COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. - Matthew Magnuson pitched a little at the youth level growing up, and again during his senior season at Chaska High School.
 
But he's primarily been a position player – including during his first two seasons at Saint John's when he was a backup third baseman.
 
Yet Johnnie head coach Scott Lieser saw something in the 6-foot-1, 200-pound right-hander that made him think it was worth giving pitching another try.
 
"I've been a backup third baseman, but (Lieser) noticed I had a good arm and wanted to see what I could do," Magnuson said. "So I started a JV game down in Florida last season and that went pretty well.
 
"When I met with the coaches after the season was over, they asked me if I wanted to switch. It didn't look like I was going to get a lot of playing time at third base. I was pretty excited because this was an opportunity to get into the lineup on a regular basis."
 
That's just what Magnuson has done this spring. The junior currently boasts a 5-2 record with 30 strikeouts and an ERA of 1.97, which ranks second on the team behind only fellow starter Max Edwards, a freshman with a 5-2 record, a 1.33 ERA and 51 strikeouts.
 
"The biggest thing we as a coaching staff noticed was that his arm action was really solid, and we knew the determination and mindset he had," Lieser said. "When he got the chance in that JV game last year, he looked like a pitcher on the mound. It seemed like with a little practice he might be able to go a long way.
 
"When the season was over, he and I had a conversation. I told him the chances to play at third base might be a little limited with (senior) Reed Marquardt moving over there. But as a pitcher, he had a good shot at seeing time. He took that opportunity and ran with it."
 
But even Magnuson has been surprised at how well things have gone.
 
"I honestly wasn't sure what to expect," he said. "I thought I'd be a reliever at first. But when I became a starter, my goal was to get just five good innings every start and put my team in a position to win. Fortunately, I've been able to do that.
 
"I put in a lot of work this winter training and learning how to keep my arm healthy for an entire season. That's the biggest difference. Until you actually pitch on a regular basis, you don't realize how sore your arm gets. So you have to adapt and find ways to deal with that. I'm still a work-in-progress in a lot of ways, but the other pitchers on this team have helped a lot when it comes to showing me the things they do."
 
Magnuson said a key moment in his adjustment process came in his team's 4-1 win at Simpson (Iowa) on March 8. In that game, he went six innings, allowed just three hits and struck out three to pick up his first collegiate win.
 
"That was just my second start, and when I watched the film later, I saw I'd done some pretty good things," he said. "It gave me a lot of confidence that this was something I could not just do but do well."
 
Magnuson comes from an athletic background. His uncle Mike was an All-MIAC offensive lineman for the Johnnies and is now the program's offensive line coach. 
 
"That was one of the big reasons I wanted to come here," said Magnuson, whose father Erik also attended SJU for a year. "He always had great things to say about the school, and knowing he'd be around campus was really nice."
 
Meanwhile, Magnuson's older brother, William, played Division I hockey at Bemidji State before graduating last year.
 
"One of the quirky things about me is I know a crazy amount of stuff about college hockey," said Magnuson, who played the sport himself in high school. "I can tell you about every player on every team. I think (William) has a lot to do with that. But I'm also just kind of a sports geek. I know a lot about MLB, college hockey and the NHL. I follow it all pretty closely. 
 
"I know all the statistics."
 
Now Magnuson – a global business leadership major – is putting up impressive numbers of his own. It's a trend he hopes continues as the Johnnies wrap up the regular season and look ahead to the MIAC playoffs May 7-9.
 
"I want to win that conference tournament," he said. "That's the goal we've been chasing all season and it seems like we're clicking at the right time. We've been on a roll lately. We're getting good pitching and our hitting has picked up a lot. 

"If we can keep that up, I like our chances."