Saint John's baseball hosts Concordia-Moorhead for the MIAC opener at 1 p.m. Sunday, April 2, in Collegeville. – Live Stats/Live Video

POSTPONED FROM SATURDAY: This weekend's doubleheader was postponed and rescheduled to 1 p.m. Sunday due to the cold temperatures and precipitation forecast for Friday-Saturday.

AT HOME AS THE VISITORS: The doubleheader was originally scheduled to be played in Moorhead but was moved to Collegeville due to the construction of the Cobbers' new grandstand. SJU will be the "visiting" team in both games.

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (9-8 overall) earned a 12-9 non-conference win over Crown in its home opener last Saturday (March 25) at Haugen Field at Becker Park. The Johnnies built a 10-2 lead thanks to a seven-run sixth inning, but the Polars 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.

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Becker was named the MIAC Baseball Player of the Week on Monday (March 27) after he batted .500 (6-for-12) – including 4-for-6 (.667) with runners in scoring position – with five RBI, five runs scored and two doubles as SJU went 3-0 last week. Aside from his performance in Saturday's win over Crown, Becker went 4-for-8 with three runs scored and four RBI in the Johnnies' sweep of Oberlin (Ohio) on March 20 in Tucson, Ariz. He has reached base safely in all 17 games so far this spring and leads the team in multi-hit games (9), multi-RBI games (5) and hits (26). He is second in runs scored (15) and RBI (16).

GETTING CLOSER: Four Johnnies are approaching the 100-career hit club:

-Dauk: 92
-Becker: 91
-Schleper: 87
-junior right fielder Rodney Erickson (St. Paul, Minn./Woodbury): 82

NYROP IN THE RECORD BOOK: On Saturday, 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.

AND TRAPP: Saturday's six strikeouts enabled Trapp to pass Denny Coleman '69 and Hayden Zimmerman '12 into third in program history with 157, seven behind Connor Cline '13 in second. Trapp also has 155.1 career innings pitched, 3.2 behind former teammate Nathan Brandecker '22 in 10th. 

MIAC OPENERS: The Johnnies are 37-19 in MIAC openers since 1993, including a 5-5 record against the Cobbers.

A LOOK AT THE COBBERS: Concordia (6-10 overall) went 5-7 from March 5-15 in Florida and 1-3 in a pair of recent doubleheaders: March 18 vs. Loras (Iowa) at U.S. Bank Stadium (L, 4-12; L, 6-7) and March 24 vs. Calvin (Mich.) in Carol Stream, Ill. (W, 12-0; L, 6-7). Four of CC's 10 losses this spring were decided by one run. Sophomore Jake Christianson leads the team in batting average (.419) and hits (18). Although the team is batting .260 (to SJU's .291), the pitching staff has held the opposition to a .267 average and has a 4.69 ERA.

A YEAR AGO: SJU opened its conference schedule with a doubleheader sweep of Concordia, 9-8 in eight innings and 6-0, last April 2 (2022) in Collegeville. The Johnnies clubbed nine extra-base hits, including three home runs, on the afternoon and held the Cobbers scoreless in the day's final 10 innings.
 
Trapp struck out a career-high 13 batters in game two's complete-game shutout. The 13 strikeouts were the most by a Johnnie since another southpaw, Michael Crees '09, struck out 13 against Bethany Lutheran on April 24, 2006, in Collegeville. 
 
at Saint John's 9, Concordia 8 (8 inn.)
SJU built a 6-0 lead through the first two innings of game one. Ethan Roe '22 roped a two-run double for his 100th career hit, becoming the 33rd Johnnie in program history to reach the milestone, and Selchow made it 3-0 with a sacrifice fly in the first inning.

Soren Roe '22 ripped a two-run triple off the center-field fence with two outs in the second inning and Ethan followed with his second double of the game to give SJU a 6-0 lead.
 
The Cobbers were held scoreless, and to two hits, through the first four innings of play before they erupted for eight runs on six hits in the fifth inning off Brandecker.
 
The lead did not last long, however, as Schleper followed Selchow's leadoff single in the bottom of the fifth with a two-run blast to tie the game at 8-8.
 
Soren Roe walked to start the bottom of the eighth and advanced to third base on a sacrifice bunt from Ethan, after he collided with the first baseman on the bag. CC elected to intentionally walk Amundson before Selchow ended the game with a walk-off single over the right fielder's head.
 
Junior Griffin Larson (Edina, Minn.) earned the win, allowing two hits with two strikeouts in three scoreless innings of relief.
 
Ethan Roe, Schleper, Selchow and Becker all had two hits apiece. Soren Roe went 1-for-1, thanks to three walks, and scored three runs with two RBI in the victory.
 
SJU's defense turned three double plays but the offense left 10 men on base.
 
at Saint John's 6, Concordia 0
The early runs continued for SJU in game two as the home team plated four in the first inning. Nyrop stroked an RBI double and scored when Ethan Roe's groundball to shortstop was misplayed. Amundson made the Cobbers pay by blasting his second home run of the season in the next at-bat.
 
Ethan Roe ended the game's scoring with a two-run shot, his fourth homer of the season, in the third inning. 
 
Trapp took care of the rest, allowing two hits and two walks in the 112-pitch shutout. He had a no-hitter through the first 4.2 innings. A Concordia baserunner reached second base twice in the game. The first was a leadoff walk in the sixth inning, which advanced to second on the second out (a groundout), and the other was a one-out double in the seventh.
 
Amundson and Dauk led the Johnnies' bats with two hits each in the nightcap.

SERIES HISTORY: SJU leads the series with a 37-32 record against CC since 1989, including a 16-16 mark in Collegeville. The Johnnies swept the last three doubleheaders at Becker Park and have won the last nine games overall. Nine (7-2 SJU record) of the last 14 matchups, and 14 (10-4 record) of the last 21, were decided by two runs or less.