Saint John's baseball returns to the diamond by hosting St. Scholastica at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, April 9, in Collegeville. – Live Stats | Live Video

RESCHEDULED FROM TUESDAY: SJU's doubleheader vs. St. Scholastica was originally scheduled for Tuesday but was postponed and rescheduled for Thursday. The two teams had to avoid Wednesday since Saturday's round of games were moved to that date.

HOME GAME ADDED FOR APRIL 20, BUT IS POSTPONED: The Johnnies added a nine-inning game against Minnesota-Morris for 5 p.m. Monday, April 20, in Collegeville, but it was recently postponed because the Cougars had to reschedule a conference contest for that date. A makeup date has not been made. The game is in addition to the 4 p.m. contest against the Cougars set for Monday, May 4.

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Offense was at a premium for Saint John's (9-10, 0-4 MIAC) in a pair of losses, 2-1 and 6-2, at Concordia last Monday (March 30) in Moorhead.

The Johnnies batted just .193 (11-for-57) with two extra-base hits on the day. The visitors were .192 (5-for-26) with runners on base, including a 1-for-14 (.071) showing with runners in scoring position, and .158 (3-for-19) with two outs.

The Cobbers, meanwhile, batted .381 (8-for-21) with runners in scoring position and .444 (12-for-27) with two outs to record their first home sweep of SJU since 2003. Six of CC's eight RBI in the doubleheader came with two outs.

Game 1 – at Concordia 2, Saint John's 1
Concordia manufactured the game-winning run, which was unearned, all with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Junior Matthew Magnuson (Chanhassen, Minn./Chaska) had allowed only one run on two hits through the first 6.2 innings, but the Cobbers got to him after the first two batters flew out with a single, walk and a throwing error to load the bases. Senior Jack Dobesh (Edina, Minn.) came on in relief, but freshman Alex Anderson stroked a single to left field for the walk-off win.

Sophomore Mason Henry gave the home team a 1-0 lead with the game's first hit – a two-out RBI single – in the bottom of the third inning.

The Johnnies tied the game thanks to a Cobber error with two outs in the top of the sixth inning. Freshman shortstop Will Koeppen (Minnetonka, Minn.) singled to start the frame and was thrown out on a fielder's choice off the bat of junior second baseman Alex Matchey (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area). Matchey moved to second on a throwing error and again to third on a wild pitch. Junior designated hitter Zach Helfmann (St. Louis Park, Minn.) walked with two outs before junior catcher Mason McCurdy (Lake Elmo, Minn./Stillwater Area) reached on the throwing error to plate Matchey.

Magnuson dropped his season record to 2-2 with the loss. He now has a 1.27 ERA, .227 opponent batting average and 18 strikeouts in 28.1 innings this spring.

Game 2 – at Concordia 6, Saint John's 2
CC plated two runs on four hits, all with two outs, in the bottom of the first inning and tacked on two more on a double from Anderson in the bottom of the second for an early 4-0 lead.

SJU finally broke through with two runs in the top of the seventh inning to cut its deficit in half, 4-2. Senior third baseman Reed Marquardt (Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes) singled to start the inning and scored on a triple from senior right fielder Brendan Hemr (Blaine, Minn./Centennial) in the next at-bat. Junior catcher Will Wareham (Lakeville, Minn./North) brought Hemr in with a double but was left on base.

The Cobbers answered with two runs of their own on four hits in the bottom half of the inning to end the game's scoring.

Junior Carter Theisen (Rosemount, Minn.) took the loss (1-2 record), allowing the first four runs on six hits in 1.1 innings.

Freshman southpaw Dylan Bloom (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area) struck out a career-high nine and surrendered two runs on six hits over the next 5.2 innings of relief.

Senior Vinny Schleper (Shakopee, Minn.) pitched a scoreless eighth inning.

Marquardt and Matchey led SJU with two hits apiece in the nightcap.

THE SKID: The Johnnies' leadoff hitter has reached base 43.5 percent (20 of 46) of the time during the current six-game losing streak, but SJU is batting .208 (16-for-77) with runners on base and .143 (7-for-49) with runners in scoring position. Two-out hitting also goes against the Johnnies, who are batting .196 (11-for-56) to the opposition's .344 (22-for-64).

