Saint John's baseball opens its 2022 season with a 10:30 a.m. doubleheader against Wisconsin-Superior on Tuesday, March 1, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The Johnnies then play two games, starting at 5:30 a.m., against Bethany Lutheran on Wednesday, March 2. – Live Stats (Tuesday) | Live Video (Both Games, courtesy of Bill Schleper)

TICKET INFORMATION
-All fans will enter at the Lower Pentair gate (off South 6th street). No entrance via the legacy gate or skyway or any other gate.
-Fans will sit in sections 126-130 only.
-Doors will open 30 minutes before the start of the day's first game
-U.S. Bank Stadium is cashless, and all ticket sales will be done online only.  Fees will apply to these tickets. - Purchase Tickets
-Outside food and drink is prohibited.
-Re-entry will not be allowed.

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: The Saint John's University baseball team returns a very familiar squad in 2022, having graduated only five student-athletes from a program that went 29-12 (16-9 MIAC) last season. The 2021 Johnnies set program records for consecutive wins (15) and single-season home runs (39) and aim to be even better this spring.

Here's a look at the 2022 Johnnies:

Season No. 45
The 2022 season will be head coach Jerry Haugen's 45th at the helm of the Johnnie baseball program. Haugen '76 has compiled an 888-671-5 (.566) career record, including a 205-88 (.700) mark over the past eight seasons.

All-American
Junior designated hitter/first baseman Max Nyrop (Alameda, Calif.) reckons to be a force in the middle of the lineup once again after an impressive sophomore season in which he led the Johnnies in batting average (.395), hits (58), doubles (14), RBI (51), OPS (1.169), multi-hit games (18) and multi-RBI games (14) en route to D3baseball.com All-America first-team honors. He batted .464 (26-56) with runners in scoring position and .444 (40-90) with runners on base, including 5-for-7 (.714) with the bases loaded, while recording SJU's longest hit streak at 14 games. His 51 RBIs fell one RBI shy of SJU's single-season record of 52 set by Ryan Roder '97 in 1997. Nyrop was named to the 2022 D3baseball.com Preseason All-America first team earlier this winter.

The Long Ball
The Johnnies launched a program-record 39 home runs last spring, crushing the previous mark of 32 set in 1993, 2000 and 2016. In addition to the team record, senior catcher Ethan Roe (Golden Valley, Minn./Blake) set an individual record with 13, passing former teammate Joey Stock's '20 mark of 12 set in 2019.

Roe led the Johnnies in slugging percentage (.742) and extra-base hits (25), and tied for the team lead in stolen bases (8-for-9) en route to All-MIAC and All-Region honors. He set the home run record May 8 at St. Olaf, four days after he hit for the cycle against Minnesota-Morris. Roe recorded two 3-homer games and one 2-homer game, and reached base safely in each of the Johnnies' final 14 games.

Outfield Intact
The Johnnies return all three starting outfielders from a year ago, led by senior Soren Roe (Golden Valley, Minn./Blake). He started 40 games and posted a .311 batting average with 42 hits, including 13 doubles, and led the team in runs scored (37) and walks (21).

A pair of sophomores, Rodney Erickson (St. Paul, Minn./Woodbury) and Jack Schleper (Shakopee, Minn.), are eager to build off successful freshman campaigns. Schleper (.324) and Erickson (.322) recorded nearly identical batting averages and combined for 92 hits, 67 runs scored and 42 RBI a year ago. The pair also showed power and speed offensively, as Schleper (38 starts in right field) hit three homers and led the team in triples with four, while Erickson (37 starts in center field) was tied for second with three triples. 

And the Infield, Too
SJU's infield - second base, shortstop and third base - also returns this spring. Junior Owen Dauk (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) started 38 games at second base and batted .271 with 12 extra-base hits, including three homers, and posted a .431 on-base percentage thanks to a program-record 20 hit-by-pitch.

Junior Matthew Hayford (Rochester, Minn./Lourdes) made 34 starts at shortstop and batted .340 with 35 hits, while laying down a team-best seven sacrifice bunts. 

Junior Zach Selchow (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) started 37 games - 20 at third base, 13 at first base and four at catcher - and batted .313 with 40 hits and 25 RBI. He led the team with five sacrifice flies.

Sophomore Joe Becker (New Prague, Minn.) made 20 starts at third base and batted .254 with a .427 on-base percentage, 15 runs, 15 walks and 13 RBI.

Pitching Prominence
The Johnnies return a pair of starters who each pitched 57 innings last year in senior Nathan Brandecker (South St. Paul, Minn.) and junior southpaw Casey Trapp (Blaine, Minn./Centennial). Brandecker made 10 starts and went 3-3 with a 4.11 ERA and 53 strikeouts. Trapp appeared in 15 games for the Johnnies, including nine starts, and totaled a 2-5 record despite a 2.53 ERA, .228 opponent batting average and 61 strikeouts.

The Johnnies will also look to sophomore Kody Dalen (Carver, Minn./Chanhassen) to take on an increased workload this season after an impressive freshman campaign that saw him record a 3.43 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 42 innings. 

Juniors Hunter Ault (North Oaks, Minn./Mounds View) made nine relief appearances (1-0 record) and compiled a 2.38 ERA and a .154 opponent batting average with nine strikeouts in 11.1 innings. Another junior, Cade Marsolek (Savage, Minn./Burnsville), posted a 2-0 record and 3.12 ERA in five appearances (two starts), but missed over a month due to injury.

In the Northwoods League
Four Johnnies competed in the Northwoods League, a wood-bat baseball league for collegiate student-athletes, last summer to bring the total to 15 over the last five years.

Trapp appeared in six games for the Rochester Honkers and posted a 2-0 record with a 3.86 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 23.1 innings. Three others - Brandecker, Ethan Roe and junior Sam Hanson (Sartell, Minn./St. Cloud Cathedral) - played for the Minnesota Mud Puppies, which filled in for the Thunder Bay (Ontario) Border Cats and played 36 games (all on the road) last summer. 

Roe batted .250 with two homers, four doubles and seven RBI in 20 games. He was also with the St. Cloud Rox in 2019. On the mound, Brandecker totaled a 1-1 record with 25 strikeouts and a .244 opponent batting average in 36.2 innings (seven appearances, five starts). Hanson, who also donned the Bismarck Larks jersey with former Johnnie Wyatt Ulrich '20 in 2020, struck out 10 in 11.1 innings (eight appearances) for the Mud Puppies.

The Early 2022 Schedule
SJU opens the 2022 season with back-to-back doubleheaders on March 1 (Wisconsin-Superior) and March 2 (Bethany Lutheran) at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. 

The Johnnies travel to Florida for 11 games - six in Ft. Myers and five in Port Charlotte - over a span of nine days. The slate of games will serve as a significant test, as four teams were ranked or received votes in the D3baseball.com/NCBWA Preseason Top 25 poll: No. 3 Marietta (Ohio), No. 20 North Central (Ill.), No. 21 Denison (Ohio) and Wooster (receiving votes). Additionally, all five opponents the Johnnies will face in Port Charlotte won 24 or more games last season. 

SJU wraps up the non-conference schedule by hosting Northwestern and Crown on March 22 and 23, respectively (weather permitting). 

SJU's MIAC (Home) Schedule
The Johnnies open MIAC play April 2 at home against Concordia-Moorhead and are scheduled to host doubleheaders against the following MIAC opponents:

-Carleton (April 9)
-Hamline (April 13)
-Macalester (April 23)
-Augsburg/Senior Day (May 7)

The four-team, double-elimination MIAC Tournament is scheduled for May 12-14 at CHS Field in St. Paul.