The Johnnie baseball team visits Macalester for a 2:30 p.m. doubleheader on Wednesday, May 1, at Division II Concordia-St. Paul's Barnes Field in St. Paul. – Live Stats | Live Video

NEW LOCATION: Wednesday's games were moved to Concordia-St. Paul's Barnes Field due to the Scots' home MIAC playoff tennis matches on Wednesday (the courts are adjacent to Nicholson Field).

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (22-12, 11-5 MIAC) wrapped up non-conference play with a 7-6 loss to Crown on Monday, April 29, at Haugen Field at Becker Park.

The Polars scored what proved to be the game-winning runs, unearned with two outs, in the top of the eighth inning to hand SJU its fourth one-run loss of the season.

SJU recorded 10 first-pitch outs at the plate and finished 4-for-16 with runners on base and 1-for-10 with two outs in the defeat.

Sophomore pitcher Vinny Schleper (Shakopee, Minn.) made his second start of the season and set down the first 13 batters faced, but did not record the decision. He allowed one hit and struck out four with one walk in five innings pitched. Three relievers surrendered 11 hits and the seven runs (four earned) over the next three frames.

Senior left fielder Jack Schleper (Shakopee, Minn.) gave SJU a quick 2-0 lead with a two-run homer, his fourth of the season and 15th of his career, with two outs in the bottom of the first inning and junior catcher Blake Mellgren (Northfield, Minn.) made it 4-0 with another two-run shot – his third of the season – in the bottom of the second.

Ashton Long tied the game with a grand slam – a ball that looked to be a routine flyball that the jet stream carried over the fence in right field – in the top of the sixth inning.

Crown gained a 5-4 lead in the top of the seventh inning, but the Johnnies answered with two runs in the bottom half for their final advantage of the ballgame. Junior first baseman Jackson Peter (Elrosa, Minn./Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa) reached via error to start the rally and Mellgren was hit by a pitch. Senior right fielder Rodney Erickson (St. Paul, Minn./Woodbury) roped his 12th double of the season to plate Peter and senior third baseman Joe Becker (New Prague, Minn.) gave the home team the lead when he laced a 0-2 pitch to left field for an RBI single two batters later. 

The Johnnies, however, left the bases loaded with one out in the seventh. The jet stream failed to aid SJU in the ninth inning as Erickson and senior second baseman Owen Dauk (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) recorded loud outs to the warning track.

Krueger took the hard-luck loss, his first of the season (2-1 record), after he allowed the two unearned runs on four hits in the eighth inning.

ONE FROM THE SEASON RECORD: Becker now has 51 RBI, which tie him with former teammate Max Nyrop '23 for second-most in an SJU season and are one shy of the program record of 52 set by Ryan Roder '97 in 1997.

STAT COMPARISONS: The Johnnies lead the MIAC in slugging percentage and are second in opponent batting average in conference play, while the Scots are in the top-five in hitting (batting average and slugging percentage) but are in the league's bottom two on the mound.

Batting Average
3. SJU, .305 (.299 overall)
5. MAC, .293 (.300 overall)

Slugging Percentage
1. SJU, .527 (.495 overall)
4. MAC, .426 (.446 overall)

On-Base Percentage
3. SJU, .393 (.380 overall)
7. MAC, .373 (.389 overall)

ERA
4. SJU, 5.06 (4.28 overall)
11. MAC, 10.11 (8.97 overall)

Opponent Batting Average
2. SJU, .254 (.234 overall)
11. MAC, .368 (.338 overall)

Fielding Percentage
5. SJU, .959 (.954 overall)
10. MAC, .938 (.933 overall)

A LOOK AT THE SCOTS: Macalester (8-28, 2-16 MIAC) dropped a pair of games, 9-6 and 11-1, at Gustavus Adolphus on Saturday (April 27). Wednesday's doubleheader is the season finale for the Scots. Senior Matt Odom leads the team in batting (.413), runs scored (29), hits (45), home runs (9), RBI (31), slugging percentage (.789) and on-base percentage (.508). Junior Hayes Waddell is right behind him with a .412 average and 40 hits, including 12 doubles. Junior Ben Levinson (1-4 record, 4.81 ERA) leads the Scots' hurlers in innings pitched (33.2) and is second with 31 strikeouts, though opponents are batting .315 against him.

