slugging Percentage
-SJU, .505
-STO, .440

On-Base Percentage
-SJU, .398
-STO, .391

ERA
-SJU, 3.29
-STO, 4.81

Opponent Batting Average
-SJU, .241
-STO, .268

Fielding Percentage
-SJU, .957
-STO, .953

A LOOK AT THE OLES: St. Olaf (10-6, 3-5 MIAC) is riding a four-game losing skid. STO faced Macalester in a doubleheader on Wednesday (May 5) and dropped game one, 8-4. Game two was halted after six innings due to rain, with Macalester holding a 4-0 lead. Freshman infielder Joey Glampe leads the team in batting (.439), hits (25), home runs (4) and RBI (23), despite 21 strikeouts in 57 at-bats. Senior Hunter Barber leads the pitching staff with 24.1 innings this spring, and has a 2-0 record in four starts with a 4.07 ERA. 

TWO YEARS AGO: SJU went 4-0 against St. Olaf, a regular-season doubleheader in Northfield and two matchups in the MIAC Tournament) back in 2019.

Saint John's 17, at St. Olaf 7
The Johnnies cracked 16 hits and broke open a 6-5 lead with seven runs in the third inning. The 17 runs scored were the most by SJU in conference play since a 20-3 win over Macalester on April 22, 2015, in Collegeville. 

Joey Stock '20 went 4-for-5 at the plate with two home runs, six RBI and four runs scored while Jack Schramel '20 became the 31st Johnnie to reach 100 career hits with his second double of the game in the third inning.

Bennet Wiggins '19 allowed two runs on six hits in 4.2 innings of relief to improve to earn his MIAC leading sixth win of the season.

Saint John's 9, at St. Olaf 5
St. Olaf led for the first five innings until SJU posted a four-run sixth to complete the sweep. 

Max Jackson '19 collected two hits and scored a pair of runs to break the program record of 123 career runs scored held by Aaron Pfaff '15. Aaron Kloeppner '20 went 2-for-5 with 2 RBI including a two-out RBI single that tied the game in the top of the fifth inning.

Tommy Auger '19 picked up the win, allowing one run on five hits, while striking out four.

Saint John's 6, St. Olaf 3 (MIAC Tournament)
SJU picked up the victory in the opening game of the MIAC Tournament thanks to a complete-game from Jake Dickmeyer '19. Dickmeyer, who became SJU's all-time leader in innings pitcher (213.2) with the first out of the third inning, allowed just five hits while collecting seven strikeouts. 

SJU jumped out to an early lead after Stock crushed an opposite-field, three-run homer in the first inning. The blast was his 12th of the season, which set a then-, single-season record. Schramel made it 4-0 with an RBI groundout in the bottom of the second and Michael Gruber '20 extended the lead to 6-0 with his first collegiate home run in the bottom of the third.

Saint John's 8, St. Olaf 4 (MIAC Tournament)
SJU advanced to the MIAC Championship for the fourth time in five seasons, after Wiggins went the distance on the mound, allowing four runs (three earned) on 10 hits, improving to 8-2 on the year. He struck out five and totaled 138 pitches, 94 for strikes.

A bases-loaded, sacrifice fly from Jackson broke a 4-4 tie in the top of the eighth inning, which proved to be the game-winning run. The RBI tied Jackson for SJU's career record of 107 held by Jay Kasner '07.

The Johnnies padded their lead with three runs in the top of the ninth inning, two on bases-loaded walks and one from a Gruber RBI single.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 14-4 against the Oles since 2010, including wins in each of the last four meetings (eight of the last nine).