Box Score

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Saint John's baseball overcame an early 7-0 deficit to edge Minnesota-Morris 10-9 on Friday night, April 24.

SJU (18-12, 8-6 MIAC) trailed the Cougars by seven by the third inning and began to chip away at the lead with a three-run fourth. The Johnnies scored another in the sixth and three each in the seventh and eighth to seal the victory.

Junior Zach Helfmann (St. Louis Park, Minn.) entered the game in the sixth inning as a pinch hitter and accounted for six of SJU's runs, driving in five and scoring one of his own. He finished 3-for-3 with two doubles.

Morris (15-15, 11-4 UMAC) took a quick lead, getting seven of its first eight batters on base to start the game. The Cougars scored on a pair of RBI singles and one of five Johnnie errors on the day. The Cougars doubled their lead in the third and loaded the bases with no outs but hit into a double play and ended the inning with a groundout to senior pitcher Jack Dobesh (Edina, Minn.) on the mound. 

SJU broke the visitors' shutout after senior third baseman Reed Marquardt (Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes) delivered a two-run shot over the right-field fence for his second homer in as many games and third of the season. Sophomore left fielder Grayson Fuchs (Paynesville, Minn./Paynesville Area) grounded out to add another run to the tally, scoring senior right fielder Brendan Hemr (Blaine, Minn./Centennial), who got on base via a single and advanced on a Will Wareham (Lakeville, Minn./North) double. 

Wareham walked to start the sixth inning, setting the stage for Helfmann's first RBI double of the day to make it 7-4. 

The Cougars added an unearned run off sophomore Ben Rudser (Woodbury, Minn./East Ridge) to their tally in the seventh. 

The Johnnies brought the game within one in the next inning, taking advantage of a pair of Morris errors and three hits to score three runs, all with two outs. Hemr singled and Wareham was hit by a pitch to put two on for Helfmann, who drove two runs home with another double. He scored on a fielding error by the right fielder for the 8-7 score.

Morris added their last of the game on a failed pick-off attempt and throwing error to go up by two in the top of the eighth. 



SJU loaded the bases in the bottom of the frame but UMM sat down the next two batters swinging. Senior left fielder Owen Amrhein (Waconia, Minn.) made his first plate appearance of the game and tallied an infield single to score one and re-load the bases for Helfmann. He was again up to the task, hitting a two-run single to take the lead. 

Junior pitcher Brady Drkula (Cottage Grove, Minn./Park) allowed a single in the ninth, but junior Mason McCurdy (Lake Elmo, Minn./Stillwater Area) threw out the pinch runner trying to steal for the second out. Junior Riley Schwellenbach (Woodbury, Minn./East Ridge) made the final out in center field for the comeback victory.

Hemr was 2-for-5 with a pair of runs, and five other Johnnies had a hit. 

Six different Johnnies spent some time on the mound. Freshman Joe Baldus (Farmington, Minn.) made his first collegiate appearance and pitched the first inning, allowing three runs on four hits with a pair of strikeouts. Sophomore Dylan Marciulionis (Esko, Minn.) was the only pitcher to throw for more than an inning, going for 4.0 with four runs on four hits and three strikeouts. Senior Noah Jensen (St. Cloud, Minn./Sauk Rapids-Rice) earned the win (2-0 record), surrendering one hit and an unearned run. Drkula collected the save in the ninth. UMM went 0-for-7 with two outs in the game.

The Johnnies take on Augsburg (8-13, 5-9 MIAC) for an MIAC doubleheader at 1 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday, April 25) at Parade Stadium in Minneapolis.