Saint John's baseball opens the double-elimination MIAC Tournament against Gustavus Adolphus at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 12, at CHS Field in St. Paul. - Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM, all SJU games) | Live Stats/Live Video (all games) | MIAC Tournament Website

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TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Thursday, May 12
G1: (No. 1) Bethel vs. (No. 4) Concordia 3 p.m.
G2: (No. 2) Saint John's vs. (No. 3 Gustavus), 7:30 p.m.

Friday, May 13
G3: G1 Loser vs. G2 Loser, 12 p.m.
G4: G1 Winner vs. G2 Winner, 3 p.m.
G5: G4 Loser vs. G3 Winner, 6 p.m.

Saturday, May 14
G6: G4 Winner vs. G5 Winner, 3 p.m.
G7: 25 minutes after G6, if necessary

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (23-15, 15-5 MIAC) completed its regular-season schedule with a sweep of Augsburg, 9-4 and 5-1, last Saturday (May 7) in Collegeville.

The Johnnies batted .365 (23-for-63) with six doubles and two home runs on the afternoon, while the pitching staff limited Augsburg to a .200 average (12-for-60).

Game 1
SJU jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in game one with an RBI double from sophomore center fielder Jordan Amundson (Eden Prairie, Minn.) and an RBI single from senior catcher Ethan Roe (Golden Valley, Minn./Blake) - with two outs - in the next at-bat during the bottom of the first inning.

The Auggies cut the deficit in half with a two-out run of their own in the top of the third inning, but Ethan Roe launched a two-run shot, his 11th homer of the season and 24th of his career, in the bottom half of the third.

The Johnnies padded the lead with four runs in the fifth inning and made it 9-1 with a single run in the sixth.

Augsburg ended the game's scoring with three runs in the top of the seventh.

Senior Nathan Brandecker (South St. Paul, Minn.) went the distance, allowing the four runs (three earned) on five hits. He struck out a career-high nine to improve his record to 7-1 on the season (13-6 career).

Amundson went 3-for-3 with three runs scored, two doubles and a stolen base. Sophomores Rodney Erickson (St. Paul, Minn./Woodbury) and Jack Schleper (Shakopee, Minn.) joined Ethan Roe with two hits apiece.

Game 2
Augsburg scored the game's first run with two outs in the first inning, but SJU scored five unanswered the rest of the way. Four of the Johnnies' five runs came with two outs.

Amundson started the bottom of the second inning with a single, his fourth hit in five plate appearances (the other was a walk), swiped both second and third base, and scored when the catcher's throw to third sailed into the SJU bullpen.

SJU scored the go-ahead run, unearned, on a two-out double from senior right fielder Soren Roe (Golden Valley, Minn./Blake) in the fourth and junior first baseman Max Nyrop (Alameda, Calif.) delivered a two-out, RBI single in the fifth. 

Soren Roe gave the Johnnies' a 4-1 lead with a solo homer, his fifth of the season and ninth as a Johnnie, in the sixth inning. He ended the scoring with a ground-rule double in the eighth for a 4-for-4 performance at the plate.

Junior lefty Casey Trapp (Blaine, Minn./Centennial) made the start and allowed the lone run on three hits in four innings for the no-decision. Sophomore Griffin Larson (Edina, Minn.) pitched two scoreless innings of relief for the win (5-2 record), while sophomore Kody Dalen (Carver, Minn./Chanhassen) gave up two hits for the three-inning save.

ROE THE RBI BOAT: Soren Roe went 4-for-8 with two doubles, a home run and four RBI against Augsburg. He is now batting .555 (15-for-27) with 25 RBI, six doubles and three homers over his last seven games. 

STILL STREAKING: Nyrop extended his hit streak to 17 games and on-base streak to 21 games by going 3-for-8 with a double last Saturday in the regular-season finale. He is batting .400 (26-for-65) with six doubles, five home runs, 25 RBI and 20 runs scored during the 17-game hit streak.

Junior second baseman Owen Dauk (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview), however, saw his on-base streak end at 25 games in game two of the doubleheader. 

STAYING HOT: Amundson is batting .444 (12-for-27) with seven extra-base hits, including four home runs, over the last seven games. He has 13 runs scored, 12 RBI and five stolen bases during the stretch. 

LAST 14 GAMES: SJU ended the regular season with wins in seven of its last eight games (12 of 14). During the last 14 games, the team has batted .336 with 20 homers and a .943 OPS. Individually, six Johnnies are batting over .370 during the stretch: Dauk (.438), Nyrop (.411), junior shortstop Matthew Hayford (.400; Rochester, Minn./Lourdes), Amundson (.377), Soren Roe (.373) and Ethan Roe (.370). SJU's leadoff batter has reached in 46.7 percent (49-for-105) of the innings.

The pitching staff, meanwhile, has a 2.94 ERA and .215 opponent batting average over the last 14 games. Brandecker is 4-0 with a 1.99 ERA and .160 opponent batting average in seven appearances (four starts), totaling 31.2 innings pitched.

NO. 2 SEED MOJO: The Johnnies are making their 12th consecutive appearance in the MIAC Tournament and the 14th overall since the format started in 2003. SJU is 19-19 in MIAC Tournament games with titles in 2012, 2015, 2016 and 2019.

The No. 2 seed is SJU's fifth in the 14 appearances. The Johnnies won the tournament in each of the four previous occurrences as the second seed: 2012, 2015, 2016 and 2019.

REGIONAL RANKINGS: SJU slipped two spots to No. 9 in the latest NCAA Region 9 rankings released today (May 11). 

