Saint John's baseball plays host to Hamline for a 2:30 p.m. doubleheader today (Tuesday, April 13) at Haugen Field at Becker Park. – Live Stats/Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (11-13, 3-3 MIAC) dropped two games at Bethel on Sunday, April 10, at Hargis Park. The Johnnies lost a 3-0 lead by allowing four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning of game one's 4-3 defeat, SJU's fifth one-run loss of the season, and suffered a 13-3 loss in seven innings in the nightcap. SJU committed four errors in game two and batted .125 with runners on base (3-for-24) and with runners in scoring position (2-for-16) on the day. The Royals, meanwhile, went 8-for-16 with runners in scoring position.
 
Fifteen of BU's 17 runs scored came in three innings.
 
Game 1
The Johnnies broke open a scoreless game with two runs in the top of the fifth inning. Sophomore designated hitter Jack Schleper (Shakopee, Minn.) put the first run on the scoreboard with a leadoff home run, his fourth of the season and seventh of his career. Sophomore third baseman Joe Becker (New Prague, Minn.) doubled with one out and junior first baseman Max Nyrop (Alameda, Calif.) brought him in with a double of his own with two outs.
 
Senior catcher Ethan Roe (Golden Valley, Minn./Blake) followed Schleper's lead with a leadoff home run, his sixth of the season and second in as many games, in the top of the sixth inning. 
 
Becker doubled to start the top of the seventh inning, but was stranded on third base. SJU finished 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
 
Sophomore Kody Dalen (Carver, Minn./Chanhassen) walked the leadoff batter in the bottom seventh and was relieved by sophomore Griffin Larson (Edina, Minn.). Larson recorded the first out, a fielder's choice groundout, but hit the next batter on a 0-2 count and followed that with a walk to load the bases. Noah Wenberg recorded an RBI single and Justin Winterfeldt tied the game with a two-run double. SJU elected to re-load the bases with an intentional walk before Marcus Krupke ended the game with a sacrifice fly to left field.
 
SJU out-hit BU by a 9-7 margin, but issued nine free passes (six walks and three hit batsmen). The Johnnies' defense turned three double plays.
 
Dalen was credited with one earned run on five hits in the no-decision. He struck out two and walked four in six innings.
 
Game 2
Bethel broke the scoreless game open with six runs on six hits in the bottom of the third inning. Koehn hit a leadoff, wind-aided home run to make it 7-0 in the bottom of the fifth and the Royals added five more runs (only one was earned), including a grand slam, in the sixth.
 
Sophomore outfielder Rodney Erickson (St. Paul, Minn./Woodbury) erased the shutout with a solo home run, his first of the season and second of his career, with one out in the top of the seventh inning. Junior shortstop Matthew Hayford (Rochester, Minn./Lourdes) singled with two outs and scored on a two-run homer off the bat of Becker to make it 12-3. The dinger was Becker's fifth of the season.
 
Nick Kulseth reached second base on an error to start the bottom of the seventh and scored on an RBI single from Keenan Hodgkin to end the game via the 10-run rule.
 
Sophomore Quinn Krueger (Woodbury, Minn.) made his first collegiate start and took the loss (2-2 record), allowing six runs on seven hits in three innings. 
 
BU's Max Sutter entered the game with a 5-0 record, 0.73 ERA, .221 opponent batting average and 40 strikeouts in 37 innings.
 
Hayford led SJU's bats in game two with two hits, including a double.
 
Becker went 3-for-8, in which all three hits were for extra bases (two doubles and the homer), on the day.

IN THE RECORD BOOK: Ethan Roe's two-run homer, his team-leading sixth of the season, in game one Sunday at Bethel moved him into a tie with Matt Ode '98 for second in program history with 19, one behind the record of 20 held by Jed Riegelman '04. Roe is currently tied with Aaron Pfaff '15 for fifth in school history in doubles (29) and needs four RBI to tie Ode for 10th (88) in that category.

HOMERS: The 2021 SJU baseball team set a program record with 39 home runs in 41 games last spring. The 2022 Johnnies currently have 29 homers, thanks to seven dingers in four games over the weekend, in 24 contests this season.

ONE WIN AWAY: Head coach Jerry Haugen '76 enters today's games needing one win to reach 900 for his career. He is in his 45th season at the helm of the Johnnies' baseball program and currently touts an 899-684-5 (.568) career record.

A LOOK AT THE PIPERS: Hamline (7-13, 1-3 MIAC) saw its losing skid increase to three games with a pair of losses, 2-0 and 11-4, Monday (April 11) at Concordia-Moorhead. The Pipers mustered only two hits in game one and gained a 4-1 lead in game two before the Cobbers scored 11 unanswered runs. Cullen Buck leads the team in batting average (.368), runs scored (15), slugging percentage (.509) and on-base percentage (.446). HU is batting .252 with three home runs this season, while the pitching staff has a 7.12 ERA and a .310 opponent batting average.

LAST SPRING: SJU went 5-1 against HU last spring, including a 2-1 record in the best-of-three, first round of the MIAC Tournament. The Johnnies totaled a 4-0 mark in Collegeville, out-scoring the Pipers by a 55-22 margin, and batted .358 with 30 extra-base hits (21 doubles, three triples, six homers) in the six games. Nyrop went 12-for-24 with 12 RBI, while Schleper (.440, 11-for-25) and Hayford (.400, 8-for-20) each batted over .400 against HU.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 44-17 against Hamline since 1993, including a 24-6 record in Collegeville. SJU has won each of the last five games at Becker Park and 16 of the last 19 overall.