Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Saint John's baseball salvaged a split with Carleton thanks to senior catcher Ethan Roe's walk-off, three-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning of game two on Saturday, April 9, at Haugen Field at Becker Park.

The Knights (4-10, 1-1 MIAC) rode the arm of Kiefer Lord to a 5-1 win in game one, but the Johnnies (11-11, 3-1 MIAC) came back from two, three-run deficits and hit three home runs in game two's 10-9 victory.

Game 1
Carleton jumped on the scoreboard first with a leadoff, solo homer from Jacob Smith in the second inning and plated three more runs off senior Nathan Brandecker (South St. Paul, Minn.) in the third.

The Knights added an unearned run off sophomore Griffin Larson (Edina, Minn.) in the fourth inning. Freshmen Grant Limke (Buffalo, Minn./Holy Family Catholic) and Will Fazio (Minneapolis, Minn./Blake) combined for three scoreless innings of relief on the mound.



Sophomore outfielder Rodney Erickson (St. Paul, Minn./Woodbury) tripled for the second time this season (and fifth of his career) with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning and scored on a wild pitch to end the shutout. He recorded two of SJU's five hits in the loss.

Brandecker took his first loss of the season (3-1 record), allowing four runs on four hits in three innings.

Lord struck out eight in the complete-game effort for the Knights.

Game 2
The Knights scored a single run in each of the first three innings off junior southpaw Casey Trapp (Blaine, Minn./Centennial), the reigning MIAC Pitcher of the Week, to gain a 3-0 lead in game two.

Junior first baseman Max Nyrop (Alameda, Calif.) cut the Johnnies' deficit to 3-2 with a two-run homer, his third long ball of the season and 14th of his career, with two outs in the bottom of the third inning and a solo shot from sophomore center fielder Jordan Amundson (Eden Prairie, Minn.) tied the game in the fourth. Nyrop is now tied with Ryan Giefer '95, Tony Giuliani '99, and Jay Kasner '07 for sixth in program history.

Carleton took the lead, 5-3, thanks to three straight hits with two outs in the top of the sixth inning.

Senior right fielder Soren Roe (Golden Valley, Minn./Blake) doubled to start the bottom half of the sixth and eventually scored on an RBI groundout from Amundson.

Junior Jack Haring (Ham Lake, Minn./Blaine) relieved Trapp with runners on the corners and one out, but the Knights pushed a controversial run through when his first batter faced laid down a suicide-squeeze bunt. Haring shoveled the ball to Ethan Roe (Golden Valley, Minn./Blake), who looked to have applied the tag, but the umpire called the baserunner safe to make the score 6-4.

The Johnnies took advantage of back-to-back walks from Nyrop and Soren Roe in the eighth inning when Amundson laced a two-run, opposite-field double.

The Knights, however, re-gained the lead with a bases-clearing, two-out double from Paul Hinton in the top of the ninth inning off sophomore Isaac Harrill (Eden Prairie, Minn.). All three runs were unearned.

Sophomore third baseman Joe Becker (New Prague, Minn.) started the ninth-inning rally by walking with one out, and he advanced to third on a single from junior second baseman Owen Dauk (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview). Nyrop made it a two-run game (9-7) with a sacrifice fly in the next at-bat and Soren Roe walked before his twin brother, Ethan, launched the full-count, walk-off home run to straightaway center field. The homer allowed him to break his tie with Brent Schloe '00 and former teammate Joey Stock '20 and move into third place on SJU's all-time list with 18.

Sophomore Quinn Krueger (Woodbury, Minn.) recorded the final out of the ninth inning and earned the win (2-1 record).

Amundson finished the game 2-for-4 with a career-high four RBI, while Becker and Soren Roe each went 2-for-3. Roe crossed the plate three times.

SJU batted .208 (5-for-24) with runners on base in the two games, while Carleton went 13-for-33 (.394) with runners on base and 8-for-23 (.348) with runners in scoring position. The Knights, however, left 21 men on base in the doubleheader, including 14 in game two alone.

The Johnnies visit Bethel (16-3, 3-1 MIAC) for a 1 p.m. doubleheader tomorrow (Sunday, April 10) in Arden Hills. The games were originally scheduled for April 5 but were postponed all week due to weather.