Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Saint John's baseball broke into the MIAC's win column with a doubleheader sweep of St. Scholastica, 17-1 and 10-3, on Thursday, April 9, at Haugen Field at Becker Park.

The Johnnies (11-10, 2-4 MIAC) out-hit the Saints (12-9, 2-3 MIAC) by a 24-10 margin and batted .364 (24-for-66) on the day.

Four SJU pitchers, meanwhile, held CSS – which defeated Carleton 42-9 yesterday in Northfield – to a .182 batting average (10-for-55) and posted 16 strikeouts in 16 innings. Only one of the four runs allowed was earned.

Game 1 – at Saint John's 17, St. Scholastica 1
A walk came around to score for CSS following back-to-back, two-out singles in the top of the second inning but the home team answered with four in the bottom half of the frame.

Junior catcher Mason McCurdy (Lake Elmo, Minn./Stillwater Area) led off with a single to left field and senior right fielder Brendan Hemr (Blaine, Minn./Centennial) coaxed a walk in the next at-bat. Both baserunners advanced on a passed ball before senior left fielder Owen Amrhein (Waconia, Minn.) lifted a sacrifice fly to center field to plate McCurdy. 

Junior center fielder Riley Schwellenbach (Woodbury, Minn./East Ridge) reached on a rare double that did not go past the pitching mound and moved Hemr to third. Freshman shortstop Will Koeppen (Minnetonka, Minn.) roped a two-run single up the middle for a 3-1 lead and junior second baseman Alex Matchey (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area) plated the inning's fourth run on a two-out, RBI single.



Senior third baseman Reed Marquardt (Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes) started the bottom of the third inning with a double off the right-field fence and moved to third on a single from McCurdy. Hemr ripped an RBI single through the left side of the infield for a 5-1 lead. Both runners advanced a on sac bunt from Amrhein and Schwellenbach walked to load the bases. A balk made it 6-1 and junior first baseman Justin Brooks (Champlin, Minn./Champlin Park) stroked a two-out single for a 7-1 advantage.

The Johnnies batted around in the fifth inning, scoring six runs on four hits, and tacked on four runs with three hits in the sixth.

Freshman Max Edwards (Rockford, Minn.) improved to 4-0 on the year, allowing the one run on four hits with eight strikeouts in six innings. He entered the day second in NCAA Division III in WHIP (0.71), seventh in hits allowed per nine innings (4.18) and nineth in ERA.

Junior Carter Theisen (Rosemount, Minn.) pitched a scoreless seventh inning to close the victory, SJU's first in Minnesota this spring.

McCurdy led the Johnnies' bats with three hits (3-for-5), while Hemr, Marquardt and Schwellenbach added two apiece. Schwellenbach, the lineup's No. 9 batter, crossed the plate four times.

Game 2 – at Saint John's 10, St. Scholastica 3
Two walks and a passed ball put CSS on the board first to start game two, but a solo shot to left from junior designated hitter Zach Helfmann (St. Louis Park, Minn.) evened the score in the third. Two CSS errors helped SJU take the lead four at-bats later. The homer was Helfmann's fifth of the season and 13th of his career.

St. Scholastica added two more in the top of the fourth – both unearned – before SJU put the game away in the bottom half of the inning with seven runs on just three hits. One of those was an RBI triple from Matchey – his first of two in the game – and another was a one-out double from Schwellenbach to get the Johnnies on base at the start of the inning.

Junior Hunter Hoen (Belle Plaine, Minn.) picked up the win (2-1 record) with a seven-inning effort. He allowed three unearned runs on four hits with six strikeouts.

Senior lefty Noah Jensen (St. Cloud, Minn./Sauk Rapids-Rice) pitched two hitless innings in relief.

Marquardt, Matchey and Schwellenbach led SJU with two hits each in the nightcap. Half of the 10 runs scored were driven in.

The Johnnies travel to face Hamline (10-15, 2-6 MIAC) for a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday, April 11, at CHS Field in St. Paul.