Saint John's baseball travels to Florida for nine games –five in Auburndale, two in Davenport and two in Winter Haven – over a span of seven days from March 16-22. – Live Video (PPV)
 
THE TRIP
-Sunday, March 16: Simpson (Iowa), 2:30 p.m. ET (Davenport, NERP #2) 
-Monday, March 17: Martin Luther – Doubleheader, 3 p.m. ET (Auburndale, LM #4) 
-Tuesday March 18: The College of New Jersey – Doubleheader, 11:30 a.m. ET (Auburndale, LM #8) 
-Thursday, March 20: Rutgers-Camden (N.J.), 3:45 p.m. ET (Davenport, NERP #2) 
-Friday, March 21: No. 3 Johns Hopkins (Md.), 9:30 a.m. ET (Winter Haven, COL #2)
-Friday, March 21: No. 6 Denison (Ohio), 1:30 p.m. ET (Winter Haven, COL #3) 
-Saturday, March 22: Union (N.Y.), 12:30 p.m. ET (Auburndale, LM Main)
 
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (4-2 overall) went 2-2 over three days (March 17-9) in Tucson, Ariz. The Johnnies started the trip with a 15-2 win in seven innings over Rockford (Ill.) and split a doubleheader with Concordia (Wis.; W, 9-3; L, 15-16), before they committed five errors in an 8-5 loss to Carthage (Wis.) in the trip's finale.

SJU batted .423 with 20 extra-base hits (12 doubles, five triples and three home runs), but left 33 men on base in the four games. The pitching staff allowed a .300 opponent batting average with 23 strikeouts in 29 innings, while the defense committed 13 errors. Fifteen of the 29 runs allowed were earned.

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Becker was named the MIAC Baseball Player of the Week for the third time of his career on Monday (March 10). He  batted .786 (11-for-14) with an .842 on-base percentage, 2.271 OPS, 10 runs scored, two home runs and seven RBI in the four Tucson games. He was a perfect 3-for-3 as both a leadoff hitter to start an inning and with two outs.

He currently leads the team in batting average (.600), slugging percentage (1.100), on-base percentage (.704), runs (10), extra-base hits (5), home runs (2) and walks (5).

RECORD BOOK WATCH: The program's all-time leader in RBI (143) and total bases (313), Becker is currently second in runs scored (136), tied for second in both doubles (41) and home runs (23), tied for third in hits (185), tied for fourth in triples (9), fifth in both at-bats (534) and games played (148), and tied for sixth in walks (59).

-Runs: 22 from the record owned by Owen Dauk '23
-Doubles: tied with Matt Butorac '11 for second (41), three from the record of 44 owned by Jack Schleper '24 
-Home Runs: tied with Max Nyrop '23 for second (23), two from the record of 25 owned by Ethan Roe '22
-Hits: tied with Wyatt Ulrich '20 for third (185), one behind Jed Riegelman '04 in second and 24 from the record of 209 owned by Max Jackson '19
-Triples: tied with Derek Schiebel '17 for fourth, one behind Rodney Erickson '24 and Ulrich for second (10) and two from the record of 11 owned by Matt Boys '11 

FIVE AWAY FROM 900: SJU's Jerry Haugen '76 currently has a 895-722-5 (.553) and needs five wins to become the 27th coach in NCAA Division III baseball history to reach 900 in a career.

JERRY HAUGEN DAY – APRIL 26: Saint John's will honor Haugen, who announced in December that the 2025 season will be his last as head coach, on Saturday, April 26 (the Johnnies' doubleheader vs. Augsburg) in Collegeville. More details and information will be announced when available.

THE OPPONENTS 
-Simpson (Iowa): The Storm are 4-7 overall, including a doubleheader split with Fitchburg State (Mass.) today (March 14)...Simpson is batting .292 so far this season, but the pitching staff has a 6.17 ERA and .298 opponent batting average…SC placed eighth, two spots from the conference tournament, last season in the American Rivers Conference (ARC) with a 9-15 record (16-24 overall)…Sunday's game is the first between SJU and Simpson since the Johnnies' doubleheader sweep – 3-1 and 6-2 – on March 22, 1985 at the Metrodome.
  
