Saint John's baseball travels south to face Gustavus Adolphus for a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Sunday, May 1, in St. Peter. – Live Stats | Live Video 

POSTPONED TO SUNDAY: This weekend's doubleheader was originally scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday in St. Peter but was postponed and rescheduled for Sunday due to the rainy forecast.

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (19-15, 11-5 MIAC) split with Saint Mary's on Wednesday (April 27) in Winona.

SJU totaled 11 hits and took advantage of six SMU errors in a 10-1 win in the opener, but batted 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left 10 outs at the plate via strikeout in a 7-5 loss in game two.

The Johnnies out-hit the Cardinals by a 24-13 margin, including three home runs, to raise their season-record total to 44. St. Olaf owns the MIAC record for single-season home runs with 52 in 1988 (40 games).

Game 1
Junior second baseman Owen Dauk (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) extended his on-base streak to 21 games with a one-out single in the top of the first inning before junior first baseman Max Nyrop (Alameda, Calif.) blasted his sixth home run of the season to give SJU a quick 2-0 lead. The homer, the 17th of his career and his 99th career hit, moved Nyrop into a tie with Brent Schloe '00 and Joey Stock '20 for fourth in program history.

A pair of free passes - a hit batsmen and a walk - with one out came back to bite senior Nathan Brandecker (South St. Paul, Minn.) as SMU cut its deficit in half with a run in the bottom of the second.

The free passes carried over to the Johnnies' half of the third inning, as sophomore third baseman Joe Becker (New Prague, Minn.) and Dauk walked, but the Cardinals coaxed two groundballs and a flyout to escape the inning.

The Johnnies manufactured a pair of runs to make it 4-1 in the top of the fourth inning. Sophomore left fielder Rodney Erickson (St. Paul, Minn./Woodbury) singled to start the inning, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from senior right fielder Soren Roe (Golden Valley, Minn./Blake), on to third on a groundout from sophomore designated hitter Jack Schleper (Shakopee, Minn.) and scored on a two-out single off the bat of junior shortstop Matthew Hayford (Rochester, Minn./Lourdes). Becker and Dauk followed with back-to-back singles to plate the team's fourth run of the game.

SJU broke the game open with six unearned runs in the top of the sixth inning. SJU loaded the bases with one out before the Johnnies scored the inning's first two runs thanks to the Cardinals' fifth error on a fielder's-choice groundball by Nyrop. Sophomore center fielder Jordan Amundson (Eden Prairie, Minn.) followed with a sac fly to give SJU a 7-1 lead. The visitors re-loaded the bases with singles from senior catcher Ethan Roe (Golden Valley, Minn./Blake) and Erickson, and Soren Roe cleared them with a two-out double.

Brandecker improved to 6-1 with the win, his third complete game of the season. He allowed four singles and struck out five.

Erickson led SJU's bats with his first three-hit game of the season (3-for-4), while Dauk went 2-for-3 with two walks.

Game 2
The Johnnies, like game one, gained an early lead thanks to the long ball in game two. Ethan Roe and Erickson singled to start the second inning before Soren Roe crushed his sixth home run of the season to give SJU an early 3-0 lead. The Cardinals, however, answered with two runs in the bottom of the frame thanks to back-to-back doubles and a sac fly.

Amundson made it 4-2 when he smoked a 0-2 pitch over the right-field fence for his sixth homer of the season in the top of the third inning.

SJU had a runner on third base with one out in the top of the fifth inning, but struck out twice and did not score. Junior Casey Trapp (Blaine, Minn./Centennial) walked the first three batters, Nos. 8-9-1 in the lineup, to start the bottom half of the fifth, but SMU only scored one run with a sac fly.

The Cardinals tied the game with an unearned run on a two-out, RBI double on a 0-2 pitch in the bottom of the sixth.

Dauk doubled with two outs in the seventh, two pitches after Becker was thrown out at second base attempting to steal, to extend his on-base streak to 22 games. He is batting .412 (21-for-51) with a .571 on-base percentage (1.198 OPS) and 18 runs scored in 16 conference games this spring.

SMU gained its first lead of the day with three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Cameron Weber doubled with one out, stole third and scored on a single from Trevon VanEgtern. Daniel Marxen brought in the other two runs, both unearned, with a two-out single.

