Second-seeded Saint John's baseball opens the double-elimination MIAC Tournament against third-seeded Concordia at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 11, at Haugen Field at Becker Park in Collegeville. - Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM, all SJU games) | Live Stats/Live Video (all games) | MIAC Tournament Website/Tickets

TICKET INFORMATION: All tickets are online only via HomeTown Ticketing (link) and are required for each day of the tournament. Admission is $10 for an adult and $2 for any student (5 years old and younger are free). One ticket is good for the entire day of games. There is no senior discount. MIAC passes will be honored (no others will be accepted). - Purchase Tickets (scroll down the page)

*Pets, seeds/shells and fan coolers are not permissible at Becker Park*

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Thursday, May 11
G1: (No. 1) Gustavus Adolphus vs. (No. 4) Bethel, 2:30 p.m.
G2: (No. 2) Saint John's vs. (No. 3) Concordia, 7 p.m.

Friday, May 12
G3: G1 Loser vs. G2 Loser, 12 p.m.
G4: G1 Winner vs. G2 Winner, 3 p.m.
G5: G4 Loser vs. G3 Winner, 6 p.m.

Saturday, May 13
G6: G4 Winner vs. G5 Winner, 3 p.m.
G7: 25 minutes after G6, if necessary

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (23-14, 14-6 MIAC) ended its regular-season schedule with a doubleheader split at Augsburg on Sunday (May 7) at Parade Stadium in Minneapolis. Four Johnnie pitchers combined to allow three hits as SJU cruised to a 7-0 win in game one, but the visitors committed three errors and left 11 men on base in an 11-5 loss in the nightcap. Five of the 11 runs allowed were unearned.
 
Game 1
Following a scoreless first inning, SJU posted four runs on four hits in the top of the second. Junior center fielder Jordan Amundson (Eden Prairie, Minn.) started the inning with a single and scored on an RBI triple from sophomore shortstop Jackson Peter (Elrosa, Minn./Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa), his first of the season. After junior left fielder Jack Schleper (Shakopee, Minn.) walked on four pitches, junior designated hitter Owen Best (Aurora, Colo./Regis Jesuit) brought in Peter with a sacrifice fly. Senior catcher Matt Herold (North Oaks, Minn./Mounds View) followed with a double and junior right fielder Rodney Erickson (St. Paul, Minn./Woodbury) plated Schleper with an RBI single. Senior second baseman Owen Dauk (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) ended the scoring with a sac fly, the team's 20th of the season.
 
SJU tallied three more runs in the fifth inning to gain a 7-0 lead. Junior third baseman Joe Becker (New Prague, Minn.) walked and senior first baseman Max Nyrop (Alameda, Calif.) singled to start the inning. Both runners moved up a base on a sac bunt from Amundson before Peter scored them both with a two-run single. Peter moved to third on a single from Schleper and scored on a wild pitch.
 
Junior Griffin Larson (Edina, Minn.) earned the win in relief (1-1 record) after he pitched two hitless innings with two strikeouts. Senior Wyatt Rudolf (Carver, Minn./Chanhassen) made the start and allowed two hits with three strikeouts in three innings for the no-decision. Senior Cade Marsolek (Savage, Minn./Burnsville) and sophomore Tien Foudray (Excelsior, Minn./Holy Family Catholic) tallied a strikeout in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively.
 
Erickson, Herold, Nyrop and Peter all had two hits each, while Peter drove in three runs.
 
Game 2
Peter matched his second-inning triple from game one and scored on Herold's two-out, RBI single. The Auggies tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the second and gained their lead of the day with an RBI triple in the third.
 
The Auggies made it 4-1 with a pair of unearned runs during Haring's record-breaking appearance in the fourth inning and added another in the fifth.
 
Nyrop doubled off the left-field fence to start the sixth and scored on a sac fly from Schleper to make it 5-2, but the Auggies added three more unearned runs with two outs in the bottom half.
 
Senior catcher Zach Selchow (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) doubled to start the seventh and scored on a two-out double from Becker. The double extended Becker's on-base streak to 41 games going back to last season (last four games of 2022, all 37 games in 2023). 
 
The home team scored three runs on four hits off junior Jordon Huwe (Lakeville, Minn./North) in the bottom of the seventh and SJU answered with two, a sac fly from Erickson and a two-out single from Dauk (11-5), to end the game's scoring in the top of the eighth.
 
