Box Score
COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Saint John's baseball earned a 12-9 non-conference win over Crown in its home opener on Saturday, March 25, at Haugen Field at Becker Park.
The Johnnies (9-8 overall) built a 10-2 lead thanks to a seven-run sixth inning, but the Polars (6-7 overall) hit a solo home run in the seventh and plated six in the eighth inning to cut the lead to one. SJU extended the lead to three with a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth inning and freshman
Evan Soeffker (Buffalo, Minn.) struck out two as part of a 1-2-3 ninth for his second save of the season.
The home team jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a pair of RBI singles with two outs from juniors
Owen Best (Aurora, Colo./Regis Jesuit) and
Jack Schleper (Shakopee, Minn.) in the bottom of the first inning. Crown chipped away to tie the game at 2-2 with single runs in the fourth and fifth innings, but junior third baseman
Joe Becker (New Prague, Minn.) gave the lead back to SJU with his second double of the game in the fifth ahead of the seven-run sixth.
Senior catcher
Zach Selchow (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) started the scoring in the sixth inning with a sacrifice fly and the Johnnies scored the remaining six runs with two outs. Senior second baseman
Owen Dauk (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) singled in sophomore shortstop
Jackson Peter (Elrosa, Minn./Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa), Becker scored on a wild pitch and senior designated hitter
Max Nyrop (Alameda, Calif.) and junior centerfielder
Jordan Amundson (Eden Prairie, Minn.) followed with RBI singles. Schleper brought in the final two runs with a single.
Crown matched the Johnnies' two-out effort in the eighth as all six runs (four earned) came across home plate after the second out was recorded thanks to three singles and a three-run homer.
Nyrop started the bottom of the eighth inning with his second double of the game and his pinch runner, sophomore
Ryan Janzen (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral), scored on a sac fly from Peter. Amundson made it 12-9 on a wild pitch, Crown's sixth of the game.
Junior
Kody Dalen (Carver, Minn./Chanhassen) made the start and was sharp in his first appearance of the season (due to injury) and allowed one hit with three strikeouts in two innings. Senior lefty
Casey Trapp (Blaine, Minn./Centennial) pitched the next three innings and picked up the win. He gave up two runs (one earned) on five hits and struck out six. The six strikeouts enabled him to climb past Denny Coleman '69 and Hayden Zimmerman '12 into third place on SJU's all-time list with 157.
Nyrop led SJU with a 3-for-4 performance at the plate, while Becker (2-for-4) and Schleper (2-for-3) added two hits apiece. Nyrop moved into 10th on the Johnnies' all-time hit list with 140, while the pair of doubles placed him into a tie with Derek Schiebel '17 for fifth (30). His single in the sixth inning served as his 99th RBI, which broke his three-way tie with Ryan Giefer '95 and Jed Riegelman '04 for fifth.
The Johnnies return to the diamond for their MIAC opener against Concordia at 1 p.m. next Saturday, April 1, in Collegeville. The doubleheader was originally scheduled to be played in Moorhead, but was moved to Becker Park due to construction of the Cobbers' new grandstand. SJU will be the "visiting" team in both games.
