The Johnnie baseball team hosts a pair of doubleheaders over the next three days, beginning with a 1 p.m. first pitch against Carleton on Saturday, April 13, at Haugen Field at Becker Park. SJU then plays host to Northwestern (Minn.) at 2:30 p.m. Monday, April 15. – Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (13-8, 4-2 MIAC) rolled to a 15-2 non-conference win in seven innings over Minnesota-Morris on Wednesday, April 10, at Haugen Field at Becker Park. The Johnnies took advantage of eight free passes (five hit batsmen and three walks) and clubbed seven extra-base hits (three doubles, two triples and two home runs) in the victory, the team's fifth in the last six games.

SJU scored a run or more in five of the six innings and built a 12-0 lead after the third. A sacrifice fly from senior center fielder Jordan Amundson (Eden Prairie, Minn.) and a wild pitch gave the home team an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, followed by back-to-back five-run frames.

A bases-loaded wild pitch made it 3-0 in the bottom of the second inning before senior right fielder Rodney Erickson (St. Paul, Minn./Woodbury) laced a two-run triple to center. The triple was Erickson's second of the season and ninth of his career, which ties him with Derek Schiebel '17 for third in program history, two from the record of 11 owned by Matt Boys '11. 

Senior second baseman Owen Dauk (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) brought in Erickson with a sac fly and senior third baseman Joe Becker (New Prague, Minn.) crushed his team-leading sixth home run of the season to left field to give SJU a 7-0 lead. The homer was Becker's 15th as a Johnnie, which is good for seventh in school history.

Senior designated hitter Owen Best (Aurora, Colo./Regis Jesuit) led off the bottom of the third inning with a solo blast over the video board in right field for his first homer of the season and second in an SJU uniform. Singles from junior first baseman Jackson Peter (Elrosa, Minn./Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa) and sophomore shortstop Reed Marquardt (Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes) sandwiched a hit-by-pitch of junior catcher Blake Mellgren (Northfield, Minn.) to load the bases. Erickson plated Peter on a groundout and RBI singles off the bats of Dauk, Becker and senior left fielder Jack Schleper (Shakopee, Minn.) enabled the Johnnies to bat around and increase their lead to 12-0.

An RBI groundout from Amundson and an RBI double from Schleper, his second two-bagger of the day, pushed SJU's lead to 14-0. Schleper is now third in school history with 37 career doubles, four from the record of 41 held by Matt Butorac '11. 

Ryan McGie erased the shutout for Minnesota-Morris with a two-run double off the left-field fence in the top of the sixth inning.

Marquardt roped a one-out double down the right-field line and junior second baseman Ryan Janzen (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral) brought him in to end the game's scoring with a two-out triple.

Freshman Carter Theisen (Rosemount, Minn.) made the start and earned his first collegiate win, allowing one hit in five scoreless innings. He struck out seven and walked one.

Sophomore Vinny Schleper (Shakopee, Minn.) pitched a 1-2-3 seventh to end the game due to the 10-run rule.

Each of the Johnnies' first six batters in the lineup drove in a run or more. J. Schleper led the way with a 3-for-4 performance with two doubles and a pair of RBI. Becker was 2-for-3 with three runs scored and two RBI, while Marquardt was 2-for-3 with three runs.

Erickson drove in three and scored twice, and Dauk was 1-for-2 with a pair of RBI and runs scored. 

TIED FOR THE RUNS RECORD: Dauk's two runs scored Wednesday enabled him to tie the program record of 134 owned by Wyatt Ulrich '20. The program's all-time leader in hit-by-pitch with 59, Dauk is also third in double plays turned (63), fifth in walks (72), tied for fifth in triples (8) and tied for ninth in doubles (29).