STAT COMPARISONS (entering play today)
Batting Average
-CSS, .315
-SJU, .294

Slugging Percentage
-CSS, .464
-SJU, .414

On-Base Percentage
-CSS, .418
-SJU, .386

ERA
-SJU, 3.40
-CSS, 4.39

Opponent Batting Average
-CSS, .229
-SJU, .252

Fielding Percentage
-SJU, .953
-CSS, .938

A LOOK AT THE SAINTS: St. Scholastica (11-7, 1-1 MIAC) visits Carleton today (Wednesday, April 8) before making the trip Thursday to Collegeville. The Saints split with Macalester on March 31 in a pair of one-run games (5-4 and 2-3). CSS has six pitchers with more than 10 innings under their belt but none with more than 17. Freshman Jonathan Stoeckle has seen the most time on the mound posting a 3-3 record in six games with a 4.76 ERA. Of the six most regular pitchers, freshman Michael Zunker has the best ERA (0.69) in with a win in four appearances. Senior outfielder Damian Tamayo Vera leads the Saints at the plate with a batting average of .500 (19-for-38), six extra-base hits, 13 RBI and 11 runs. Junior outfielder Finley Spicer is 29-for-69 (.420) with a team-leading 21 RBI. Three other Saints are hitting above .300. 

LAST SEASON: SJU completed the MIAC regular-season schedule last spring with a doubleheader split at St. Scholastica on May 3 (2025) at Wade Stadium in Duluth. The Johnnies were out-hit 14-4 and committed three errors in a 14-0 loss in the opener but scored four runs in the top of the ninth inning to take game two, 6-5.

Both teams left 16 men on base across the two games as the Johnnies batted .231 (3-for-13) with runners in scoring position.

Game 1 – at St. Scholastica 14, Saint John's 0
St. Scholastica scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning and broke the game open with six more in the fourth, four in the fifth and two in the sixth.

The Saints were 6-for-12 with runners in scoring position to SJU's 0-for-5 performance in the opener.

Theisen took the loss, allowing seven runs (six earned) on nine hits in 3.1 innings. 

Junior center fielder Riley Schwellenbach (Woodbury, Minn./East Ridge) recorded two of his team's four hits.

Game 2 – Saint John's 6, at St. Scholastica 5
Down to its final strike and trailing 4-3, SJU plated two runs on a Texas-league single off the bat of Matchey and made it 6-4 on an RBI single from Hemr.

Senior left fielder Owen Amrhein (Waconia, Minn.) started the ninth inning with a single and Marquardt singled with one out. Third baseman Joe Becker '24 lined out to the shortstop for the second out before first baseman Owen Best '25 roped an RBI single – his third hit of the game – up the middle to cut the deficit to one, 4-3. Matchey lifted a fly ball to no-man's land in shallow left-center field and the Saints' left fielder dove but could not come up with the catch to plate both Marquardt and the pinch runner. Matchey advanced to second on the throw home, which skipped to the backstop to grant him another base. Hemr then followed with a hard single through the left side for a 6-4 lead.

CSS made it 6-5 on an RBI groundout off Drew Lange but stranded the tying run on second base.

The Saints gained a 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the third inning.

Becker cut the Johnnies' deficit to one (2-1) with his record-breaking 14th home run of the season with one out in the top of the fifth inning. The homer, the 35th of his collegiate career, broke his tie with former teammate Ethan Roe '22 for the single-season program record. Becker also became SJU's all-time leader in walks with his 83rd in game one and was intentionally walked in the nightcap.

CSS made it 3-1 in the sixth inning, but Hemr smacked his fifth homer of the season in the top of the eighth. The home team scored an insurance run with two outs in the bottom of the eighth before the Johnnies' comeback.

Kade Bowar '25 gave up one run on two hits in two innings of relief for the win and Lange picked up his second save of the season.

Junior Hunter Hoen (Belle Plaine, Minn.) made the start and gave up three runs (two earned) on five hits in six innings.

Best led the way at the plate with a 3-for-5 performance, while Amrhein, Hemr, Marquardt and Matchey added two hits apiece.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 14-4 against the Saints on the baseball diamond, including a 6-2 record in Collegeville.