Saint John's baseball is scheduled to host St. Olaf at 1 p.m. Sunday, April 23, at Haugen Field at Becker Park in Collegeville and then visits Macalester at 2:30 p.m. Monday, April 24, in St. Paul. – Live Stats/Live Video (Sunday) | Live Stats (Monday) | Live Video (Monday)

MAC MOVED TO MONDAY: The Saint John's-Macalester doubleheader was originally scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday (April 22) but was postponed and rescheduled for 2:30 p.m. Monday (April 24).

SJU's home doubleheader vs. St. Olaf was originally scheduled for last Saturday (April 15) and was rescheduled for April 17, but was eventually postponed again to this Sunday. 

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (14-11, 5-3 MIAC) and Concordia played to a high-scoring split on Tuesday (April 18) in Collegeville. The Johnnies committed seven errors and Concordia recorded 16 hits, including 15 singles, in a 16-1 loss in game one. SJU bounced back, however, and cracked 20 hits with seven error-free innings in an 18-2 route in the nightcap.

A pair of juniors, third baseman Joe Becker (New Prague, Minn.) and left fielder Jack Schleper (Shakopee, Minn.), earned their 100th career hits on the afternoon.

SJU was the "visiting" team in the doubleheader, which was scheduled to be the MIAC opener for both teams on April 1 in Moorhead. The games were postponed and moved to Collegeville - due to the construction of CC's new grandstand - for April 2 and again to Wednesday (April 19), but the weather forecast was more favorable for today.

Game 1
Becker became the 35th Johnnie in program history to reach 100 career hits when he belted a solo home run, his second of the season and eighth of his career, with one out in the top of the first inning.

The Cobbers, however, scored 16 unanswered runs to take game one. Just two of CC's first 12 runs scored were earned, while SJU tallied only three hits – all singles – and did not have a baserunner reach second base.

Junior Kody Dalen (Carver, Minn./Chanhassen) took the loss, allowing nine runs (one earned) on five hits in one inning of work.

Game 2
SJU's offense woke up in game two and scored a run or more in each of the first five innings. Six Johnnies totaled two hits or more in the victory, led by Schleper's 4-for-4 performance with four RBI and three runs scored. He followed Becker and became the 36th Johnnie to reach the 100-hit plateau with his third-consecutive single in the top of the fourth inning.

Senior second baseman Owen Dauk (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview), junior right fielder Rodney Erickson (St. Paul, Minn./Woodbury) and junior first baseman Andrew Mahlke (Victoria, Minn./Chanhassen) collected three hits apiece, while Becker and senior designated hitter Max Nyrop (Alameda, Calif.) each added two. Dauk is now one hit away from joining Becker and Schleper on the 100-hit list. 

Junior center fielder Jordan Amundson (Eden Prairie, Minn.) went 1-for-2 with three walks and four runs scored. 

Senior Wyatt Rudolf (Carver, Minn./Chanhassen) improved to 3-1 with the commanding win. He struck out six and allowed four hits over six innings. 

The Cobbers erased the shutout by scoring a pair of runs on two groundball singles with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning of freshman Evan Soeffker (Buffalo, Minn.).

SJU batted .377 (23-for-61) on the day, including .439 (18-for-41) with runners on base, .435 (10-for-23) with runners in scoring position and .381 (8-for-21) with two outs.

DAUK ONE AWAY FROM 100: Dauk is one hit away from joining teammates Nyrop (152), Becker (102) and Schleper (101) as the 37th Johnnie to reach 100 for a career. Erickson is not far behind at 89.

NYROP FOUR AWAY FROM RECORD: Nyrop is currently in SJU's top 10 in five different categories:

-Second with 21 career home runs: four behind the record of 25 held by former teammate Ethan Roe '22; 
-Third with 106 RBI: only one behind Jay Kasner '07 in second and just four from the record of 110 owned by Max Jackson '19;
-Fourth in total bases with 249: three behind Matt Ode '98 in third (252)
-Tied with Jamie Louwagie '02 for fourth with 32 doubles: one behind Ethan Roe in third (33);
-Ninth with 152 hits: seven behind Ode in eighth (159).

STAT COMPARISONS
Batting Average
-MAC, .323
-SJU, .308
-STO, .295

Extra-Base Hits
-MAC, 86 (61 doubles, 8 triples, 17 home runs)
-SJU, 69 (50 doubles, 6 triples, 13 home runs)
-STO, 53 (39 doubles, 7 triples, 7 home runs)

Opponent Batting Average
-SJU, .285
-MAC, .300
-STO, .316

ERA
-SJU, 5.37
-MAC, 5.98
-STO, 8.14

Fielding Percentage
-STO, .951
-SJU, .950
-MAC, .935

A LOOK AT THE OLES: St. Olaf (7-13, 4-4 MIAC) snapped a six-game skid with a 12-3 home win over Augsburg on Wednesday (April 19) and had a 15-11 lead in game two before the contest was suspended due to darkness in the top of the seventh inning. The two teams hoped to resume the game today (April 21) in Northfield but it was postponed to a later date. Junior Sam Lavin leads the Oles in batting average (.431), hits (31), doubles (10) and RBI (23). He also leads the pitching staff with 21 strikeouts in 17 innings.

LAST YEAR'S GAMES: The Johnnies swept St. Olaf, 14-6 and 4-3, last April 16 (2022) in Northfield. Catcher Ethan Roe broke his tie with Jed Riegelman '04 for sole possession of SJU's program record for career home runs with a pair of long balls, his 21st and 22nd, in game one. SJU hit four home runs in game one and batted .324 (24-for-74) on the day. St. Olaf, meanwhile, batted .207 (12-for-58), including 6-for-32 (.188) with runners on base and 2-for-20 (.100) with runners in scoring position.
 
