Saint John's baseball visits Winona for a 2:30 p.m. doubleheader against Saint Mary's on Wednesday, April 27. – Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (18-14, 10-4 MIAC) rode the heroics of another walk-off home run from senior catcher Ethan Roe (Golden Valley, Minn./Blake) to a convincing win in game two for a sweep of Macalester this past Saturday (April 23) in Collegeville.

Held to one hit through the first six innings and facing a 5-1 deficit, SJU scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to earn a 6-5 win in game one and invoked the 10-run rule with a 10-0 shutout in eight innings in the finale.

Senior right fielder Soren Roe (Golden Valley, Minn./Blake), who earned All-MIAC honors as a freshman at Macalester in 2019, went 3-for-3 with a home run, double and a career-high six RBI in game two. His three-run homer in the fifth inning was the team's 40th of the season, which set a new program record.

Game 1
SJU found the scoreboard first with an unearned run in the third inning, but Macalester answered with a two-out, RBI single off senior Nathan Brandecker (South St. Paul, Minn.) in the sixth.

The Scots' Kenny Rodriguez broke the game open with a grand slam off junior Casey Trapp (Blaine, Minn./Centennial) in the top of the seventh inning.

Junior shortstop Matthew Hayford (Rochester, Minn./Lourdes) started the seventh-inning rally with a walk before sophomore third baseman Joe Becker (New Prague, Minn.) poked a 0-2 pitch into left-center for a single. Junior second baseman Owen Dauk (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) was then hit by a pitch for the second time of the game to load the bases. 

Junior first baseman Max Nyrop (Alameda, Calif.) roped a 3-2 pitch into the left-center gap to score two before Ethan Roe's second walk-off homer of the month. Roe blasted a three-run shot in the bottom of the ninth inning April 9 against Carleton and did the same Saturday to the same spot - straightaway center field - on a 1-0 pitch with one out. The long ball was Roe's 10th of the season and 23rd of his career, and the team's 39th (tying the program record set last spring). Roe is tied with Tony Giuliani '99 for seventh in school history with 93 career RBI.

Sophomore Kody Dalen (Carver, Minn./Chanhassen) started the game and allowed six hits, with six strikeouts, in five scoreless innings.

Game 2
Soren Roe started the scoring, and his six-RBI game, with a two-run double in the second inning. He came around to score three batters later on Becker's two-out single.

Roe then connected on a 2-2 pitch for a three-run shot, his third homer of the season and seventh as a Johnnie, in the fifth inning.

Sophomore center fielder Jordan Amundson (Eden Prairie, Minn.) added to the single-season record with a solo homer, his fifth of the year, with two outs in the sixth inning.

An RBI double off the bat of sophomore designated hitter Jack Schleper (Shakopee, Minn.) made the score 8-0 in the seventh inning.

SJU loaded the bases with nobody out to start the eighth inning before sophomore pinch hitter Andrew Mahlke (Victoria, Minn./Chanhassen) drove in Dauk, who recorded a leadoff single, with an RBI groundout. The Scots intentionally walked another pinch hitter - junior Jackson Amann (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Eagan) - to re-load the bases before, who else, Soren Roe ripped a single through the left side for his sixth RBI to end the game.

Soren Roe scored three runs, while Amundson and Dauk each went 2-for-4 at the plate.

Sophomore Griffin Larson (Edina, Minn.) made the start and improved to 4-2 with the win. He surrendered six hits and struck out six in five scoreless innings. Sophomore Isaac Harrill (Eden Prairie, Minn.) struck out four and allowed two hits in three innings for his first collegiate save.

NEW HR RECORD: The 2021 SJU baseball team set a program record with 39 home runs in 41 games last spring. In game two of Saturday's doubleheader, the 32nd game for SJU this year, Soren Roe hit a three-run home run that served as the record-breaking 40th of the season. Amundson's solo shot in the next inning was the Johnnies' 41st, team's current total entering Wednesday's trip to Saint Mary's. 

Six Johnnies have hit five home runs or more this spring.

SJU's Current Home Run List
Ethan Roe: 10
Jordan Amundson: 5
Joe Becker: 5
Owen Dauk: 5
Max Nyrop: 5
Jack Schleper: 5
Soren Roe: 3
Matthew Hayford: 2
Rodney Erickson: 1

ROE RISING: Ethan Roe added to his program record for home runs (23) with Saturday's game-one, walk-off blast against Macalester. He is currently tied with Derek Schiebel '17 for fourth in program history in doubles (30), tied with Tony Giuliani '99 for seventh in RBI (93) and tied with Logan Hershey '16 for 10th in total bases (222). Roe leads the team in multi-hit games (12) and multi-RBI games (10) this spring.