ELSEWHERE IN THE RECORD BOOK: Becker is fourth in doubles (35) and RBI (105), seventh in home runs (15) and total bases (239), tied for eighth with Amundson in triples (7), tied for ninth in runs scored (103) and 10th in hits (145). Schleper is third in doubles with 37, four from the program record of 41 held by Matt Butorac '11, and Erickson is third in triples (9), two from the record of 11 owned by Matt Boys '11. Amundson needs three hits to reach 100 for his career, five at St. Thomas and 92 at SJU, and eight to become the 39th Johnnie to reach the milestone at SJU. On the mound, senior Kody Dalen (Carver, Minn./Chanhassen) is fourth with 161 strikeouts, three from Connor Cline '13 in third.

NATIONAL STATS: The Johnnies are currently (through April 11) third in NCAA Division III in both hits allowed per nine innings (7.16) and WHIP (1.15), and are seventh in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.94). Senior pitcher Griffin Larson (Edina, Minn.) is fourth nationally in hits allowed per nine innings (4.13), while junior Connor Hartley (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Rosemount) is eighth in walks allowed per nine innings (0.58) and ninth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (12.50).

STAT COMPARISONS
Batting Average
-UNW, .305
-CAR, .274
-SJU, .265

Opponent Batting Average
-SJU, .215
-UNW, .273
-CAR, .299

Slugging Percentage
-UNW, .449
-SJU, .426
-CAR, .380

On-Base Percentage
-UNW, .391
-CAR, .356
-SJU, .353

ERA
-SJU, 3.84
-UNW, 6.08
-CAR, 8.09

Fielding Percentage
-UNW, .956
-SJU, .953
-CAR, .929

A LOOK AT THE KNIGHTS: Carleton (7-12, 4-2 MIAC) split a non-conference doubleheader with Wisconsin-Eau Claire on Wednesday (April 10) in Northfield. UWEC won the opener 8-4 but the Knights rallied from seven runs down to take the nightcap 10-8. Sophomore Sam Gossard is batting .333 and leads the team in hits (25), runs (15), triples (3), home runs (3) and RBI (13). Junior Sam Zacks matches Gossard's 15 runs scored and touts a team-best 14 stolen bases and .411 on-base percentage. Sophomore Sam Chutkow is 2-0 with a 3.86 ERA, .225 opponent batting average and 18 strikeouts (to 19 walks) in 21 innings pitched.

LAST SPRING: SJU swept Carleton – 7-4 and 11-0 in eight innings – last April 8 (2023) in Collegeville. The Johnnies out-hit the Knights by a 23-5 margin over the 15 innings and held them to a .100 batting average (5-for-50) on the afternoon.

SJU was the "visiting" team in both games since the doubleheader was scheduled to be played in Northfield but was moved to Collegeville due to field conditions. 

Game 1 (at Saint John's 7, Carleton 4)
Max Nyrop '23 became the fifth Johnnie in program history to reach 100 career RBI when he drove in the day's first run with a sacrifice fly in the top of the third inning. He ended the day 5-for-8 with five RBI.

Senior first baseman Andrew Mahlke (Victoria, Minn./Chanhassen) made it 2-0 two batters later with an RBI single, but the Knights cut their deficit in half when they scored a run without a hit in the bottom half of the inning.

SJU added an unearned run on a sac fly from Amundson in the fifth and two more in the sixth for a 5-1 lead. Peter doubled to start the sixth and scored on an RBI single from Schleper. Erickson then plated Schleper with a sac fly.

Carleton erased senior Wyatt Rudolf's (Carver, Minn./Chanhassen) no-hit bid in the sixth and the momentum led to three runs, cutting SJU's lead to 5-4. Jack Haring '23 relieved Rudolf with a runner on third base and two outs in the sixth, and proceeded to pop the mitt for a three-pitch strikeout.

The Johnnies padded the lead with a pair of runs in the top of the seventh inning. Nyrop doubled with one out and scored on Amundson's triple down the right-field line, and Mahlke brought in Amundson with a sac fly.

Rudolf tied a season high with 10 strikeouts and improved to 2-1 with the win. He allowed four runs (three earned) on three hits over 5.2 innings.

Game 2 (at Saint John's 11, Carleton 0; 8 inn.)
Nyrop broke a scoreless tie in the nightcap with a two-out, three-run blast in the top of the third inning. 

