Saint John's baseball travels to face Gustavus Adolphus for a 2:30 p.m. doubleheader on Wednesday, April 15, in St. Peter. – Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (13-10, 4-4 MIAC) evened its conference record with another doubleheader sweep on Sunday (April 12) against Hamline at CHS Field. The Johnnies erased a 2-0 deficit with seven, two-out runs in the second inning en route to a 9-4 win in the opener and overcame another 2-0 deficit for a 4-2 victory in 11 innings in the nightcap.

Three SJU pitchers held Hamline to a .222 average (14-for-63), including .105 (2-for-19) with two outs, in 18 innings on the mound.

Game 1 – Saint John's 9, at Hamline 4
HU started the bottom of the first inning with three-straight singles for a run and added another on a double play for a quick 2-0 lead.

Junior catcher Mason McCurdy (Lake Elmo, Minn./Stillwater Area) was plunked to start the second and moved to second on a groundout for the second out of the inning. Junior center fielder Riley Schwellenbach (Woodbury, Minn./East Ridge) brought in McCurdy with an RBI single to cut the deficit in half and advanced to second base on the throw home. Freshman shortstop Will Koeppen (Minnetonka, Minn.) followed with an RBI single of his own in the ensuing at-bat to tie the game and a pair of free passes – a walk to junior first baseman Justin Brooks (Champlin, Minn./Champlin Park) and a hit-by-pitch to junior second baseman Alex Matchey (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area) – loaded the bases.

Junior designated hitter Zach Helfmann (St. Louis Park, Minn.) walked to give SJU its first lead of the game before senior third baseman Reed Marquardt (Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes) blasted a bases-clearing triple off the fence. McCurdy came to the plate for the second time of the inning and completed the seven-run inning with an RBI single.

McCurdy doubled with one out in the fifth inning and senior right fielder Brendan Hemr (Blaine, Minn./Centennial) followed him with a two-run homer, his fourth home run of the season and 10th of his career, for a 9-2 advantage.

The Pipers tallied two runs on three hits in the bottom of the seventh to end the scoring.

Junior Matthew Magnuson (Chanhassen, Minn./Chaska) earned the complete-game win (3-2 record), allowing the four runs on eight hits in seven innings.

McCurdy finished 3-for-3, while Koeppen and Schwellenbach collected two hits apiece.

Game 2 – Saint John's 4, at Hamline 2 (11 inn.)
SJU was held scoreless through seven innings before Brooks laced a 1-2 pitch to left field for a two-out, two-run single to even the score at 2-2 in the top of the eighth inning. 

Hamline scored one run on a bases-loaded walk in the first inning and scratched one more across on a sacrifice bunt in the fifth before freshman lefty Dylan Bloom (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area) and senior Vinny Schleper (Shakopee, Minn.) blanked the home team for remainder of the game. 

The top of the order broke through for SJU in the 11th inning after going three-up-three-down in the two innings prior. Koeppen led off with a double and Matchey drove him in as the go-ahead run on a single to right. Junior pinch hitter Will Wareham (Lakeville, Minn./North) singled as the first batter for a new Piper arm to send Matchey home. 

Schleper dealt two quick outs before walking one and surrendering a single. Hamline's pinch hitter drilled a single to right, but Hemr's throw to Koeppen at second caught a Piper tripped up on the basepaths to end the game just before his teammate could cross home plate.

Bloom allowed two earned runs on four hits in eight innings of work in the no-decision. He struck out five batters but issued five free passes (four walks, one hit-by-pitch). Schleper, in three full innings, allowed two hits and struck out three with one walk.

Schwellenbach posted two more hits to finish 4-for-8 on the day and is now tied with Marquardt for the team lead with 10 multi-hit games this season.

BIG WEEK FOR #1: Schwellenbach batted .533 (8-for-15), including a 4-for-7 (.571) performance with runners in scoring position, from the No. 9 spot in the lineup as SJU went 4-0 last week. He recorded two hits in each of the four games to go with six runs scored, two doubles and an RBI. Schwellenbach went 4-for-7 with the two doubles and five runs scored in Thursday's home sweep of St. Scholastica and followed that with an even 4-for-8 showing in Sunday's pair of victories at Hamline.