LAST SPRING: Nyrop broke the program record for career RBI as the Johnnies played to a doubleheader split at Macalester last April 24 (2023) in St. Paul. The Johnnies let a 2-1 lead slip away in a 3-2 walk-off defeat in game one but took out their frustrations at the plate in a 15-5 win (completed in seven innings due to the 10-run rule) in the nightcap. 

Nyrop's second-inning grand slam, his fourth home run of the season and 22nd of his career, tied the record of 110 RBI held by Max Jackson '19 and his two-run single in the sixth inning gave him the crown for good. He finished 5-for-7 with six RBI and is now three homers from the SJU record of 25 held by former teammate Ethan Roe '22.

Nyrop's feat was not the only milestone of the afternoon as Dauk became the 37th Johnnie to reach 100 career hits with his leadoff double to start the doubleheader.

SJU batted .377 (23-for-61), including .462 (12-for-26) with runners in scoring position, during its first trip to Macalester's Nicholson Field since 2016.

Game 1 (at Macalester 3, Saint John's 2)
The Johnnies started the doubleheader with three straight hits for two runs in the top of the first inning. Becker followed Dauk's leadoff double with a double of his own to put SJU on the scoreboard. He moved to third on a single from Nyrop and scored on a fielder's choice off the bat of senior center fielder Jordan Amundson (Eden Prairie, Minn.).

A soft single from the Scots' No. 9 batter cut SJU's lead in half with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning. SJU left the bases loaded in the top of the fourth and left a runner on third in the seventh.

Senior Wyatt Rudolf (Carver, Minn./Chanhassen) walked Joe Margolis with one out and the bases empty in the bottom of the seventh before Hayes Waddell, who Rudolf struck out in his first three plate appearances, doubled off the right-field fence. The next batter was intentionally walked to load the bases and create the force out at any base, but Charlie Burton hit a 0-1 pitch to left field for the walk-off, two-run single for Macalester.

Rudolf fell to 3-2 with the loss. The three runs came on eight hits (seven singles). He struck out five and walked five on 122 pitches.

Game 2 (Saint John's 15, at Macalester 5; 7 inn.)
Mac followed SJU's blueprint from game one and started the bottom of the first inning with three-straight hits to plate the first run.

Peter led off the Johnnies' six-run second inning with a double and moved to third on a single from Schleper. Catcher Zach Selchow '23 followed with an RBI single to tie the game and Erickson gave the Johnnies the lead with a fielder's choice RBI. Dauk walked to load the bases before Nyrop's two-out grand slam – the third of his collegiate career – made it 6-1.

Peter and Schleper started the third inning with singles, and Selchow blasted his second collegiate homer to extend the lead to 9-1. Selchow finished 3-for-4 with four RBI and three runs scored in the victory.

After Mac added single runs on RBI doubles in the third and fifth innings, Nyrop made it 11-3 with his record-breaking, two-run single in the top of the sixth. Schleper then belted a three-run homer with two outs – his first of the season and ninth of his career – to give SJU a 14-3 lead. Selchow followed with a double, junior Ryan Janzen (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral) reached with an infield single and Erickson added to the lead with his second double of the contest.

Junior lefty Will Fazio (Minneapolis, Minn./Blake) improved to 3-2 on the year with the win. He allowed the three runs on seven hits and struck out five with two walks in five innings.

Mac opened the bottom of the sixth inning with a single and double off Cade Marsolek '23, but the senior responded with three-straight strikeouts to end the threat.

SERIES HISTORY: SJU is 18-4 against Macalester over the last 22 meetings and is 20-4 on the Scots' home field since 1993 (49-12 overall during that span).