Game 1 Box Score |
Game 2 Box Score
COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – The Saint John's baseball team mustered only three hits on the day but salvaged a doubleheader split with Bethel to open the 2024 MIAC schedule on Wednesday, April 3, at Haugen Field at Becker Park.
Bethel (8-7, 1-1 MIAC) scored eight runs (five earned) – four in each of the first two innings – en route to an 8-1 win in game one. But while Royals pitcher John Solfest threw a nine-inning no-hitter in game two, he did not get the decision. Junior first baseman
Jackson Peter (Elrosa, Minn./Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa) gave SJU (9-7, 1-1 MIAC) the split with a two-out, walk-off single – the Johnnies' first hit of the game – in the bottom of the 10th inning for the 1-0 victory.
The Johnnies batted .058 (3-for-52) on the afternoon, including going 1-for-10 with runners on base and 1-for-17 with two outs. BU did not fare much better as the visitors finished with a .161 average (10-for-62), including finishing 3-for-19 (.158) with runners in scoring position and 1-for-19 with two outs against SJU's pitching staff, which posted 16 strikeouts and 13 walks in 17 innings.
Game 1
The wind (NNW at 20 MPH), free passes and errors proved a disastrous combination for SJU in the first two innings of the opener. A pair of miscues, one of which was wind-aided, and two walks led to four runs (two earned) off senior pitcher
Kody Dalen (Carver, Minn./Chanhassen) in the top of the first inning. The Royals tacked on four more (three earned) in the second.
Senior left fielder
Jack Schleper (Shakopee, Minn.) launched his first home run of the season and 12th of his career with one out in the bottom of the fifth for SJU's lone run. A leadoff single from senior second baseman
Owen Dauk (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) in the fourth was the Johnnies' other hit. SJU recorded five lineouts at the plate.
Dalen took the loss, his first of the season (2-1 record) and fourth of his career (14-4 career record), allowing the eight runs (five earned) on six hits in three innings. He struck out three and walked three.
Senior
Quinn Krueger (Woodbury, Minn.) allowed two hits over the final four scoreless innings of relief.
Game 2
Dauk started the bottom of the 10th inning with a walk, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from senior third baseman
Joe Becker (New Prague, Minn.) and advanced to third on a groundout from senior center fielder
Jordan Amundson (Eden Prairie, Minn.). Peter took his first pitch for a strike before he ripped a groundball past the out-stretched glove of BU shortstop Zach Thompson through the left side of the infield to score Dauk from third. The walk-off hit was Peter's second at home this season. His first was an RBI double with two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning of SJU's 3-2 win over Wisconsin-Superior in Feb. 26's season opener.
Solfest issued a leadoff, four-pitch walk to Amundson in the second inning and plunked Becker on a 2-0 pitch with one out in the fourth. Other than that, the fifth-year pitcher cruised to the nine-inning no-hitter, throwing 103 pitches (68 for strikes). SJU recorded four outs on the first pitch of the at-bat and three more on the second against Solfest.
A trio of Johnnies, however, combined for the two-hit shutout. Senior
Griffin Larson (Edina, Minn.) made the start and gave up a single in the fourth inning for the no-decision. He struck out seven, but walked seven (one intentionally), in five innings of work.
An infield single was the lone blemish for senior
Jeremy Klick (Maple Grove, Minn.), who followed with four scoreless innings and two strikeouts, while junior
Connor Hartley (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Rosemount) struck out three batters in the 10th inning for the win (2-2 record).
The Johnnies travel to face Gustavus Adolphus in a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday, April 6, in St. Peter.
