Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Saint John's baseball dedicated its new clubhouse, celebrated Senior Day and ended its regular-season schedule with a doubleheader split against St. Olaf on Saturday, May 4, at Haugen Field at Becker Park.

The Johnnies (24-14, 13-7 MIAC) out-hit St. Olaf (27-12, 17-3 MIAC) by a 9-6 margin but left nine men on base in a 2-1 loss. Game two flipped as the Oles totaled 11 hits and left 13 men on base as SJU earned the split with a 5-4 win in the nightcap.

STO, which had already secured the MIAC regular-season title and No. 1 seed in next week's MIAC Tournament, batted .208 (5-for-24) with runners in scoring position and 1-for-17 (.059) with two outs on the afternoon.

Game 1 (St. Olaf 2, at Saint John's 1)
Senior right fielder Rodney Erickson (St. Paul, Minn./Woodbury) and senior second baseman Owen Dauk (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) singled to start the bottom of the first inning and advanced thanks to a successful double steal, but SJU failed to bring in a run. 

The rest of the game, which took only 90 minutes to complete, was snappy until STO gained a 1-0 lead on an RBI single from its No. 9 hitter, Matthew Oberlander, in the top of the fifth inning. The Johnnies answered to tie it, however, in the bottom half. Junior first baseman Jackson Peter (Elrosa, Minn./Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa) doubled off the right-field fence with one out and scored on junior catcher Blake Mellgren's (Northfield, Minn.) RBI single in the next at-bat. SJU missed another opportunity when it left the bases loaded four batters later.



A chopper through the right side from Sam Lavin and a double down the left-field line by Joey Glampe scored what proved to be the Oles' game-winning run in the sixth inning. SJU had the game-tying run on second base in both the sixth and seventh innings but could take score the equalizer.

Junior Connor Hartley (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Rosemount) took the loss (6-3 record), allowing the two runs on six hits in six innings. He struck out four and did not issue a free pass.

Senior Quinn Krueger (Woodbury, Minn.) pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning in relief.

Game 2 (at Saint John's 5, St. Olaf 4)
The Johnnies doubled their scoring output from game one with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning in game two thanks to a sacrifice fly from senior left fielder Jack Schleper (Shakopee, Minn.) and a two-out, RBI single off the bat of senior designated hitter Owen Best (Aurora, Colo./Regis Jesuit).

The Oles tied the game on a run-scoring double and RBI groundout in the top of the second, but Dauk gave the lead back to SJU with two-out, RBI double in the bottom half. 

St. Olaf proceeded to tie the game in the third inning and gained a 4-3 lead in the fourth, but left the bases loaded with one out.

Senior third baseman Joe Becker (New Prague, Minn.) walked with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning, gained second base on a single from Schleper and scored on a double from Best to tie the game at 4-4. An RBI groundout from senior center fielder Jordan Amundson (Eden Prairie, Minn.) brought in Schleper for the go-ahead run.

Freshman Carter Theisen (Rosemount, Minn.) made the start and gave up the four runs on 10 hits in four innings for the no-decision. Three SJU relievers combined to allow one hit over the final five innings.

Sophomore Vinny Schleper (Shakopee, Minn.) posted two hitless innings and senior Wyatt Rudolf (Carver, Minn./Chanhassen) earned his first win of the season (1-2 record) with three strikeouts over the seventh and eighth innings.

Junior lefty Will Fazio (Minneapolis, Minn./Blake) collected a 1-2-3 ninth inning with two strikeouts for his first collegiate save.

The Johnnies begin the four-team, double-elimination MIAC Tournament on Thursday, May 9, at CHS Field in St. Paul. The time and opponent are yet to be determined.