Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Saint John's started its 2025 baseball season with a sweep of Luther (Iowa), 3-2 and 4-2, on Sunday afternoon, March 2, at Haugen Field at Becker Park.

Four SJU (2-0 overall) pitchers combined to hold Luther (0-5 overall) to a .233 batting average, while the Johnnies produced clutch hitting late in both games for the sweep.

Game 1 – Saint John's 3, Luther 2
SJU erased a 2-1 deficit with a pair of runs in the fifth inning for the win in game one. Senior second baseman Ryan Janzen (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral) started the bottom half of the inning with a leadoff single, stole second base and scored on a one-out double from junior shortstop Reed Marquardt (Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes). Marquardt moved to third on a groundout and scored when senior first baseman Owen Best (Aurora, Colo./Regis Jesuit) laced a 3-2 pitch up the middle for what proved to be the game-winning run. 

The Johnnies gained an early 1-0 lead thanks to back-to-back, two-out doubles from Best and sophomore designated hitter Zach Helfmann (St. Louis Park, Minn.) in the first inning. Best ended the game 3-for-3 at the plate.

The Norse tied the game with an RBI double of their own from Garren Heinert in the top of the second inning and gained a 2-1 lead on a leadoff homer from Josh Matanich in the third.
 
Senior pitcher Connor Hartley (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Rosemount) picked up the win, the 10th of his collegiate career (10-6 with a 3.58 ERA in 100.2 innings), after allowing the two earned runs on six hits in six innings. He struck out five and walked one.

Senior Kade Bowar (Burnsville, Minn.) pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning, including strikeouts to the final two batters, for his first collegiate save.



Game 2 – Saint John's 4, Luther 2
Helfmann smoked a 0-2 pitch over the left-field fence for a two-run homer – the first of his collegiate career – to break a 2-2 stalemate in the bottom of the seventh inning. The blast proved to be the game-winning runs and provided the needed spark for an offense that stranded a runner on third base in each of the first four innings. The home team also left a leadoff double from senior third baseman Joe Becker (New Prague, Minn.) on base in the fifth inning and collected three singles in the sixth but left the bases loaded without a run scored.

Three-consecutive singles from junior right fielder Brendan Hemr (Blaine, Minn./Centennial), junior left fielder Owen Amrhein (Waconia, Minn.) and Janzen loaded the bases with one out in the fourth inning. Sophomore centerfielder Riley Schwellenbach (Woodbury, Minn./East Ridge) then brought in the game's first run with a fielder's choice and Amrhein scored on a passed ball with two outs for a 2-0 lead. 

Luther tallied three doubles in the fifth inning, however, to tie the game at 2-2.

Sophomore Carter Theisen (Rosemount, Minn.) earned the win in relief, allowing two hits with four strikeouts in four scoreless innings. 

Senior southpaw Will Fazio (Minneapolis, Minn./Blake) made the start and gave up the two runs on six hits with five strikeouts.

Janzen led SJU's bats with a 3-for-4 performance, while Hemr went 2-for-3 with a walk.

The Johnnies travel to Tucson, Ariz., for four games this Friday-Sunday (March 6-8).