Ethan Roe and Erickson singled with one out in the top of the eighth inning, and Soren Roe ended the game's scoring with an RBI.

Sophomore Isaac Harrill (Eden Prairie, Minn.) took the loss, allowing three runs (one earned) on three hits in 1.1 innings of relief. Sophomore Quinn Krueger (Woodbury, Minn.) surrendered an unearned run on two hits and recorded the final five outs.

Trapp gave up three runs on four hits in the no-decision. He struck out five and walked four in five innings.

Ethan Roe went 3-for-4 with a double, which broke his tie with Derek Schiebel '17 for fourth-most in program history (31), in the nightcap.

Erickson batted 5-for-8 with three runs scored on the day, while Dauk and Ethan Roe each went 4-for-8 and combined for five runs.

ANOTHER IN THE CLUB: Nyrop became the 34th Johnnie in program history to reach 100 career hits with a two-out single in the top of the first inning in game two Wednesday at Saint Mary's. Ethan Roe reached the milestone April 2 and now has 119 in his career. Soren Roe has 84 hits as a Johnnie but, when combined with the 35 he recorded as a freshman at Macalester in 2019, also has 119 in his collegiate career. A trio of Johnnies need 30+ hits to join the club: Dauk (69), Erickson (68) and Hayford (65).

ON THE BASES: Dauk extended his on-base streak to 22 games in Wednesday's split at Saint Mary's. He has reached base safely in 32 of the 34 games played this spring and also put together a 20-game on-base streak last season. Nyrop, meanwhile, has a 17-game on-base streak of his own thanks to a current 13-game hit streak. 

RBI ROE: Soren Roe totaled seven RBI in Wednesday's doubleheader and now has 13, while batting 5-for-10, over his last three games. He is now tied with Becker for third on the team with 25 RBI this season, behind Nyrop (27) and Ethan (38).

NCAA REGIONAL RANKINGS: The NCAA released the first Region 9 rankings Wednesday (April 27), prior to the day's games. 

School (vs. DIII, Overall)
1. Bethel (21-6, 24-6)
2. Buena Vista, Iowa (21-10, 21-11)
3. Dubuque, Iowa (19-14, 19-14)
4. Gustavus Adolphus (20-6, 22-6)
5. Loras, Iowa (25-8, 26-8)
6. Luther, Iowa (17-14, 17-14)
7. Wisconsin-Oshkosh (18-10, 18-10)
8. Wisconsin-Stevens Point (24-4, 24-4)
9. Wisconsin-Whitewater (23-5, 23-6)

MIAC STATS: The Gusties enter this weekend's doubleheader as the MIAC leader in all four major statistical categories in conference play.

Batting Average
1. GAC, .366 (.341 overall)
4. SJU, .303 (.286 overall)

Slugging Percentage
1. GAC, .607 (.563 overall)
2. SJU, .529 (.477 overall)

ERA
1. GAC, 2.86 (4.32 overall)
3. SJU, 3.51 (4.65 overall)

Fielding Percentage
1. GAC, .981 (.960 overall)
3. SJU, .965 (.963 overall)

A LOOK AT THE GUSTIES: Gustavus Adolphus (22-7, 9-3 MIAC) saw its four-game win streak come to a halt with a 6-4 non-conference loss to Wisconsin-La Crosse on Wednesday (April 27) in St. Peter. GAC is currently seventh in NCAA Division III in slugging percentage (.563) and 12th in batting average (.341). Three Gusties are batting over .400 this season, led by senior first baseman Jack Hanson. Hanson leads the MIAC in nearly every offensive category: batting (.505), slugging percentage (.928), hits (56), extra-base hits (24), runs scored (44), home runs (11) and RBI (43). The batting average is third in Division III and the slugging percentage is sixth.

Senior catcher Ethan Mocchi returned for a fifth season and leads the conference with a .524 (22-for-42) batting average in 12 MIAC games. Overall, he is batting .440 with 42 RBI. Junior outfielder Bryce Novak is the other Gustie above .400 at .418 with 33 runs scored. Sophomore Drake Siens is tied for second in the MIAC with 22 extra-base hits, including a team-leading 14 doubles.

