Saint John's baseball closes the regular-season schedule by hosting Augsburg for Senior Day at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 7, in Collegeville. – Live Stats/Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (21-15, 13-5 MIAC) vaulted into second place in the MIAC standings with a high-scoring, doubleheader sweep of Gustavus Adolphus on Sunday (May 1) in St. Peter. SJU 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).

The Johnnies 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).

Game 1
SJU loaded the bases with one out in the first inning thanks to three consecutive free passes - two hit batsmen and a four-pitch walk - and gained a 1-0 lead on an RBI groundout from senior catcher Ethan Roe (Golden Valley, Minn./Blake).

The Johnnies score four runs on five hits in the top of the second inning. Senior right fielder Soren Roe (Golden Valley, Minn./Blake) smoked a leadoff double to the right-center gap, moved to third on a groundout off the bat of sophomore designated hitter Jack Schleper (Shakopee, Minn.) and scored on an infield single from junior shortstop Matthew Hayford (Rochester, Minn./Lourdes). Junior second baseman Owen Dauk (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) kept the inning alive with a two-out single and junior first baseman Max Nyrop (Alameda, Calif.)made it 3-0 with an RBI single in the next at-bat. Sophomore center fielder Jordan Amundson (Eden Prairie, Minn.) reached on an error to load the bases and Ethan Roe ripped a two-run single up the middle for a 5-0 cushion. 

Nyrop reached via error and Amundson walked to start the fourth before Soren Roe roped a two-out, two run single up the middle for a 7-0 lead.

The Gusties scored two runs, one earned, in the bottom of the fourth and added two more in the fifth to cut their deficit to 7-4.

Nyrop singled to start the sixth inning and moved to second on a one-out wild pitch, but did not score on Ethan Roe's double. He was thrown out at the plate on Erickson's groundball to third. Soren Roe came through once again with a two-out, two-run double to the left-center gap to give SJU a 9-4 lead.

The Johnnies ended the scoring with four more runs, three of which came on Amundson's seventh home run of the season, in the top of the seventh.

Sophomore Kody Dalen (Carver, Minn./Chanhassen) allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits in five innings for the win (2-1 record). He struck out five and issued four free passes (two walks and two hit batsmen).

Senior Nathan Brandecker (South St. Paul, Minn.) allowed one hit in two innings of scoreless relief.

Game 2
The two teams scored a run or more in each of the first six half-innings in game two, including nine for SJU in the first. Sophomore third baseman Joe Becker (New Prague, Minn.) reached on an error to start the game, Dauk singled and Nyrop walked to load the bases. Amundson followed with a two-run single to the opposite field and Ethan Roe was plunked by a pitch to re-load the basepaths. GAC committed its second error of the inning in the next at-bat as Erickson brought in another run on a groundball to the shortstop. Soren Roe made it 4-0 with a fielder's choice for the first out of the inning and Schleper continued the scoring parade with an RBI single in the ensuing at-bat. Hayford gave SJU a 6-0 lead with an RBI double to force a pitching change. Another error re-loaded the bases before Dauk drove in the seventh run with his second single of the inning and Nyrop roped a two-run double down the left-field line.

An SJU error and two walks loaded the bases for GAC in the bottom of the first and the home team scored its first run on a double play.

The Johnnies scored five more, thanks to three hits and two more GAC errors, in the top of the second inning. Becker drove in the first run with his third triple of the season and Amundson crushed his second, three-run homer of the day.

Like the first inning, GAC loaded the bases in the second with a single and two walks. A wild pitch gave the Gusties their second run and a sacrifice fly made it 14-3.

Erickson lined a single to left to start the third inning and made it to third when the ball skipped past the left fielder. He scored on a sac fly from Soren Roe in the next at-bat for a 15-3 lead.

Gustavus went single-walk-single-double to start the bottom half of the third inning and plated two more runs, ending sophomore Griffin Larson's (Edina, Minn.) day in favor of sophomore Isaac Harrill (Eden Prairie, Minn.). A one-out double and throwing error added two more runs to the Gusties' ledger, cutting SJU's lead to 15-7.

The home team closed the gap again in the fourth inning, 15-10, with a two-run double and an SJU fielding error that should have ended the inning.

The Johnnies responded with a two-out, two-run single from Becker in the top of the fifth and a single run in the sixth to gain an 18-10 lead. Amundson tripled for the third time this season to start the sixth and scored on a two-out single from Soren Roe. 

An infield single gave GAC a single run in the bottom of the sixth before SJU put up another crooked number in the top of the seventh. Nyrop hit an opposite-field grand slam, the second of his career and the team's third of the season. The homer, Nyrop's 18th of his career, enabled him to break his tie with Brent Schloe '00 and former teammate Joey Stock '20 for sole possession of fourth in program history. 