School (Record vs. DIII, Overall; entering May 11)
1. Wisconsin-Whitewater
2. Wisconsin-Stevens Point
3. Loras, Iowa 
4. Buena Vista, Iowa
5. Wisconsin-La Crosse
6. Luther, Iowa
7. Wisconsin-Oshkosh 
8. Bethel 
9. SJU 

MIAC HOMERS: The Johnnies broke their program record for single-season home runs, 39, April 23 and have 49 on the year. The total is three behind the MIAC record of 52 set by St. Olaf in 1988. Gustavus, however, is only one long ball away from the record thanks to seven homers against Concordia on Monday (April 9) in Collegeville.

52 - St. Olaf (1988)
51 - Gustavus (2022)
49 - Saint John's (2022)
46 - St. Olaf (2001)
43 - St. Olaf (2000)
42 - St. Olaf (1987)
41 - St. Thomas (2004)

AMONG THE MIAC LEADERS: A number of Johnnies ended the conference schedule in the top three statistically in MIAC play:

Batting
-Amundson, third in slugging percentage (.750)
-Becker, tied for second in triples (2)
-Dauk, third in both runs scored (24) and on-base percentage (.551)
-Nyrop, third in RBI (26)
-Soren Roe and Nyrop, led the MIAC in doubles (8)
-Ethan Roe, tied for second in home runs (8)
-Soren Roe, second in RBI (29)

Pitching
-Brandecker and Larson, tied for second in wins (4)
-Brandecker, second in innings pitched (39.2)
-Trapp, led the MIAC in innings pitched (42.1) and second in strikeouts (42)

MIAC STATS
Batting Average
1. GAC, .364 (.343 overall)
2. BU, .347 (.341 overall)
3. SJU, .320 (.297 overall)
4. CC, .278 (.291 overall)

Slugging Percentage
1. GAC, .602 (.567 overall)
2. SJU, .542 (.490 overall)
3. BU, .529 (.503 overall)
5. CC, .365 (.384 overall)

ERA
1. BU, 2.92 (3.36 overall)
2. GAC, 3.38 (4.17 overall)
3. SJU, 3.76 (4.67 overall)
9. CC, 5.66 (5.94 overall)

Fielding Percentage
1. BU, .978 (.974 overall)
2. SJU, .962 (.962 overall)
3. GAC, .961 (.953 overall)
4. CC, .960 (.957 overall)

A LOOK AT THE GUSTIES: Gustavus Adolphus (26-12, 13-7 MIAC) enters the MIAC Tournament with a 4-6 record over its last 10 games. Senior first baseman Jack Hanson ended the regular season leading the MIAC (all games) in batting average (.503), slugging percentage (.905), RBI (53) and home runs (14). Junior outfielder Bryce Novak is batting .423 with 15 extra-base hits, including five homers and five triples, to go with 29 RBI. Senior catcher Ethan Mocchi has 47 RBI with seven homers and a .384 batting average. Senior pitcher Christian Johnson leads the Gusties' pitching staff in starts (10) and is 4-4 with a 3.63 ERA and a .240 opponent batting average in 44.2 innings. 

10 DAYS AGO: SJU vaulted into second place in the MIAC standings with a high-scoring, doubleheader sweep of Gustavus Adolphus earlier this month (May 1) in St. Peter. The Johnnies won the opener, 13-4, and jumped out to a 14-1 lead in game two en route to a 23-11 victory in seven innings (10-run rule).

SJU batted .465 (20-for-43) with runners in scoring position and out-hit the Gusties 32-19, including 10 extra-base hits: five doubles, two triples and three home runs. In the field, SJU turned five double plays on the day, including four in game two.

GAC entered the doubleheader fourth in the first NCAA Region 9 rankings and committed 11 errors on the afternoon (eight in game two).

Soren Roe batted 6-for-9 with two doubles and eight RBI on the day, while Dauk went 5-for-9 with five runs scored to extend his on-base streak to 24 games. He was hit twice to break his tie with Scott Demorett '97 for SJU's hit-by-pitch record with 33 in his career.

Nyrop batted 4-for-8 with six runs scored and seven RBI, thanks to a grand slam in game two, to extend his hit streak to 15 games (on-base streak to 19 games).

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 44-38 against Gustavus since 1984, including a 4-1 record in the MIAC Tournament.

A LOOK AT THE ROYALS: Bethel (30-9, 16-4 MIAC) won its third MIAC regular-season title in 2022 and enter the tournament with a 6-5 record in its last 11 games. Sophomore outfielder Matthew Carlsen leads the team in batting (.445), runs scored (48), stolen bases (8) and is second in home runs (7) and RBI (48). Junior outfielder Justin Winterfeldt touts a team-leading 10 homers and 49 RBI with a .368 batting average. Freshman Max Sutter leads a deep starting rotation with 64 innings pitched, 59 strikeouts and five complete games. He is 6-2 with a 1.83 ERA and .246 opponent batting average.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 44-31 against BU since 1988, but just 2-5 in the MIAC Tournament.

A LOOK AT THE COBBERS: Concordia (15-14, 10-10 MIAC) snuck into the MIAC Tournament, despite a 5-6 record over its last 11 games, thanks to a three-way tie-breaker win over Saint Mary's and St. Scholastica. Senior outfielder Andy Gravdahl leads the team in most categories: batting (.423), runs scored (32), hits (47), extra-base hits (13), triples (5) and stolen bases (10). Freshman first baseman Isaac Henkemeyer-Howe is close behind Gravdahl with a .407 average. Junior Ashwin Stratton touts a team-best 38 innings pitched and is 3-3 with a 4.26 ERA. Opponent are batting .301 against the Cobbers' pitching.

SERIES HISTORY: SJU leads the series with a 37-32 record against CC since 1989. The series is even at 2-2, however, in the MIAC Tournament. Three of the four postseason meetings were decided by two runs or less. The lone outlier was the series' last in the postseason, a 9-5 SJU win on May 9, 2015, in Minnetonka.