Dauk, Nyrop and Peter added tallied hits in game two. Nyrop and Peter both went 4-for-8 at the plate and combined for five runs scored on the day.
 
Sophomore southpaw Will Fazio (Minneapolis, Minn./Blake) started game two and took the loss after he allowed the Auggies' first two runs on three hits in three innings. He struck out four and walked one.
Junior Quinn Krueger (Woodbury, Minn.) surrendered four runs (one earned) in two innings and freshman Evan Soeffker (Buffalo, Minn.) pitched a scoreless eighth.

MOST APPEARANCES: Haring's appearance in game two on Sunday at Augsburg was his 20th of the season, which broke a four-way tie with Case Paxon '09, Hayden Zimmerman '12 and Joey Long '13 for SJU's season record. He is 1-0 with a 1.33 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 20.1 innings pitched this spring (31 career appearances with 32 strikeouts in 35.1 innings).

STILL STREAKING: Becker extended his on-base streak to 41 games going back to last season (last four games of 2022, all 37 games in 2023) on Sunday. He has now scored a run or more in 14 of the Johnnies' last 15 games. Becker went 0-for-2 but drew a pair of walks in game one at Augsburg, ending his 12-game hit streak, but is batting .385 (20-for-52) with 15 runs, 13 RBI, six doubles, two triples and two homers over his last 14 games.

STILL CLIMBING: SJU's all-time leader in RBI with 122, Nyrop is also climbing a number of other lists in program history:
 
-Second with 23 home runs, two behind the record of 25 held by Ethan Roe '22;
-Second with 281 total bases, 13 behind the record of 294 held by Jed Riegelman '04;
-Second with 36 doubles, five behind the record of 41 held by Matt Butorac '11; 
-Fifth with 174 hits, eight behind Aaron Pfaff '15 in fourth (182);
-Ninth with 437 at-bats, 31 behind Riegelman in eighth (468).

1 RUN AWAY: Dauk needs to cross the plate once to break his tie with Cole Weaver (2016) – at 44 – for the SJU record in runs scored.

STAYING HOT: Erickson batted .550 (11-for-20) with two home runs, a triple, six runs scored and five RBI from the No. 9 spot of the lineup as SJU went 5-1 to clinch its 13th-consecutive MIAC Tournament appearance (15th overall) last week. He batted .500 (4-for-8) with runners on base and .600 (3-for-5) with two outs. Erickson went 7-for-7 against St. Olaf on Wednesday (May 3) and his solo home run to start the bottom of the sixth in game one enabled him to become the 38th Johnnie in program history (fourth this season) to reach 100 career hits. 

He is now batting .476 (20-for-42) with 14 runs scored, 13 RBI, two doubles, a triple and three homers over his last 13 games.

LAST 13 GAMES: After starting the MIAC schedule with a 4-3, including a 16-1 loss to Concordia, SJU rattled off a 10-3 record to finish in a tie for second (and earn the No. 2 seed in this week's tournament). Seven Johnnie starters batted over .360 during the 13 games, led by Nyrop at .480 (24-for-50) with 18 RBI and a hit in each contest. On the mound, SJU pitched to a 3.88 ERA with 90 strikeouts to 33 walks. Sophomore Connor Hartley (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Rosemount) and junior Kody Dalen (Carver, Minn./Chanhassen) combined for a 4-0 record, 1.33 and 23 strikeouts over 20.1 innings.

NO. 2 SEED: The Johnnies are making their 13th-consecutive appearance in the MIAC Tournament, which they are hosting for the fourth time (2016, 2017, 2021), and the 15th overall since the format started in 2003. SJU is 20-21 in MIAC Tournament games with titles in 2012, 2015, 2016 and 2019. 

The No. 2 seed is SJU's sixth in the 15 appearances and second-consecutive. Prior to last season, the Johnnies won the tournament in each of the four occurrences as the second seed: 2012, 2015, 2016 and 2019.

MIAC STATS: As expected, this week's tournament features four of the conference's top statistical teams in league play.

