Saint John's travels to face Bethel for a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday, April 19, in Arden Hills. - Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (18-10, 8-2 MIAC) recorded a key doubleheader sweep of St. Olaf, the defending MIAC regular-season champions, with scores of 6-3 and 15-4 in seven innings on Tuesday (April 15) in Northfield. Senior third baseman Joe Becker (New Prague, Minn.) went 4-for-6 with three home runs and became the program's all-time leader in career hits and runs scored in the sweep.

A two-run homer, Becker's second of the day, in the second inning of game two enabled him to break both records in the same batted ball. He finished with four RBI, four runs scored and walked three times as SJU (18-10, 8-2 MIAC) batted .393 (24-for-61) with nine extra-base hits (five homers and four doubles) on the afternoon.

Game 1 - Saint John's 6, at St. Olaf 3
The Johnnies found the scoreboard first in the top of the second inning with junior right fielder Brendan Hemr (Blaine, Minn./Centennial) doubled off the center-field fence to score sophomore left fielder Alex Matchey (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area) from second base.

The Oles tied the game with an unearned run in the bottom of the third inning, but SJU answered with two runs in the next at-bat. Sophomore designated hitter Zach Helfmann (St. Louis Park, Minn.) recorded a leadoff single, Matchey reached when his sacrifice-bunt attempt turned into a hit and Hemr loaded the bases with an infield single. Senior second baseman Ryan Janzen (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral) gave the visitors the lead with a sac fly in the ensuing at-bat before junior center fielder Owen Amrhein (Waconia, Minn.) doubled in another run.

Becker hit his first homer of the day to make it 4-1 in the top of the fifth inning, though STO responded with two runs to cut the deficit to 4-3 in the bottom half.

SJU pulled away with single runs in the sixth and seventh innings. Amrhein singled to start the sixth and eventually scored on a wild pitch, while Janzen executed a safety-squeeze bunt for the game's final run in the seventh.

Senior Connor Hartley (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Rosemount) went the distance, allowing the three runs (two earned) on four hits. He struck out four and walked one. Six of his 21 outs came on the first pitch.

Hemr finished 3-for-3 at the plate, while Amrhein, Becker and Helfmann posted two hits apiece.

Game 2 - Saint John's 15, at St. Olaf 4 (7 inn.)
Junior shortstop Reed Marquardt (Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes) started the scoring right away in game two when he blasted the first pitch of the game for his second home run of the season. The spark carried over to the second inning where the Johnnies erupted for six runs on six hits.

Amrhein stroked his second RBI double of the day to start the second inning's scoring and another crossed the plate via wild pitch before senior catcher Blake Mellgren (Northfield, Minn.) launched a two-run shot for his second homer of the season. Marquardt singled and Becker blasted his record-breaking homer two batters later.

SJU plated a pair of runs with two outs, thanks to an RBI double from Helfmann and an RBI single from Matchey, in the fourth inning and tacked on three more to make it 12-0 in the fifth.

The Oles erased the shutout with single runs in the fifth and sixth innings. The Johnnies added three insurance runs in the top of the seventh inning which proved to be pivotal for the 10-run rule as the Oles scored two in the bottom half of the frame before the final out was recorded.

Senior Will Fazio (Minneapolis, Minn./Blake) improved to 4-1 on the season with the win after he allowed one run on seven hits in five innings of work.

Senior Kade Bowar (Burnsville, Minn.) surrendered three runs (one earned) on six hits in two innings of relief.

SJU took advantage of 11 walks and two hit batsmen (Janzen) in the nightcap and was led by Amrhein, Becker, Marquardt and Mellgren with two hits each. Mellgren drove in four.

MORE RECORDS FOR BECKER: Becker now has 161 runs scored and 211 hits to go along with his other school records in doubles (47), home runs (31), RBI (166) and total bases (373). He is currently tied with Matt Boys '11 for the program record with 11 triples, is two games played from the record of 171 owned by Max Jackson '19, six walks from the mark of 82 held by Casey Haugen '07 and eight at-bats from 628 (Jackson).

2 HITS FROM 100 IN COLLEGE: Senior first baseman Owen Best (Aurora, Colo./Regis Jesuit) currently has 98 career hits – 81 (.313 average) in 87 games at SJU and 17 (.262 average) in 31 games for St. Thomas in 2021 – as a collegiate baseball player.

A LOOK AT THE ROYALS: Bethel (20-6, 9-1 MIAC) brings an 11-game win streak 9-0 at home) into Saturday's doubleheader thanks to a 1-0 non-conference win over Crown on Wednesday (April 16). Fifth-year infielder Zach Thompson is batting .362 and leads the team in hits (38) and doubles (9), and is tied with junior outfielder Oran Hinkle for the team lead in runs scored (21). Hinkle leads the Royals in home runs (6) and RBI (23), while slashing .346/.387/.598. Freshman pitcher Mark Anderson is 4-1 record with a 1.91 ERA, .215 opponent batting average and 30 strikeouts in 33.0 innings. Senior Michael Meadows is 3-0 with two saves in 10 relief appearances.

