CSC Release

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Five Saint John's student-athletes were named to the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District baseball team on Tuesday, June 3.

The five Johnnies honored (in alphabetical order) were senior pitcher Connor Hartley (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Rosemount), junior right fielder Brendan Hemr (Blaine, Minn./Centennial), senior second baseman Ryan Janzen (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral), sophomore center fielder Riley Schwellenbach (Woodbury, Minn./East Ridge) and sophomore pitcher Carter Theisen (Rosemount, Minn.).

Each institution may nominate up to five student-athletes for Academic All-District recognition in baseball. Nominees must be a sophomore or older with a 3.5 cumulative GPA or higher. On the field, nominees must have played 90 percent of their team's games or started 66 percent of the season. Pitchers must have made either 17 appearances or pitched 25 innings to be eligible at the time of nomination (May 27).

The CSC Academic All-District honor is the second-consecutive for Hartley, who is expected to receive his third Academic All-MIAC distinction (minimum 3.50 GPA) with Janzen this summer, while the conference honor will be the second for Hemr.

An accounting major with a 3.75 GPA, Hartley collected his second-consecutive All-MIAC honor after he allowed the fewest hits of any pitcher in MIAC play this season, holding opponents to a .155 average (18-for-116) in six appearances and 32.0 innings pitched (sixth/MIAC) in conference play. He shared fourth with four MIAC wins (4-2 record) and was sixth among pitchers with more than 30 innings in ERA (2.81). Overall, Hartley led SJU's pitching staff in appearances (12), starts (10), and innings pitched (59.1), and shared first with six wins (6-5 record). The 6-5 record is a bit deceiving as SJU scored 29 runs in his 58 innings as a starter this season. His four complete-game performances ranked eighth in NCAA Division III. Left-handed batters posted a .178 average (13-for-73) against the right-handed Hartley, including .053 (2-for-38) in MIAC play. He ended his career with a 15-11 record, 3.74 ERA, .253 opponent batting average and 115 strikeouts (to 32 walks) in 154 innings (37 appearances, 21 starts). The 15 career wins tie him for eighth-most in program history.

Janzen graduated in May with a 3.76 GPA in accounting days after he joined Hartley and three other teammates on the All-MIAC team. He started 17 games at second base before suffering a season-ending arm injury in the second-to-last doubleheader. Janzen led the MIAC in triples (4) and was tied for third in sacrifice bunts (3) in conference play, and was also second on the team in on-base percentage (.525) and third on the team in batting (.378). He made 33 starts overall and batted .315 (33-for-108) with a .439 on-base percentage, eight stolen bases and 18 runs scored. 

Hemr is a computer science major with a 3.70 GPA. He was named to the MIAC All-Playoff team after leading SJU with four hits (4-for-7) in the two postseason games. He also hit a home run, scored twice and recorded an assist from right field. Hemr played all 20 conference games and batted .315 with 18 RBI, thanks to a .440 average (11-for-25) with runners in scoring position. He was the lone Johnnie to play all 41 games this season and tied with senior first baseman Owen Best (Aurora, Colo./Regis Jesuit) for the team lead in doubles (11). He also led the team in hits (51), was second in RBI (39) and extra-base hits (19), and third in batting (.352), slugging percentage (.579), home runs (6) and runs scored (28). Hemr tied with senior All-American Joe Becker (New Prague, Minn.) for the team's most multiple-RBI games (11) and was second in multiple-hit games (13).

A data science major with a 3.97 GPA, Schwellenbach played 30 games with 29 starts in center field this spring and led the team with 16 stolen bases. He recorded a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage on 62 chances and batted .253 with 14 runs scored and nine RBI. A two-sport student-athlete, Schwellenbach started all 12 games at wide receiver for the Johnnies' nationally ranked football team and caught 34 passes for 531 yards and five touchdowns in the fall.

Theisen is a global business leadership major with a 3.96 GPA. He went 5-4 with a 5.08 ERA in 44.1 innings pitched (10 appearances, seven starts) and induced a team-leading seven double plays this spring. Theisen tied for first on the team with one complete-game shutout, was second with three complete games and third in wins (5), innings (44.1) and strikeouts (31).

SJU finished third in the MIAC with a 14-6 record (25-16 overall) and made its 15th-consecutive appearance in the MIAC Tournament (17th overall) this spring.