Batting Average
1. CC, .381 (.334 overall)
2. SJU, .357 (.326 overall)
3. GAC, .333 (.311 overall)
4. BU, .329 (.325 overall)

Slugging Percentage
1. GAC, .553 (.500 overall)
2. SJU, .546 (.478 overall)
3. CC, .510 (.435 overall)
5. BU, .492 (.467 overall)

ERA
1. GAC, 2.96 (4.39 overall)
2. SJU, 3.82 (4.94 overall)
4. BU, 5.44 (4.57 overall)
5. CC, 6.20 (5.56 overall)

Opponent Batting Average
1. GAC, .224 (.253 overall)
2. SJU, .271 (.285 overall)
4. CC, .318 (.297 overall)
6. BU, .330 (.298 overall)

Fielding Percentage
1. BU, .981 (.973 overall)
2. CC, .966 (.962 overall)
4. GAC, .960 (.957 overall)
7. SJU, .952 (.955 overall)

A LOOK AT THE COBBERS: Concordia (20-16, 14-6 MIAC) closed its regular-season schedule with five wins in its final six games and broke the MIAC record for hits in conference play with 262. The previous record was 261 set by St. Thomas in 2000. Sophomore David Dorsey is batting .460 (23-for-50) in 14 games, while senior Andy Gravdahl is batting .410 and leads the team in runs scored (42), hits (55), triples (5) and home runs (3). Senior Ashwin Stratton is 5-3 with a 4.30 ERA and leads the team with 31 strikeouts in 44 innings pitched.

IN APRIL: Saint John's and Concordia played to a high-scoring split earlier this season on 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, Becker and Schleper, earned their 100th career hits on the afternoon. 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.
 
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.
 
Dalen 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.
 
Dauk, Erickson and junior first baseman Andrew Mahlke (Victoria, Minn./Chanhassen) collected three hits apiece, while Becker and Nyrop each added two. Amundson went 1-for-2 with three walks and four runs scored. 
 
Rudolf 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 off Soeffker.
 
SERIES HISTORY vs. CC: SJU leads the series vs. CC with a 38-33 record since 1989, including a 17-17 mark in Collegeville. The Johnnies have won 10 of the last 11 meetings overall.

A LOOK AT THE GUSTIES: Gustavus Adolphus (26-12, 16-4 MIAC) clinched the MIAC's top seed and regular-season championship with a doubleheader split vs. St. Olaf on Sunday (May 7). Senior Bryce Novak leads the Gusties in batting average (.411), runs scored (44) and hits (60), while junior Drake Siens has a team-best 16 doubles with a .394 average, seven home runs and 37 RBI. Gavin Baker leads the team with 11 homers and 44 RBI. Junior Mitch Casperson went 5-0 with a 1.18 ERA and 40 strikeouts (to four walks) in 38 innings in conference, though he did not face SJU or Concordia. Sophomore Luke Siegle is 7-2 overall with a 2.67 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 54 innings.

APRIL 30: SJU and GAC split their regular-season series last month (April 30) in Collegeville. Fueled by three RBI each from Nyrop and Schleper, the Johnnies posted a 7-2 win in game one. SJU, however, left 10 men on base and allowed seven runs after the seventh inning in an 11-2 loss to the Gusties in the nightcap.
 
The home team batted only .174 (4-for-23) with runners in scoring position and .125 (2-for-16) with two outs on the day.
 
Game 1
GAC gained an early 2-0 lead in the second inning thanks to a wind-aided homer and a two-out, RBI single. The lead lasted 15 minutes as Schleper roped a two-run double into the right-center gap in the bottom half of the inning.
 
The Johnnies took advantage of back-to-back walks to start the bottom of the third inning and Schleper smacked an RBI single up the middle for the go-ahead run.
 
Erickson made it 4-1 with a solo homer, his second of the season and fourth of his career, in the fourth inning and Nyrop drove in another with a two-out double. Nyrop ended the scoring with a two-run double in the sixth.
 
Hartley picked up the win in relief. He allowed only one hit and struck out three in three scoreless innings. 
 
Rudolf made the start and surrendered the two runs on four hits in three innings for the no-decision. Soeffker pitched the scoreless seventh.
 
The Johnnies handed GAC's Luke Siegle his first loss of the season. The sophomore righty entered the start with a 1.77 ERA and a .175 opponent batting average, but SJU tagged him with five runs on just three hits. He walked four and struck out three in 3.1 innings.
 
Game 2
Becker and Nyrop hit back-to-back doubles off the right-field fence in the first inning and Amundson brought in the game's first run with an infield, RBI single in the ensuing at-bat. 
 