Game 1
Nyrop started the game's scoring with a two-run homer, his fifth of the season and 16th of his career, in the top of the first inning. SJU tacked on four more runs in the third inning on an RBI single from Amundson and Roe's record-breaking, three-run homer in the third inning.
 
STO scored two unearned runs in the bottom of the third inning and SJU did the same in the top of the fourth to make the score 8-2.
 
The Johnnies crossed the plate twice in the fifth inning thanks to back-to-back doubles from Nyrop and Becker, and right fielder Soren Roe '22 registered a sacrifice fly. A pair of home runs - a leadoff dinger from Ethan Roe and a three-run blast from Dauk - ended the Johnnies' scoring in the sixth.
 
Dalen earned his first win of the season (1-1 record), allowing six runs (two earned) on seven hits. He struck out seven in 6.1 innings. Haring recorded the final two outs in relief.
 
Dauk and Nyrop, SJU's second and third hitters in the lineup, combined to go 6-for-7 with seven runs scored and five RBI.  
 
Game 2
SJU followed a similar blueprint to game one with three runs in the first inning. Nyrop stroked an RBI double, while Amundson and Erickson recorded a pair of two-out, RBI singles. Erickson gave SJU a 4-0 lead with a sac fly in the top of the third inning.
 
Sam Lavin made it a one-run game with a one-out, three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning. Joey Glampe followed with a double, but Nathan Brandecker '22 relieved junior Quinn Krueger (Woodbury, Minn.) and recorded the final two outs to end the threat. 
  
Junior Griffin Larson (Edina, Minn.) picked up the win in his second collegiate start. He allowed only one hit and struck out nine in five scoreless innings, but walked six.
 
Hayford led SJU's bats in game two with a 3-for-4 performance to end the day 5-for-7. Amundson and Soren Roe tallied two hits apiece. Dauk and Nyrop each batted 4-for-8 with five runs scored and three RBI in the doubleheader.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 17-6 against the Oles since 2010, including wins in 11 of the last 14 meetings. SJU is 7-3 in the last five doubleheaders played in Collegeville. 

A LOOK AT THE SCOTS: Macalester (14-10, 6-4 MIAC) saw its five-game win streak end with a 21-6 loss in game two of a doubleheader split at Hamline this past Monday (April 17) at CHS Field. The Scots out-scored the opposition (Carleton, Saint Mary's, HU) by a 60-13 margin in the five victories. The team currently has a number of different offensive leaders: Niko Alexander (8 doubles), Charlie Burton (5 home runs), Joe Margolis (25 runs), Matt Odom (22 RBI) and Hayes Waddell (26 hits). Peter Aspholm (1-2, 5.11 ERA, .237 opponent batting average) leads the pitching staff in innings (24.2) and strikeouts (38).

A YEAR AGO: SJU rode the heroics of another walk-off home run from Ethan Roe to a convincing win in game two for a sweep of Macalester last April 23 (2022) in Collegeville. Held to one hit through the first six innings and facing a 5-1 deficit, SJU scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to earn a 6-5 win in game one and invoked the 10-run rule with a 10-0 shutout in eight innings in the finale.

Soren Roe '22, who earned All-MIAC honors as a freshman at Macalester in 2019, went 3-for-3 with a home run, double and a career-high six RBI in game two. His three-run homer in the fifth inning was the team's 40th of the season, which set a new program record.

Game 1
SJU found the scoreboard first with an unearned run in the third inning, but Macalester answered with a two-out, RBI single off Brandecker in the sixth. The Scots' Kenny Rodriguez broke the game open with a grand slam off senior Casey Trapp (Blaine, Minn./Centennial) in the top of the seventh inning.

Shortstop Matthew Hayford started the seventh-inning rally with a walk before Becker poked a 0-2 pitch into left-center for a single. Dauk has then hit by a pitch for the second time of the game to load the bases. Nyrop roped a 3-2 pitch into the left-center gap to score two before Ethan Roe's second walk-off homer of the month. Roe blasted a three-run shot in the bottom of the ninth inning April 9 against Carleton and did the same against MAC to the same spot - straightaway center field - on a 1-0 pitch with one out. 

Dalen started the game and allowed six hits, with six strikeouts, in five scoreless innings.

Game 2
Soren Roe started the scoring, and his six-RBI game, with a two-run double in the second inning. He came around to score three batters later on Becker's two-out single.

Roe then connected on a 2-2 pitch for a three-run shot, his third homer of the season and seventh as a Johnnie, in the fifth inning.

Amundson added to the single-season record with a solo homer, his fifth of the year, with two outs in the sixth inning.

An RBI double off the bat of Schleper made the score 8-0 in the seventh inning.

SJU loaded the bases with nobody out to start the eighth inning before a pinch hitter, Mahlke, drove in Dauk, who recorded a leadoff single, with an RBI groundout. The Scots intentionally walked another pinch hitter - Jackson Amann - to re-load the bases before, who else, Soren Roe ripped a single through the left side for his sixth RBI to end the game.

Soren Roe scored three runs, while Amundson and Dauk each went 2-for-4 at the plate.

Junior Griffin Larson (Edina, Minn.) made the start and improved to 4-2 with the win. He surrendered six hits and struck out six in five scoreless innings. Junior Isaac Harrill (Eden Prairie, Minn.) struck out four and allowed two hits in three innings for his first collegiate save.

SERIES HISTORY: SJU is 17-3 against Macalester over the last 20 meetings and are 19-3 on the Scots' home field since 1993 (48-11 overall during that span).