Harrill earned his first collegiate win (1-1 record) in relief, allowing three runs (two earned) in two innings. The Gusties scored one run off junior Jack Haring (Ham Lake, Minn./Blaine) in the final three innings. He struck out three and walked three.

Larson was tagged for seven runs (six earned) on four hits in two innings. He walked five and hit one.

Amundson matched Dauk's 5-for-9 performance on the day and combined with Nyrop for 12 runs scored and 15 RBI. Six Johnnies crossed the plate four times or more in the doubleheader: Amundson (6), Nyrop (6), Becker (5), Dauk (5), Erickson (4) and Hayford (4).

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Soren Roe batted .500 (8-for-16) with 15 RBI, a home run, three doubles and four runs scored in four road games (3-1 record) to earn MIAC Player of the Week accolades on Monday (May 2). He batted .714 (5-for-7) with two outs, .600 (6-for-10) with runners in scoring position and .583 (7-for-12) with runners on base in the four games. Nine of his 15 RBI came with two outs. 

He went 2-for-7 and drove in seven, thanks to a bases-clearing double and a three-run homer, in Wednesday's split at Saint Mary's. Roe then batted 6-for-9 with two doubles, eight RBI and three runs scored in the Johnnies' high-scoring, doubleheader sweep of regionally ranked Gustavus Adolphus on Sunday. 

Roe has 21 RBI, batting .579 (11-for-19) with four doubles and two homers, over his last five games. He is currently tied with Nyrop for second in the MIAC with 25 RBI and is also tied for third in doubles (6) in conference play.

JORDY BOMBS: Amundson has blasted four home runs over his last five games, including one in each of his last three contests. He is batting .400 (8-for-20) with 11 RBI, nine runs scored and a triple during the five-game display of power.

MIAC HOMERS: The Johnnies broke their program record for single-season home runs, 39, April 23 and now have 47 on the year. The total is five behind the MIAC record of 52 set by St. Olaf in 1988.

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

DAUK DENTS: Dauk was hit twice in last Saturday's doubleheader to break his tie with Scott Demorett '97 for SJU's hit-by-pitch record with 33 in his career. He set the Johnnies' single-season, hit-by-pitch record with 20 last spring and is tied for sixth with 13 so far in 2022.

DAUK ON BASE: Dauk went 5-for-9 with five runs scored on Sunday to extend his on-base streak to 24 games. The 24-game, on-base streak is the program's longest since Wyatt Ulrich '20 put together a run of 27 games as a freshman in 2017. Gabe MacDonald '16 also reached base in 27 straight games in 2015.

MAX STREAKS: Nyrop batted 4-for-8 with six runs scored and seven RBI, thanks to a grand slam in game two last Saturday at Gustavus, which extended his hit streak to 15 games (on-base streak to 19 games). He is batting .404 (23-for-57) with five doubles, five home runs, 24 RBI and 18 runs scored during the 15-game hit streak.

SENIOR DAY: The SJU baseball program will honor its six seniors prior to Saturday's doubleheader. This group has totaled an 89-42 (.679) record, including a 42-21 mark in the MIAC, an NCAA Tournament appearance, a MIAC playoff title and three top-three finishes in the conference standings (including 2022) in three playable seasons.

POSTSEASON IMPLICATIONS: The Johnnies have already clinched their 12th consecutive trip to the MIAC Tournament and 14th overall since the postseason structure was established in 2000. SJU can win a share of the MIAC regular-season title with a sweep of Augsburg and a Bethel split against Concordia, and the championship outright (and No. 1 seed) with a sweep and two losses by the Royals. A win in either of the two games Saturday secures the No. 2 seed, at worst, for the Johnnies.

IN THE RECORD BOOK: A handful of Johnnies have notable statistics in SJU's record book. Ethan Roe is currently tied with Jamie Louwagie '02 for third in school history in career doubles (32), is tied with Derek Schiebel '17 for fifth in career total bases (230), is sixth in career RBI (96) and eighth in single-season RBI (41).

Although he has 125 collegiate hits, a total that includes 35 hits as a freshman at Macalester in 2019, Soren Roe needs 10 hits to become the third Johnnie to eclipse 100 this season and the 35th in program history.

Junior southpaw Casey Trapp (Blaine, Minn./Centennial) is tied with Collin Felhaber '15 for eighth in single-season strikeouts (64), seven behind Andy Schneider's '00 program record of 71 set in 1998. Trapp is also tied with Felhaber for seventh all-time with 130 career strikeouts.

REGIONAL RANKINGS: SJU entered the NCAA Region 9 rankings at No. 7 in the second installment released Wednesday (May 4). 