-Martin Luther: The Knights are 2-1 and face the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts today (March 14) and Alfred (N.Y.) on Saturday (March 15) before Monday's pair of games vs. SJU…MLC finished last in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) last spring with a 4-17 record (7-27 overall)…Monday's doubleheader serves as the first baseball games between SJU and MLC.

-The College of New Jersey: The Lions are 3-4 overall and play three games, including a showdown with No. 3 Johns Hopkins (Md.) on Monday (March 17) before Tuesday's matchup with the Johnnies…TCNJ finished sixth within the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) with a 9-9 record (23-17 overall) in 2024…the only other meeting between the Johnnies and Lions was a 15-4 win for SJU on March 6, 2010, in Chandler, Ariz.
  
-Rutgers-Camden (N.J.): The Camden Scarlet Raptors are 8-1 overall and play five games before Thursday's tilt against SJU…they received votes in the latest D3baseball.com poll…Rutgers-Camden finished fourth in the NJAC with an 11-7 record (26-15 overall) last season…the only other meeting for SJU against Rutgers-Camden was a 20-8 win on March 15, 1996, in Ft. Myers, Fla.
  
-Johns Hopkins (Md.): The Blue Jays are 11-0 overall and play five games before Friday's matchup against the Johnnies…Johns Hopkins won both the regular-season and playoff titles in the Centennial Conference and finished with a 35-11 record (16-2 Centennial) in the NCAA Super Regionals…the Blue Jays stayed at No. 3 in the latest D3baseball.com poll and edged SJU 3-2 the last (and only) time the two teams faced on March 17, 1995, in Cocoa Beach, Fla.
  
-Denison (Ohio): The sixth-ranked Big Red are 8-2 overall and host a tournament this weekend before starting its Florida trip Tuesday (March 18) against No. 3 Johns Hopkins (Md.)…Denison won both the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) regular-season and playoff championships, and advanced as far as the NCAA Super Regionals  with a 42-8 record (13-3 NCAC)…SJU fell to the Big Red by a 6-3 score the only other meeting on March 12, 2022, in Port Charlotte, Fla.
  
-Union (N.Y.): Union is 6-4 overall and visits Russell Sage (N.Y.) Sunday (March 16) for a doubleheader before next Saturday's (March 22) matchup against the Johnnies…the Garnet Chargers finished second, behind Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), last season in the Eastern Liberty League with a 12-5 record (29-12 overall)…Union won the previous meeting with SJU, 8-2, on March 27, 1997, Cape Coral, Fla.
 
LAST YEAR'S TRIP: SJU went 4-4 during last year's spring-break trip (March 3-9, 2024) in Florida. The Johnnies started the trip with a 10-2 victory over Otterbein (Ohio) and then took an 8-3 loss in 13 innings to Heidelberg (Ohio) before dropping their next three games to then-No. 13 Misericordia (Pa.; L, 1-2), then-No. 24 Marietta (Ohio; L, 3-8) and Hiram (Ohio; L, 10-16). SJU closed the trip with three-straight wins: a sweep of Baruch (N.Y.), 5-1 and 11-3, and a 6-3 victory over Muskingum (Ohio).

SJU batted .262 and out-scored the opposition 49-43 thanks to 29 extra-base hits (20 doubles, six triples and three home runs). The Johnnies went .329 (48-for-146) at the plate with runners on base and .348 (32-for-92) with runners in scoring position. Individually, Becker led the way with a .355 average (11-for-31), including five doubles, two homers, 12 RBI and six runs scored. Second baseman Owen Dauk '23 was next at .310 (9-for-29), including a team-best .474 on-base percentage, 10 runs scored and three triples.  

The Johnnies' pitching staff posted a 4.06 ERA – thanks to 44 free passes (21 walks and 23 hit batsmen – despite a .222 opponent batting average with 75 strikeouts in 71 innings last week. The opposition totaled eight extra-base hits (five doubles and three triples) in eight games. Hartley, Kody Dalen '24, Jeremy Klick Griffin Larson '24 combined for a 0.51 ERA, .143 opponent batting average (17-for-119) and 37 strikeouts (to three walks) in 35 innings during the trip.