Saint John's baseball hosts Macalester for the MIAC opener at 2:30 p.m. Friday, March 28, at Haugen Field at Becker Park. – Live Stats | Live Video

MOVED TO FRIDAY: The doubleheader was originally scheduled for Saturday (March 29) but was moved a day earlier due to the weather forecast for this weekend. 
 
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (10-7 overall) swept Northwestern, the 900th and 901st wins of head coach Jerry Haugen's career, by scores of 10-1 and 3-1 on Wednesday (March 26).

The Johnnies' offense was led by a pair of juniors – right fielder Brendan Hemr (Blaine, Minn./Centennial) and shortstop Reed Marquardt (Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes) – and received complete-game performances from sophomore Hunter Hoen (Belle Plaine, Minn.) and freshman Drew Lange (Albany, Minn./Holdingford) on the mound. Marquardt went 4-for-5 with two runs, two RBI and three walks, while Hemr recorded a 3-for-6 performance with two home runs, four RBI, three runs scored and two walks. Hemr has now reached based safely in 11-straight games, including a nine-game hit streak.

Hoen and Lange, meanwhile, held UNW (5-9, 3-0 UMAC) to 2-for-20 with runners on base and 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position on the day.

Game 1 – Saint John's 10, at Northwestern 1
The Johnnies broke open a 3-1 game with seven runs over the final three innings for the convincing win.

The visitors picked up an unearned run in the first inning and made it 3-0 on a sacrifice fly from senior catcher Blake Mellgren (Northfield, Minn.) and an RBI double off the bat of Marquardt in the second.

The Eagles erased the shutout with a run in the third inning and SJU pulled away with two runs or more in each of the final three frames.

Senior first baseman Owen Best (Aurora, Colo./Regis Jesuit) walked with two outs in the fifth inning and Hemr blasted his second home run of the season in the next at-bat. Junior left fielder Owen Amrhein (Waconia, Minn.) singled to start the sixth inning, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on a double from sophomore designated hitter Zach Helfmann (St. Louis Park, Minn.). Helfmann advanced to third on another wild pitch and scored on a two-out single by Marquardt. Mellgren roped a two-run double with two outs in the seventh and a passed ball enabled the Johnnies to score their 10th run.

Hoen collected the complete-game victory, the first of his collegiate career in his second start, allowing the lone run on three hits with six strikeouts.

Mellgren (3), Hemr (2) and Marquardt (2) totaled two RBI or more each.

Game 2 – Saint John's 3, at Northwestern 1
SJU broke through the scoreless stalemate with two runs in the top of the third inning thanks to an RBI single from Hemr and a bases-loaded walk by sophomore designated hitter Alex Matchey (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area).

UNW cut the deficit in half – 2-1 – on a two-out wild pitch with runners on the corners in the sixth inning. Hemr, however, padded the Johnnies' lead with a solo homer with one out in the top of the seventh inning.

Lange posted his first collegiate win in his first start (fourth appearance). He surrendered the one run on three hits with four strikeouts.

HISTORIC MILESTONE: The pair of victories on Wednesday enabled Haugen to become the 27th coach in NCAA Division III baseball history to reach 900 in a career (901-727-5 record).
 
A LOOK AT THE SCOTS: Macalester (4-8 overall) returns to the diamond Friday after going 3-7 March 15-22 in Tucson, Ariz. One of the Scots' three runs was a wild 21-20 win over Division II Winona State, though five of the seven losses were decided by 10+ runs. Sophomore infielder Holden Peacock is batting .381 and leads Macalester in hits (16), triples (2) and stolen bases (5), and is second in RBI (11). Junior outfielder Niko Alexander touts a team-best 13 RBI and .514 slugging percentage, while junior infielder/outfielder Josh Planko (.394) and freshman infielder Aram Dombalagian (.382) have 13 hits apiece. The current MIAC Baseball Pitcher of the Week, senior Cam Scholl has not allowed an earned run in 17 innings so far this spring. He is 2-1 with a .145 opponent batting average and 16 strikeouts. The rest of the pitching staff, however, has a 13.44 ERA.  
 
LAST SPRING: SJU and MAC split last year's regular-season series on May 1 (2024) at Division II Concordia-St. Paul. Saint John's countered four Macalester home runs with two of its own and scored all eight runs with two outs in an 8-6 win in game one. The Johnnies, however, managed only four hits to the Scots' 12 in a 3-2 loss. 
 
Game 1 - Saint John's 8, Macalester 6
The Johnnies gained a quick 3-0 lead thanks to a two-out rally in the top of the first inning. Senior third baseman Joe Becker (New Prague, Minn.) and left fielder Jack Schleper '24 singled before Best put SJU on the scoreboard with an RBI single. Schleper and Best then scored when center fielder Jordan Amundson's '24 fly ball to center was lost in the sun. 
 
The Scots scored three two-out runs of their own, all unearned, on a three-run homer from Matt Odom – his 10th of the season – in the bottom of the third inning. 
 
SJU was gifted an unearned run when first baseman Jackson Peter reached on an error to start the fourth inning, moved to second on a wild pitch and to third on a groundout from Marquardt, and scored on another wild pitch with two outs for a 4-3 lead. Right fielder Rodney Erickson '24 and second baseman Owen Dauk '23 kept the inning alive with back-to-back walks before the Scots' Raymond McCaskey robbed Becker of a two-run single with a diving catch in left field to end the inning. 
 
The lead did not last long as Hayes Waddell tied the game at 4-4 with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the fourth.  
 
Amundson put the visitors back in front – 5-4 – with a two-out, solo blast in the top of the fifth inning. The long ball was his third of the season and 13th as a Johnnie. 
 
The two-out scoring continued for SJU with two more runs in the top of the sixth inning. Dauk was hit by a pitch and Becker followed with his second single of the game before Schleper greeted a new Mac pitcher with a two-run double for a 7-4 lead. The two RBI gave Schleper an even 100 for his collegiate career (the seventh Johnnie to reach the milestone). 
 
The Scots were not done, however, as Waddell collected his second solo homer with one out and Josh Planko cut the Johnnies' lead to 7-6 with a home run of his own with two outs off Jeremy Klick. 
 
Senior Connor Hartley (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Rosemount) pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning with two strikeouts for his first collegiate save. 
 
Game 2 - Macalester 3, Saint John's 2
The Scots broke the scoreless stalemate with two unearned runs with two outs in the bottom of the third inning and Odom made it 3-0 with a one-out homer in the fifth. 
 
Erickson doubled with one out in the top of the eighth inning and back-to-back walks by Dauk and Becker loaded the bases and forced a pitching change. Schleper brought in Erickson on a fielder's choice in the next at-bat and a throwing error on the play scored Dauk for a 3-2 game. 
 
Amundson was plunked by a 1-2 pitch to start the ninth inning and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Peter. A wild pitch moved him to third base, but he was stranded there with a strikeout and bunt to end the game. 
 
Kody Dalen '24 took the loss (2-3 record), allowing three runs (one earned) on eight hits in 4.1 innings. He struck out four, which enabled him to pass former teammate Casey Trapp '23 (172) for second in program history with 175. Joel Swenson '99 owns the school record with 201. 
 
Senior Will Fazio (Minneapolis, Minn./Blake) gave up four hits and struck out five in 3.2 scoreless innings of relief. 
 
Macalester's Ben King induced 13 flyouts and gave up three hits, including two doubles, in seven scoreless innings. King retired his final 10 batters in order. 
 
SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 49-12 against the Scots since 1993, including a 25-5 record in Collegeville.