JHU Box Score | DU Box Score

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – Saint John's baseball fell to a pair of top-10 teams on Friday, March 21.

The Johnnies (8-6 overall) batted 0-for-14 with runners in scoring position (2-for-20 with men on base) and 0-for-8 with two outs in this morning's 13-1 loss (in seven innings) to No. 2 Johns Hopkins (Md.) and surrendered 13-unanswered runs in a 15-4 defeat (in seven innings) to No. 7 Denison (Ohio) in the afternoon. 

SJU totaled eight hits, four in each game, and batted .160 (8-for-50) on the day to the opposition's .441 average (30-for-68). The two opponents combined to bat .517 (15-for-29) – with 16 of the 26 RBI – with two outs and .407 (11-for-27) with runners in scoring position. The Johnnies, meanwhile, were just 1-for-14 with two outs and 2-for-20 with runners in scoring position.

No. 2 Johns Hopkins 13, Saint John's 1 (7 inn.)
The Blue Jays (15-2 overall) registered eight extra-base hits – three home runs and five doubles – in the victory. JHU hit a two-run homer and added a two-out, RBI single to gain a 3-0 lead in the top of the second inning. The visitors on the scoreboard then tacked on eight runs on five hits – a grand slam, two-run homer and two-run double – to gain an 11-0 advantage in the top of the third. The frame's final four runs came with two outs.

The Johnnies' lone run came in the bottom of the third inning when senior third baseman Joe Becker (New Prague, Minn.) scored on a fielder's choice off the bat of junior left fielder Owen Amrhein (Waconia, Minn.).

Becker's leadoff double in the bottom of the fifth inning enabled him to tie the SJU record of 44 owned by former teammate Jack Schleper '24. He finished 1-for-2 with two walks.

Senior Connor Hartley (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Rosemount) took the loss, allowing six runs on six hits in two innings of work. 

No. 7 Denison (Ohio) 15, Saint John's 4 (7 inn.)
Ten of Denison's 13 RBI were thanks to a 10-for-17 performance at the plate with two outs. SJU was 1-for-6.

The Big Red (13-3 overall) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning, but SJU responded with four runs thanks to a grand slam from junior right fielder Brendan Hemr (Blaine, Minn./Centennial) in the bottom half of the inning. Junior shortstop Reed Marquardt (Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes) was hit by a pitch, followed by walks to Becker and senior designated hitter Owen Best (Aurora, Colo./Regis Jesuit) to load the bases and force prompt pitching change. Hemr then greeted the new relief pitcher with an opposite-field shot for his first collegiate homer.

Denison slowly chipped away with a run in the second inning and two more in the third to take the lead for good (5-4) before erupting for six runs on five hits in the fourth. The Big Red padded the lead with two insurance runs in the sixth and seventh innings to force the 10-run rule.

Sophomore Carter Theisen (Rosemount, Minn.) was tagged for his first loss of the season (3-1 record) after he allowed 11 runs (eight earned) on 12 hits in four innings. He struck out four and walked one.

The Johnnies close the nine-game trip with a 12:30 p.m. contest against Union (N.Y.) on Saturday, March 22, in Auburndale, Fla.