By Frank Rajkowski, SJU Writer/Video Producer

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. - In his first two seasons at Saint John's University  – one of which was cut short due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic – senior catcher Ethan Roe did not hit a single home run.
 
But in the season opener against Crown College a year ago, the Blake (Minn.) High School graduate belted three in one game.
 
He hasn't looked back since.
 
After leading the MIAC with a single-season, program-record 13 home runs as a junior in 2021, he has nine this season. The two he hit in game one of a doubleheader sweep of St. Olaf in Northfield last Saturday (April 16) were the 21st and 22nd of his collegiate career, moving him past Jed Riegelman '04 for first place in school history.
 
"I definitely wasn't expecting this," said Roe, whose team (16-14, 8-4 MIAC) returns to action when it plays host to Macalester in an MIAC doubleheader scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday (April 23) at Haugen Field at Becker Park.
 
"I never really thought of myself as a power hitter before. Even in high school, I think I only hit two or three in four years. So when I hit three against Crown, it kind of blew my mind. It's not something I'm trying to do every time I come to the plate. But now I definitely have that confidence in myself. I know it's something I'm capable of doing."
 
Roe said he has worked hard to get stronger since arriving in Collegeville as a freshman in the fall of 2018.
 
"Weight lifting has helped a lot," said Roe, whose fraternal twin brother, Soren, is also a standout for the Johnnies. "Increasing my muscle mass is a goal I've set for myself and I've put on 20 pounds since I've been here. My strength and explosiveness have increased a lot."

SJU is also using now using Rapsodo, an analytics tool that measures things like launch angle, exit velocity and exit speed when hitters are in the batting cage.

"The new technology is cool," Roe said. "I really use it more just in reference to where I'm at. It's a good way to see how things are going. It can project if something would have been a single, double or triple by the way you hit it. So it's a good way to visualize when you're inside the cage."
 
Roe's home-run surge has coincided with rising power numbers for several teammates. SJU hit just three home runs in 2017, 16 in 2018 and 18 in 2019.
 
The 2020 season was halted after just eight games due to COVID. But a year ago, the Johnnies hit a program-record 39 home runs in 41 games. This season, they already have 38 in just 30.
 
"I don't know if that's the optimal way to go every time," SJU head coach Jerry Haugen '76 said of his team's long-ball threat. "You want to have a little more of a mix.  There are big league teams that can just rely on power. But at our level, it can be a good or bad thing.
 
"The good thing about it is that you know you're always one swing away from getting back into a game, or from winning one. But you don't want to live and die by home runs and strikeouts. You'd like to have a combination of power and being able to scrape together some runs by playing small ball."
 
Roe agreed with his head coach's assessment.
 
"It's actually kind of absurd how many home runs we're hitting," he said. "It's impressive, but there are times when it feels like we're living and dying by it. That's something we've talked about as a team. We've made it our goal the rest of the way to work on trying to string together some hits so we aren't relying so much on only our power."
 
But that power remains a big part of SJU's identity – so much so that Roe's record may not stand for long. Junior teammate Max Nyrop (Alameda, Calif.) already has 16 career home runs, ranking him sixth in program history and well within striking distance.
 
"We joke about that," Roe said with a laugh. "I have to keep it going here because Max is right on my tail and he still has another year to go."
 
Roe will graduate in May with a degree in psychology. But because of an NCAA ruling granting athletes additional eligibility due to the impact of COVID-19, he still has two years of eligibility remaining.
 
He has talked with several Division I schools about using it while also pursuing a master's degree. In preparation for that, he hopes to again spend this summer in the Northwoods League.
 
He already has two summers worth of NWL experience, one with the St. Cloud Rox and the other last summer with the Minnesota Mud Puppies, a franchise created for just one season to take the place of the Thunder Bay Border Cats due to COVID-19-related travel restrictions that were still in place at the U.S./Canada border. That franchise was based in the Twin Cities, but did not play home games.
 
Long-range, though, Roe said he'd like to pursue a career in sports psychology.
 
"Sports psychology is something that's really helped me over the years," he said. "I saw one all through high school and I still keep in touch with him today. That experience made me realize that there is a big part of sports that often goes untapped. 
 
"Preparing yourself physically is important, but it's only part of the battle. You have to prepare yourself mentally as well."
 
At the moment, Roe said he is preparing to do whatever he can to help his team make a deep postseason run. The MIAC Tournament is scheduled for May 12-14 at CHS Field in St. Paul.
 
If the Johnnies win that, they secure the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament. The last time they advanced to NCAA play was Roe's freshman season.
 
"That was a lot of fun," he said. "I'd like to help give that experience to our younger players as well. It's been a great four years here, and I'd like to go out on a high note.
 
"I don't want to feel like I left anything still in the tank."