SJU increased the lead with five runs in the seventh and triggered the 10-run rule with three more in the eighth. Catcher Zach Selchow '23 executed a safety-squeeze bunt to start the five-run seventh, followed by a pair of two-run singles from Becker and Best. Becker plated two more runs with a double in his next at-bat in the eighth and Nyrop followed with an RBI single, both with two outs.

Junior lefty Will Fazio (Minneapolis, Minn./Blake) gave up two hits and struck out seven over six scoreless innings for the win (2-2 record). Junior Kade Bowar (Burnsville, Minn.) and Jordon Huwe '23 completed the shutout with an inning of relief each.

Becker went 4-for-5 with four RBI and three runs scored in game two, while Nyrop was 3-for-5 with four RBI and two runs. The two each batted 5-for-8 and combined for nine RBI and six runs in the two games.

SERIES HISTORY: SJU is 44-17 against the Knights since 1993, including a 23-9 record in Collegeville. The Johnnies have won six of the last seven meetings overall.

A LOOK AT THE EAGLES: Northwestern (10-13, 7-2 UMAC) bounced back from a 1-2 series against Minnesota-Morris April 2-3 with a three-game sweep of Martin Luther at home last weekend (April 5-6): 11-2, 22-5 and 8-4. UNW visits Northland (Wis.) for a three-game series this weekend (Friday-Saturday) before traveling Monday to Collegeville. Junior Mark Bligh boasts a team-leading .361 batting average (26-for-72) and four home runs, while freshman Braden Storts leads the team in hits (28), runs scored (19) and stolen bases (9). Senior Grady Karges has 20 RBI, one ahead of Bligh in second. Senior Nick Drinken is 3-3 with a 4.03 ERA, .230 opponent batting average and 46 strikeouts in 44.2 innings pitched.

TWO YEARS AGO: The Johnnies settled for a non-conference split with Northwestern two years ago (March 21, 2022) in Collegeville. The doubleheader was the first meeting between the two schools on the baseball diamond. The home team received a complete-game shutout from southpaw Casey Trapp '23 in game one's 3-0 victory, but suffered a 3-2 loss in the nightcap.

Northwestern batted only .143 (8-for-56) on the day but received 11 free passes (10 walks and one hit batsmen). SJU, meanwhile, batted 1-for-13 (.077) with runners in scoring position.

Game 1 (at Saint John's 3, Northwestern 0)
The Johnnies scored all three of the game's runs in the first inning, thanks to a sacrifice fly from Nyrop and a two-run homer from catcher Ethan Roe '22.

Trapp took care of the rest, allowing four hits and three walks in the seven-inning effort. He struck out eight in his first victory of the season. A UNW baserunner reached second base safely three times in the game.

Game 2 (Northwestern 3, at Saint John's 2)
The Eagles took advantage of two walks and scored the game's first run via wild pitch in the top of the first inning. UNW, however, was held to one hit through the game's first 6.1 innings.

Schleper doubled to start the fifth inning, but was stranded at third base with one out.

Northwestern's second batter of the seventh inning reached via error before Payton Christenson swung at the first pitch and earned the Eagles' second hit of the game, a double into the right-field corner. Bryce Crabb followed with a two-run single on the ensuing pitch to give UNW a 3-0 lead.

Nyrop, right fielder Soren Roe '22 and Ethan Roe singled to start the bottom of the ninth inning, loading the bases with nobody out. Schleper brought in SJU's first run with a sac fly and catcher Zach Selchow '23 made it 3-2 with a fielder's choice groundout. UNW, however, recorded the final out to end the game.

Alex Gwost made his first collegiate start on the mound and took the loss. He gave up one run on one hit in three innings.

Fazio surrendered two runs, one earned, on two hits in four innings of relief. Bowar pitched the final two scoreless innings.

Schleper went 3-for-6 with two doubles and Ethan Roe collected three hits in the doubleheader. Roe now needs one hit to become the 33rd Johnnie in program history to reach 100 for a career.