LAST YEAR: Gustavus handed then-No. 22 SJU three losses last spring. Dealt with a steady wind to left/left-center at over 20 MPH and favorable dimensions (315 feet down the left-field line), Gustavus matched its season total with four home runs, all to left field, to win the opener 8-3 on Good Friday (April 2, 2021) in St. Peter. Unfortunately for SJU, the Johnnies hit two balls to left field in the nine innings of play.

GAC swept SJU the following day (April 3), 9-3 and 7-2, in Collegeville. The Gusties broke game one open with a four-run fifth inning and dissolved a 2-2 stalemate with five runs in the eighth inning of game two.

The Johnnies totaled 20 strikeouts at the plate, left 20 men on base and batted 6-for-31 (.194) with runners on base (4-for-16 with runners in scoring position) in the two games.

Game 1
Brandecker, who was playing first base, gave the Johnnies a quick 3-0 lead with a no-doubt, three-run homer with two outs in the top of the first inning. Erickson singled to start the game and moved to third on a double from Dauk in the next at-bat. The Gusties' Weston Lombard struck out the next two batters before Brandecker blasted his second home run of the season to left-center field.

GAC tied the game with three, two-out runs in the bottom of the second inning off Trapp. Trapp was ahead 0-2 on GAC's No. 3 hitter, Cole Pengilly, but the count went full before Pengilly lifted a fly ball that the wind carried just out of Erickson's reach in left-centerfield for a two-run, game-tying triple. 

The Gusties gained a 5-3 lead on leadoff home runs from Nick Azar in the third and Jack Hanson in the fourth. Hanson's homer ended Trapp's day. 

GAC's No. 9 hitter, Dalton Thelen, hit a two-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the fifth and Bryce Novak ended the game's scoring with a leadoff homer in the eighth.

SJU left the bases loaded in the top of the eighth inning and went 1-for-10 with two outs in the loss, to the Gusties' 7-for-15 showing.

Junior third baseman Zach Selchow (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) led SJU's bats with a 3-for-4 performance and Dauk went 2-for-4.

Trapp took the loss (0-2 record), allowing five runs on six hits. He struck out two and issued five free passes (four walks, one hit batsmen) in three innings.

Game 2
The Gusties coaxed three groundball singles for a run in the first inning and put together back-to-back singles with two outs for another in the second. Pengilly singled to start the third inning, stole second and scored when Mocchi's line drive went off Brandecker, SJU's starting pitcher, and into right field. It was that kind of day for GAC.

The Johnnies tallied two unearned runs in the bottom of the third inning, but Pengilly hit a two-run homer in the top of the fourth to give the visitors a 5-2 lead. The Gusties added four runs, three earned, in the fifth.

Nyrop ended the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning. Nyrop finished 2-for-2 in game one and 4-for-6 in the doubleheader.

Brandecker was saddled with the loss (0-1 record), allowing four runs on nine hits in three innings. Sophomore Kody Dalen (Carver, Minn./Chanhassen) was tagged for five runs, four earned, on five hits in two innings. Senior Sam Hanson (Sartell, Minn./St. Cloud Cathedral) held the Gusties off the scoreboard for the final two innings.

Game 3
Pitcher Nick Penick '21 held Gustavus, which recorded 27 hits in the series' first two games, to two runs (one earned) on six hits in the first seven innings for the no-decision.

GAC manufactured a run in the fifth inning thanks to a bloop single, infield single and a fielder's choice. The Gusties made it 2-0 in the sixth inning on consecutive errors by SJU and a chop single to the shortstop.

SJU answered in the bottom half of the sixth when Becker ripped a two-out, RBI single up the middle for his first collegiate hit.

The Johnnies tied the game at 2-2 with an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh, but the Gusties responded with five runs – in which four were unearned – in the top of the eighth.

Junior Matt Herold (North Oaks, Minn./Mounds View) took the loss in game two. He surrendered five runs (one earned) on two hits, but one was a three-run homer off the bat of GAC's Hanson. Junior Hunter Ault (North Oaks, Minn./Mounds View) struck out two in a scoreless ninth.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 42-38 against Gustavus since 1984, but 17-20 in St. Peter. The two teams have split four of the last five doubleheaders on GAC's diamond, in which five of the 10 games were decided by two runs  or less.