Saint John's travels to Roseville to face Northwestern for a 4 p.m. non-conference doubleheader on Wednesday, March 26. – Live Stats | Live Video

MIAC OPENER ON FRIDAY (NOT SATURDAY): The Johnnies' MIAC-opening baseball doubleheader against Macalester, scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday, was rescheduled for 2:30 p.m. Friday in Collegeville due to the weather forecast for this weekend.

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (8-7 overall) went 4-5 during its spring-break trip last week (March 16-22) in Florida. The Johnnies started the trip with a 6-0 shutout of Simpson (Iowa) and swept Martin Luther (18-2, 16-0) before dropping its next two games to the College of New Jersey. The Johnnies blanked then-No.19 Rutgers-Camden (N.J.) 11-0 and closed the trip with three-straight losses to then-No. 2 Johns Hopkins (Md.), then-No. 7 Denison (Ohio) and Union (N.Y.). 

THE TRIP
Offense: SJU batted .294 and outscored the opposition 66-52 thanks to 25 extra-base hits (15 doubles, two triples and eight home runs). The Johnnies went .303 (44-for-145) at the plate with runners on base and .272 (28-for-103) with runners in scoring position. Individually, senior third baseman Joe Becker (New Prague, Minn.) led the way with a .393 average (11-for-28), including four doubles, three homers, 12 RBI and nine runs scored. Senior first baseman Owen Best (Aurora, Colo./ Regis Jesuit) was next at .364 (8-for-22) with a homer, three doubles and five runs scored. 

Pitching: The Johnnies' pitching staff posted a 6.50 ERA – thanks to 57 free passes (45 walks and 12 hit batsmen – despite a .272 opponent batting average with a total of 55 strikeouts in 63.2 innings last week. The opposing teams totaled 22 extra-base hits (17 doubles, one triple and four homers) in the nine games. Senior Will Fazio (Minneapolis Minn./ Blake) pitched 8.2 scoreless innings (two appearances/one start) and registered a .038 opponent batting average with 11 strikeouts (and nine walks) on the trip.

MORE RECORDS FOR BECKER: Becker broke former teammate Ethan Roe's program record for home runs with the 26th of his career in the third inning of the Johnnies' 11-0 shutout of nationally ranked Rutgers-Camden on March 20. He also became SJU's all-time leader in doubles with the 45th of his career March 22 against Union (N.Y.). Becker is already the program's all-time leader in RBI (155) and total bases (339), and is also second in hits (196), runs scored (145) and triples (10). 

899 WINS: SJU's Jerry Haugen '76 currently has an 899-727-5 (.553) and needs one win to become the 27th coach in NCAA Division III baseball history to reach 900 in a career.

A LOOK AT THE EAGLES: Northwestern (5-7, 3-0 UMAC) went 2-6 on its trip March 7-14 to Fort Pierce, Fla., and opened UMAC play with a three-game sweep of North Central last weekend (March 21-22): 11-6, 13-12 (10 inn.) and 13-3. Senior Mark Bligh leads the team in hits (19) and batting average (.380), while graduate student Benji Bruce is atop the Eagles' stat leaderboard with two home runs and 16 RBI. Opponents are batting .285 against UNW's pitching staff, which has a 7.24 ERA and 93 strikeouts in 95.2 innings so far this spring.

LAST SPRING: The Johnnies cracked 15 hits to take game one with an 11-3 score and totaled 11 more hits in game two but needed a walk-off home run from senior catcher Blake Mellgren (Northfield, Minn.) on the first pitch of the bottom of the seventh inning for a 4-3 victory and the sweep. SJU batted .448 (26-for-58) in the doubleheader, two days after it batted .493 (34-for-69) with 16 extra-base hits (10 doubles and six home runs) in a home sweep of Carleton.

The Johnnies' top-two hitters in the batting order – right fielder Rodney Erickson '24 and second baseman Owen Dauk '23 – combined to go 11-for-13 at the plate with three RBI, two doubles and nine runs scored against Northwestern.

Game 1 (at Saint John's 11, Northwestern 3)
Northwestern jumped on the scoreboard first with a pair of runs in the top of the first inning, however SJU answered with four in the bottom half of the frame thanks to a fielder's choice from Becker, a two-run single from Best and a sacrifice fly off the bat of first baseman Jackson Peter. 

The Eagles responded with an unearned run in the second before the Johnnies rattled off seven-straight runs in the victory. The home team plated two players in the second inning, added four unearned runs in the third and ended the scoring on Dauk's fourth hit – an RBI single – in the fifth. Dauk went 4-for-4 with three RBI and three runs scored, while Erickson went 3-for-3 with four runs scored in the first game alone.

Sophomore Carter Theisen (Rosemount, Minn.) improved to 2-1 on the season after he allowed the three runs (two earned) on five hits in six innings. He struck out two and walked three. Sophomore Brady Drkula (Cottage Grove, Minn./Park) made his collegiate debut and pitched an impressive scoreless seventh inning in relief.

Game 2 (at Saint John's 4, Northwestern 3)
The Johnnies out-hit UNW by an 11-4 margin in game two, however SJU hit into three double plays. SJU jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead when Erickson scored on a double-play ball from Becker.

The Eagles scored three runs (two earned) to gain a two-run lead in the second inning, but SJU answered with two to tie the game in the third. Erickson was retired for the first time to start the third and Dauk followed with a single. He scored on an RBI double from Becker, who tied the game on a hit from center fielder Jordan Amundson '23. 

The only time Dauk was retired in the doubleheader came in the fifth inning when he hit a line drive off the pitcher and the deflection shot into the air to the UNW second baseman, who caught it and doubled up Erickson at first base for the third double play of the game. Dauk ended the day 6-for-7 with three RBI, four runs scored and totaled two stolen bases.

The Eagles threatened to take the lead thanks to two infield singles and a hit batsman with two outs off senior reliever Kade Bowar (Burnsville, Minn.) in the sixth inning, but Bowar induced an inning-ending flyout. Bowar pitched a 1-2-3 count at the top of the seventh inning to collect his first win of the season.

Mellgren laced the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the seventh inning for his third homer of the season and the Johnnies' third walk-off win. Junior Vinny Schleper (Shakopee, Minn.) gave up three runs (two earned) on just two hits in the no-decision. He struck out four and walked two in five innings.

Erickson finished 5-for-6 with five runs scored, while Amundson and Mellgren each went 3-for-7. 

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 3-1 all-time against the Eagles and Wednesday's doubleheader is the first between the two teams on Northwestern's home turf in Roseville.

-April 15, 2024: W, 11-3; W, 4-3 (Collegeville)
-March 21, 2022: W, 3-0; L, 2-3 (Collegeville)