Box Score

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Saint John's baseball opened the MIAC Tournament with a 17-7 loss to Gustavus Adolphus on Thursday, May 12, at CHS Field in St. Paul.

The Johnnies will face fourth-seeded Concordia (15-15 overall) in an elimination game at noon Friday, May 13, in St. Paul. The Cobbers fell to top-seeded Bethel 7-0 in the tournament opener.

Gustavus (27-12 overall) totaled 17 hits, including four home runs in the victory. SJU (23-16 overall), meanwhile, cracked 13 hits but left 12 men on base.

The Gusties gained a quick 4-0 lead thanks to back-to-back home runs - a three-run shot from Gavin Baker just inside the left-field foul pole and a solo homer from Ethan Mocchi - in the top of the first inning.

Senior catcher Ethan Roe (Golden Valley, Minn./Blake) put SJU on the scoreboard with a two-out, RBI single in the bottom half of the frame.

GAC tacked on three more runs to make it 7-1 in the top of the fourth. Logan Bjorkman hit a two-run homer and the third run scored from first on a two-out, RBI single off the bat of Jack Hanson that sophomore center fielder Jordan Amundson (Eden Prairie, Minn.) dove for and caught, but lost when he rolled forward.

SJU cut it to 7-3 thanks to RBI singles from Ethan Roe and senior right fielder Soren Roe (Golden Valley, Minn./Blake) in the bottom of the fourth, but Bjorkman hit his second homer of the game to lead off the sixth inning.

Soren Roe launched his sixth home run of the season, and 10th as a Johnnie, with one out in the sixth. He now has 27 RBI in his last eight games. Junior shortstop Matthew Hayford (Rochester, Minn./Lourdes) reached on an infield single with two outs and sophomore third baseman Joe Becker (New Prague, Minn.) brought him in with a triple, his fourth of the season, to cut the Johnnies' deficit to three (8-5).

GAC padded its lead with three runs on four hits in the seventh, making the score 11-5, in the top of the seventh. The first two Johnnies reached to start the bottom half, but did not score.

Sophomore Jack Schleper (Shakopee, Minn.) roped a pinch-hit single to start the bottom of the eighth and scored on junior second baseman Owen Dauk's (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) two-out single. The Gusties, however, batted around and scored six runs on six hits in the top of the ninth inning.

Hayford ended the game's scoring with a two-out, RBI single in the bottom of the ninth.

Nyrop and Ethan Roe led SJU's bats with three hits apiece. The performance extended Nyrop's hit streak to 18 games (22 straight on base).

Senior Nathan Brandecker (South St. Paul, Minn.) took the loss (7-2 record), allowing seven runs (six earned) on six hits. He struck out three and walked two in four innings.