School (Record vs. DIII, Overall; entering May 4)
1. Wisconsin-Whitewater (27-5, 27-6)
2. Wisconsin-Stevens Point (24-6, 24-6)
3. Buena Vista, Iowa (21-10, 24-11)
4. Loras, Iowa (27-8, 28-8)
5. Bethel (22-7, 25-7)
6. Luther, Iowa (19-16, 19-16)
7. SJU (21-15, 21-15)
8. Wisconsin-Oshkosh (20-11, 20-11)
9. Wisconsin-La Crosse (18-14, 18-14)

MIAC STATS: The Johnnies are in the top three in three of the four major statistical categories in conference play, while the Auggies are last in three of the four.

Batting Average
3. SJU, .315 (.293 overall)
11. AUG, .231 (.261 overall)

Slugging Percentage
2. SJU, .540 (.487 overall)
10. AUG, .292 (.349 overall)

ERA
4. SJU, 3.94 (4.80 overall)
11. AUG, 6.94 (7.48 overall)

Fielding Percentage
3. SJU, .961 (.961 overall)
11. AUG, .947 (.946 overall)

A LOOK AT THE AUGGIES: Augsburg (14-21, 6-12 MIAC) swept Carleton on Tuesday (May 3) with a pair of shutouts, 1-0 and 5-0, a day after it dropped two 14-0 losses at Bethel. Junior Connor Stoik leads the team in batting (.379), slugging percentage (.532), hits (47) and triples (7). He is second in stolen bases, behind junior Michael Weiss' 23, with 16. The duo lead the MIAC in that category. Weiss also has a team-leading 29 runs scored, while junior Steven Salz boasts a team-leading 11 doubles. Senior Austin Jerylo is 7-2 on the mound with a 5.98 ERA and a .328 opponent batting average in a team-best 43.2 innings pitched. He is tied with freshman Jake Skogrand with 30 strikeouts. Skogrand is 2-5 with a 4.50 ERA in 42 innings.

LAST SPRING: SJU won the three-game series against Augsburg, taking the doubleheader in Minneapolis with scores of 16-1 and 9-0, and finished the sweep the following day with an 11-5 victory in Collegeville.

Games 1 and 2
The Johnnies batted .392 (29-for-74) on the day with nine extra-base hits (six doubles and three triples), while three pitchers combined for one earned run allowed in 16 innings.

Augsburg entered the doubleheader with a MIAC-low .259 slugging percentage and put a run on the scoreboard first thanks to back-to-back, two-out doubles in the bottom of the first inning off Brandecker. SJU went on to score 25 unanswered runs in the twinbill.

Brandecker went the distance for his first win of the season. He struck out seven and walked one in seven innings.

Dalen made his first collegiate start in game two and pitched seven scoreless innings to improve to 4-0 on the year. He struck out six and allowed six hits. 

Junior Hunter Ault (North Oaks, Minn./Mounds View) completed the shutout with two spotless innings of relief. He struck out four, including the side in the ninth.

Hayford led SJU's offense with a 6-for-10 performance and six runs scored from the No. 9 spot in the lineup. Nyrop batted 3-for-7 with three walks and a team-high five RBI in the two games.

Erickson collected four hits and four runs, while Becker added two doubles and four RBI. Erickson, Ethan Roe and junior Zach Selchow (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) drove in three apiece.

Game 3
The Johnnies totaled 14 hits, including two home runs and five doubles (two ground-rule) in the win. 

Augsburg plated an unearned run in the top of the first inning, but SJU recorded six consecutive hits with two outs to score five runs in the bottom of the third. Ethan Roe brought in the fourth and fifth runs with a two-run homer, his ninth of the season. 

The Auggies cut the deficit to 5-3 with two runs in the top of the fourth inning and Becker made it 6-3 with an RBI double in the bottom half of the inning. He finished 2-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored in the game (5-for-9 with six RBI, five runs scored and three doubles in the series).

Nyrop broke the game open with a grand slam, his fourth home run of the season, to up the Johnnies' lead to 10-3 in the bottom of the sixth.

The visitors tallied two unearned runs in the seventh inning and Soren Roe ended the game's scoring with an RBI single in the bottom half of the frame.

Schleper recorded the first 4-hit game of his collegiate career (4-for-4), while Becker, Nyrop and Soren Roe had two hits apiece.

Every Johnnie starter recorded a hit except for Hayford, who the game 6-for-10 from the plate in the previous three contests. Hayford was still productive, however, going 0-for-1 with two sacrifice bunts and a walk.

SERIES HISTORY: SJU is 50-16 against Augsburg since the 1988 season, including wins in each of the last 10 meetings in Collegeville. The Johnnies have won 20 of the last 22 games overall.