NATIONAL STATS: Edwards is currently fourth in NCAA Division III in three statistical categories: ERA (1.06), hits allowed per nine innings (4.50) and WHIP (0.79). He has 38 strikeouts in 34 innings pitched (six appearances, four starts) this spring. As a team, SJU is seventh in Division III in ERA (3.16), eighth in both walks allowed per nine innings (3.01) and WHIP (1.24), 12th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.63) and 17th in hits allowed per nine innings (8.12).

STAT COMPARISONS
Batting Average
-SJU, .297
-GAC, .261

Slugging Percentage
-SJU, .420
-GAC, .395

On-Base Percentage
-SJU, .389
-GAC, .354

ERA
-SJU, 3.12
-GAC, 6.44

Opponent Batting Average
-SJU, .244
-GAC, .272

Fielding Percentage
-SJU, .957
-GAC, .957

A LOOK AT THE GUSTIES: Gustavus Adolphus (11-13, 4-6 MIAC) dropped two home games to Bethel on Sunday (April 12). The Royals jumped to an early six-run lead in the first inning and added a seventh in the second. Junior Isaiah Hasz energized a possible Gustie rally with a three-run triple in the fourth and a solo blast in the sixth. Bethel's seven-run lead held, however, for a 7-5 win in game one. Bethel failed to slow down in game two, leading 7-1 in the fourth inning of game two. Senior Ross Hebel knocked in a pair of RBI with three hits, accompanied by sophomore Charles Gearen's three-RBI, multi-hit performance, but BU took game two with a high-scoring 18-11 decision for the sweep. Junior Simon James leads the GAC offense in RBI (16) and home runs (3), and shares first with classmate Brayden Kohls in extra-base hits (9). Sophomore Jackson Golberg has a team-leading .353 batting average and 24 hits. Junior Benny McDonald is 1-4 with a 5.50 ERA and a team-best 34.1 innings pitched.

LAST SPRING: Then-No. 18 Gustavus handed SJU a doubleheader sweep, 17-6 and 12-4, last April 6 in Collegeville. The Johnnies issued 20 free passes (18 walks and two hit batsmen) in 16 innings and committed six errors. The Gusties, meanwhile, batted .419 (18-for-43) with runners on base, including .406 (13-for-32) with runners in scoring position, and .404 (19-for-47) with one out or less on the day.

Game 1 – Gustavus Adolphus 17, Saint John's 6
SJU built a 3-1 lead after three innings thanks to an unearned run in the second inning and a pair of extra-base hits in the third. Third baseman Joe Becker '24 walked with two outs in the third and scored on a triple off the bat of first baseman Owen Best '25, who crossed the plate on a double from Hemr in the next at-bat.

The Gusties, however, responded with six runs on four hits in the top of the fourth inning and broke the game open further with 10 runs over the next three frames (two in the fifth and four each in the sixth and seventh).

Becker launched his team-leading sixth home run of the season, a two-run shot, in the seventh inning and drove in the Johnnies' sixth and final run with an RBI single – the 200th hit of his career – with two outs in the seventh.

Connor Hartley '25 took the loss for SJU, allowing seven runs on five hits in four innings.

Game 2 – Gustavus Adolphus 12, Saint John's 4
GAC jumped out to a 5-0 lead thanks to five runs (two earned) on four hits, coupled with two SJU errors, in the top of the second inning.

Helfmann led off the bottom half of the second with a towering homer down the left-field line for his fifth of the season. 

The visitors tacked on a homer of their own in the top of the fourth inning and SJU matched it with a manufactured run in the bottom half. Matchey doubled for his second-consecutive at-bat to start the frame, moved to third on a groundout and scored on a sacrifice fly from senior left fielder Owen Amrhein (Waconia, Minn.).

SJU cut its deficit to 6-3 with a single run in the bottom of the sixth inning, but the Gusties responded with six runs over the next three innings to put the game away.

Best ended the game's scoring with a two-out, RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning.

The home team was 3-for-20 with runners on base, including 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position, in the loss.

Will Fazio '25 suffered his first loss of the season (3-1), allowing six runs (three earned) on seven hits in five innings.

Matchey led SJU's bats with a 3-for-4 performance in the nightcap.

Becker (3-for-6) and Hemr (3-for-9) matched Matchey with three hits on the afternoon. Hemr extended his reached-base streak to 15 games, including a hit in 13-straight contests.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies lead the series with a 46-37 record since 1988, including a 21-16 mark during that span in St. Peter. SJU has won each of the last four meetings on GAC's home field (sweeps in 2022 and 2024).