LAST SEASON: SJU mustered only three hits on the day but salvaged a doubleheader split with Bethel to open the 2024 MIAC schedule in Collegeville and the Royals picked up a 17-7 win (in eight innings) to open the MIAC Tournament. 
  
Game 1 - Bethel 8, at Saint John's 1 (April 3, 2024)
The wind (NNW at 20 MPH), free passes and errors proved a disastrous combination for SJU in the first two innings of the opener. A pair of miscues, one of which was wind-aided, and two walks led to four runs (two earned) off pitcher Kody Dalen '24 in the top of the first inning. The Royals tacked on four more (three earned) in the second.
 
Jack Schleper '24 launched his first home run of the season and 12th of his career with one out in the bottom of the fifth for SJU's lone run. A leadoff single from Owen Dauk '23 in the fourth was the Johnnies' other hit. SJU recorded five lineouts at the plate.
 
Dalen took the loss, his first of the season and fourth of his career, allowing the eight runs (five earned) on six hits in three innings. He struck out three and walked three. Quinn Krueger '24 allowed two hits over the final four scoreless innings of relief.

Game 2 - at Saint John's 1, Bethel 0; 10 inn. (April 3, 2024)
Dauk started the bottom of the 10th inning with a walk, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Becker and advanced to third on a groundout from Jordan Amundson '24. Jackson Peter took his first pitch for a strike before he ripped a groundball past the out-stretched glove of BU shortstop Zach Thompson through the left side of the infield to score Dauk from third. 
 
John Solfest issued a leadoff, four-pitch walk to Amundson in the second inning and plunked Becker on a 2-0 pitch with one out in the fourth. Other than that, the fifth-year pitcher cruised to the nine-inning no-hitter, throwing 103 pitches (68 for strikes). SJU recorded four outs on the first pitch of the at-bat and three more on the second against Solfest.
 
A trio of Johnnies, however, combined for the two-hit shutout. Griffin Larson '24 made the start and gave up a single in the fourth inning for the no-decision. He struck out seven, but walked seven (one intentionally), in five innings of work. 
 
An infield single was the lone blemish for Jeremy Klick, who followed with four scoreless innings and two strikeouts, while Hartley struck out three batters in the 10th inning for the win.

MIAC Tournament - Bethel 17, Saint John's 7; 8 inn. (May 10, 2024)
Third-seeded SJU built a 7-0 lead but second-seeded Bethel scored 17-straight runs to hand the Johnnies a 17-7 defeat in eight innings at the first day of the MIAC Tournament at CHS Field in St. Paul.

SJU out-hit BU 13-12 but issued 12 free passes (nine walks and three hit batsmen) and committed seven errors, which led to eight unearned runs, in the loss.

Becker broke SJU's single-season record for RBI on a two-run home run – his 12th of the season – in the top of the first inning. The two RBI pushed his season total to 53, which eclipsed the previous record of 52 set by Ryan Roder '97 in 1997.

Rodney Erickson '24 started the game with his 14th double of the season, but was picked off at second base. Dauk followed with a single and Becker smashed the two-run homer to left for the early lead.

After Bethel loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the first inning and did not score, SJU tacked on two more runs, all with two outs, in the top of the third. Schleper reached on a fielder's choice for the second out and Andrew Mahlke '24 dropped a Texas-league double into no-man's land in center field to extend the inning. Amundson then followed with a two-strike, two-run single to right center.

Marquardt started the fourth inning with a single, Erickson walked and Dauk was hit by a pitch for the 70th time of his career to load the bases with nobody out. BU starting pitcher Ty Koehn was able to get two-straight outs, but Mahlke laced a bases-clearing double to right-center for a 7-0 lead.

The Royals erased the shoutout with two unearned runs in the bottom half of the fourth and cut their deficit to 7-5 on a two-out, three-run double from Noah Wenberg in the bottom of the fifth. The double was the third of the season for Wenberg, BU's No. 9 batter in the lineup.

A pair of hit batsmen came around to score, one unearned, to tie the game for BU in the bottom of the sixth inning and another two-out, bases-clearing double gave the Royals a 10-7 lead in the bottom of the seventh. An infield single with two outs, followed by two walks, loaded the bases before Xavier Lortie dropped a double into the right-field corner.

BU batted around in the eighth inning, scoring seven runs on just one hit thanks to four errors and four free passes (three walks and a hit batter), to invoke the 10-run rule.

Fazio took the loss (2-2 record), allowing six runs (five earned) on two hits with four walks in an inning pitched. Hartley made the start and gave up three runs on eight hits in 4.2 innings for the no-decision.

SERIES HISTORY: SJU is 58-38 against Bethel since 1980, including a 19-18 edge in the series over the last 37 meetings overall since 2009. The Johnnies are 9-6 in the last 15 games in Arden Hills.