Fazio started the game with three, no-hit innings before GAC broke through to tie the game in the fourth with a leadoff single and a two-out, RBI single. The Gusties added three solo homers – one to start the fifth inning and back-to-back with two outs in the sixth – to end Fazio's day.
 
Gustavus broke the 4-2 game open with six runs on seven hits in the eighth inning and plated another for good measure in the ninth.
 
Nyrop led SJU at the plate by going 4-for-8 with three doubles and three RBI on the afternoon. Becker and Peter followed with three hits apiece.

SERIES HISTORY vs. GAC: The Johnnies are 44-34 against Gustavus since 1988 (4-3 in the MIAC Tournament), including a 21-15 record on the home diamond. SJU holds a 19-14 advantage since 2010 (8-6 at SJU).

A LOOK AT THE ROYALS: Bethel (26-10, 14-6 MIAC) ended its MIAC schedule with six losses in its final eight games, all sweeps to SJU (April 26), Gustavus (May 2) and Concordia (May 8). Junior Matthew Carlsen leads the Royals' offense in batting average (.420), runs scored (45), hits (60), doubles (14), triples (5) and stolen bases (11). Sophomore Max Sutter is 4-1 with a 4.07 ERA and 48 strikeouts in a team-best 48.2 innings pitched.

TWO WEEKS AGO: The Johnnies handed then-league-leading Bethel its first conference losses of the season with a doubleheader sweep – 11-3 and 11-10 – on April 26 at Becker Park. SJU mashed to a .464 batting average – totaling 32 hits (32-for-69) – including .538 (14-for-26) with runners in scoring position. Ten of the hits were for extra bases: five doubles, a triple and four home runs.
 
The home team batted .552 (16-for-29) and drove in 15 of the day's 22 runs with two outs. Bethel entered the day with a 3.52 ERA and a .264 opponent batting average on the season.
 
Four Johnnies totaled a homer and four RBI each on the afternoon. Amundson batted for the cycle in the doubleheader, going 6-for-8 with four runs scored, while Dauk went 4-for-7 with four runs scored. Dauk clobbered the go-ahead, three-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning in game two. Nyrop and Becker collected three hits apiece.

SJU's starting catchers –Herold and Selchow – both went 3-for-4 with two runs scored.
 
Game 1
Fueled by a pair of crooked innings, the home team jumped out to an 11-0 lead through the first four innings of game one. Five-consecutive Johnnies drove in a run en route to a six-run bottom of the second and SJU added four more runs, including a three-run bomb from Becker, in the third.
 
Dalen took care of the rest for SJU on the hill. He allowed the three runs, though all three were unearned, on three hits in 4.2 innings for the win. He struck out a career-high nine and walked two.
 
Haring got out of the jam in the fifth inning with a strikeout and Hartley struck out two in two scoreless innings of relief.
 
Game 2
BU struck first in game two when a lazy flyball fell in no-man's land out in right with two outs to plate two runs in the top of the first inning. The Johnnies' bats stayed hot and totaled six runs on nine hits through the first two innings off Sutter. Sutter started the game with a 4-0 record, 2.00 ERA and a .231 opponent batting average in 36 innings this spring, but SJU tagged him for six runs on 14 hits in five innings of work for the no-decision. 
 
Nyrop tied the game at 2-2 with a two-run blast, his fifth homer of the season and 23rd of his career, in the bottom of the first inning. The Johnnies then recorded four-consecutive hits with two outs in the bottom of the second to gain a 6-2 lead.
 
The Royals answered by scoring eight-straight runs (five earned) – a six-run third inning and two in the sixth – before SJU's five-run seventh.
 
Down 10-6, Amundson started the bottom of the seventh inning with a triple and scored on Peter's RBI double on the next at-bat. He came around to score on Best's RBI single. With two outs, Selchow kept the rally alive with a single and Erickson reached on an error before Dauk cranked a 3-2 pitch deep to right field for the go-ahead home run.
 
Sophomore Kade Bowar (Burnsville, Minn.) picked up the win in relief (2-0 record) after he pitched the scoreless seventh and eighth innings. Soeffker closed the game with a 1-2-3 ninth for his fourth save of the season.

SERIES HISTORY vs. BU: SJU is 46-31 against Bethel since 1988 (2-5 in the MIAC Tournament), including a 20-13 record in Collegeville. The Johnnies hold a slight edge in the series, 18-16, over the last 34 meetings overall (since 2009).