SOLID STARTS: With limited roles from Brandecker and Trapp, Dalen and Larson started Saturday's games and each threw five scoreless innings, allowing six hits with six strikeouts. The two were even close in pitches thrown, as Dalen tossed 89 to Larson's 87. Dalen is 1-1 with a 3.79 and 37 strikeouts in 38 innings pitched, while Larson is 4-2 with a 2.66 ERA, .179 opponent batting average and 37 strikeouts in 23.2 innings this spring.

OWW-EN DAUK: With three more hit-by-pitches last Saturday, Dauk moved into a tie with Scott Demorett '97 for the most in program history, 31. He currently leads the MIAC with a .567 on-base percentage in conference play and has reached base safely in each of SJU's last 20 games (30 of the season's 32 games). Dauk leads the team in batting (.355), runs scored (29), on-base percentage (.500), OPS (1.102), walks (17) and hit-by-pitch (11).

TWO AWAY FROM 100: Nyrop extended his hitting streak to 11 games by going 3-for-8 over the weekend with two RBI. He now has 98 career hits and needs two to become the 34th Johnnie to reach the 100-hit mark. Nyrop is batting .425 (17-for-40) with four doubles, three homers, 10 runs scored and 14 RBI during the 11-game hit streak. 

MIAC STATS
Batting Average
4. SJU, .297 (.282 overall)
7. SMU, .264 (.260 overall)

Slugging Percentage
2. SJU, .533 (.475 overall)
6. SMU, .367 (.371 overall)

ERA
2. SJU, 3.58 (4.75 overall)
6. SMU, 4.29 (4.80 overall)

Fielding Percentage
3. SJU, .971 (.965 overall)
8. SMU, .959 (.956 overall)

A LOOK AT THE CARDINALS: Saint Mary's (15-16, 7-7 MIAC) dropped both games to Gustavus Adolphus last Saturday (April 23) in St. Peter. In game one, the Gusties jumped out to a 7-0 lead in an eventual 7-2 victory and again scored an early lead, 5-0, en route to an 8-3 win. Junior Trevon VanEgtern leads the team in batting (.364), slugging percentage (.556) and hits (36). He and Daniel Marxen tout a team-best four home runs each. SMU is batting .260 as a team, to the opponents' .292 average. The pitching staff, meanwhile, has a 4.80 ERA and has allowed 25 home runs on the year. 

A YEAR AGO: The two teams split last year's doubleheader with a one-run win each back on April 15 (2021) at Becker Park. The Johnnies posted a 3-2 win in the opener, but committed three errors in a 4-3 loss in the nightcap. All four runs allowed in game two were unearned. 

SJU out-hit the Cardinals 16-11, in which all 16 hits were singles, but committed five errors in the twinbill. Three SJU pitchers held Saint Mary's to a .180 (11-for-61) batting average, including 0-for-19 with runners in scoring position, and combined for 18 strikeouts and two earned runs allowed in 16 innings.

Game 1
SJU gained a 2-0 lead with a run in each of the first two innings. Sophomore outfielder Rodney Erickson (St. Paul, Minn./Woodbury) started the game with a single, moved to second on a hit from Becker, stole third and scored on a sacrifice fly from Nyrop. 

Ethan Roe led off the bottom of the second with an infield single, moved to second on a groundout and scored on a two-out single from his twin brother, Soren.

The Cardinals tied the game with two runs in the top of the third inning thanks to an infield single, triple (first of the season) and RBI groundout.

Junior Zach Selchow (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) brought in what proved to be the game-winning run with an RBI single with one out in the bottom of the fifth.

Nick Penick '21 took care of the rest by going the distance, allowing two runs on five hits with six strikeouts in seven innings to improve his record to 4-0. 

Game 2
SMU totaled its four runs in game two on two-run errors with two outs in the second and third innings.

The Johnnies scored an unearned run of their own and tacked on two more, thanks to a two-run single from Becker, in the bottom of the third.

Trapp suffered the hard-luck loss, allowing the four unearned runs on five hits in seven innings. He struck out nine.

Soren Roe led SJU with a 4-for-6 performance at the plate in the two games.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies hold a 43-29 record against Saint Mary's since 1987, including a  season including an 18-10 record in Winona. SJU is 8-2 in the last 10 games overall vs. the Cardinals.