Saint John's ends MIAC play by hosting Bethel for Senior Day at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 2, and welcomes Minnesota-Morris in the regular-season finale at 4 p.m. Monday, May 4, in Collegeville. – Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (23-13, 12-6 MIAC) started its seven-game homestand with a 3-1 record through the first two doubleheaders.

G1: Northwestern 6, at Saint John's 2; G2: at Saint John's 7, Northwestern 4 (Tuesday, April 28)
The Johnnies batted 1-for-15 with runners on base, including 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position, in a 6-2 loss in the opener. The Eagles' six runs scored reached via free pass or error: one fielding error, one hit batsmen and four walks. The home team bounced back, however, with five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to erase a 4-2 deficit and win the nightcap, 7-4.

Freshman shortstop Will Koeppen (Minnetonka, Minn.) started the bottom of the first inning in game one with his third double of the season and scored, unearned, on an error. UNW tied the game with a two-out double in the third inning and gained the lead with an unearned run in the fourth. Two walks came around to score for a 4-1 lead in the top of the fifth inning before SJU cut it to 4-2 in the bottom half of the frame. Junior center fielder Riley Schwellenbach (Woodbury, Minn./East Ridge) singled and moved to second base on a throwing error (failed pickoff attempt) and scored on Koeppen's second hit of the game. 

Two more walks came round to score in the top of the seventh inning for Northwestern to end the scoring.

Senior Jack Dobesh (Edina, Minn.) took the loss after he allowed an unearned run in the fourth inning. Junior Brady Drkula (Cottage Grove, Minn./Park) made his first start of the season (fourth of his career) and allowed two hits with two strikeouts over the first two innings.

SJU jumped out to a 2-0 lead in game two with a pair of manufactured runs in the bottom of the second inning. Junior designated hitter Mason McCurdy (Lake Elmo, Minn./Stillwater Area) walked and senior third baseman Reed Marquardt (Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes) followed with his ninth double of the season. 

Junior first baseman Justin Brooks (Champlin, Minn./Champlin Park) plated McCurdy with an RBI groundout and junior catcher Will Wareham (Lakeville, Minn./North) lifted a sacrifice fly to right for the two-run advantage.

The lead was short-lived, however, as Northwestern tallied four runs thanks to four-straight hits, including a leadoff home run, in the top of the fourth inning.

The score stood until the bottom of the sixth inning when the Johnnies totaled five runs, of which only one was earned. McCurdy reached on a throwing error by the catcher and Marquardt poked a single through the left side of the infield. A wild pitch advanced both runners and Brooks made it a 4-3 deficit with another RBI groundout. 

Freshman catcher Reid LaFrenz (Edina, Minn.) was hit by a pitch and senior left fielder Owen Amrhein (Waconia, Minn.) tied the game with a bunt single. A sacrifice bunt from freshman shortstop Dawson Franke (Golden Valley, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) moved the baserunners to second and third before Schwellenbach gave the lead back to SJU with two-out, two-run single. Senior right fielder Brendan Hemr (Blaine, Minn./Centennial) added an insurance run with an RBI single in the next at-bat.

Junior Carter Theisen (Rosemount, Minn.) picked up the win (2-2 record) after he pitched 3.2 innings of scoreless relief. He gave up one hit and struck out four.

Senior lefty Noah Jensen (St. Cloud, Minn./Sauk Rapids-Rice) made his first collegiate start (12th appearance) and allowed four runs on six hits in the first 3.1 innings.

Marquardt went 2-for-3 with two runs scored to lead SJU with a 3-for-6 performance on the day. Schwellenbach went 2-for-6 with two runs scored, two RBI and two stolen bases.

G1: at Saint John's 3, Carleton 0; G2: at Saint John's 2, Carleton 1 (Wednesday, April 29)
SJU swept Carleton thanks to a pair of well-pitched games and earned its 16th-consecutive berth in the MIAC Tournament. The Johnnies won the seven-inning opener 3-0 in a snappy one hour and 29 minutes thanks to freshman Max Edwards' (Rockford, Minn.) complete-game effort in 76 pitches. He allowed three hits and struck out five to improve to 6-1 on the year with a 1.16 ERA, .156 opponent batting average and 56 punchouts in 54.1 innings. Both teams recorded three hits in the opener.

Junior Hunter Hoen (Belle Plaine, Minn.) followed Edwards with a near-complete game – 8.2 innings – in SJU's 2-1 win in the nightcap. Hoen cruised through the first two outs of the ninth inning but ran out of gas with two-straight walks and finished with 120 pitches. Senior Vinny Schleper (Shakopee, Minn.) relieved him and coaxed a flyout to seal the victory with his second save of the season. The nine-inning game lasted one hour and 56 minutes.

Carleton batted .130 (7-for-54) on the day, including 1-for-13 (.077) with runners on base and 1-for-8 (.125) with runners in scoring position.

The Johnnies scored their first run in game one, unearned, with two outs in the second inning and tacked on one each in the third and sixth innings. Brooks reached on an infield single with two outs in the second inning and came around to score when the Knights' pitcher overthrew first base on a knuckling chopper off the bat of Wareham.

Schwellenbach walked to start the bottom of the third inning, stole second base and scored on a two-out single from junior second baseman Alex Matchey (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area). Matchey led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a double, advanced to third on a flyout from McCurdy and scored on a wild pitch.

Eleven of Edwards' 21 outs were induced with two pitches or less, including six on the at-bat's first offering.

All of the game two's scoring came in the sixth inning. The Knights manufactured the first run when Reese Wellsandt led off with a bloop single that Hemr just missed with a diving effort. He moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a two-out single off the left-field fence from Sam Gossard.

Schwellenbach started the bottom half of the frame with a bunt single, stole second and moved to third base on a groundout before Hemr blasted a home run to straightaway center field. The homer was Hemr's team-leading sixth of the season and 12th of his career.

Brooks, Matchey and Schwellenbach led SJU's bats with two hits in the doubleheader. Brooks stole three bases and Schwellenbach swiped two to climb into seventh in program history with 35.

16 STRAIGHT: The Johnnies clinched their 16-consecutive appearance in the MIAC Playoffs on Wednesday. SJU is the only program to qualify for the four-team tournament (six teams made it in 2018 and 2021) all 16 seasons since 2010. 

16 – Saint John's
12 – Bethel (includes 2026)
8 – Saint Mary's 
8 – St. Thomas
6 – Gustavus Adolphus
5 – Concordia
4 – Macalester (includes 2026)
3 – St. Olaf
2 – Augsburg
2 – Hamline 

SENIOR DAY: Saint John's will honor its nine seniors prior to Saturday's doubleheader. SJU has 95 wins and 61 losses, including a 53 and 25 record in the MIAC, during the seniors' four seasons in Collegeville.

SINCE THE SKID: SJU was 9-4 through its first 13 games but returned from its spring-break trip and endured a six-game losing streak. Since that time (March 30), SJU is 14-3 and 12-2 in the MIAC. The two largest factors? Pitching and fielding. The Johnnies' pitching staff touts a 2.88 ERA (2.18 in MIAC play) and a .234 opponent batting average (.216 in MIAC play), while the team boasts a .978 fielding percentage (.971 in MIAC play) since the skid.

STAT COMPARISONS
Batting Average
-BU, .325
-SJU, .289
-UMM, .267

Slugging Percentage
-BU, .521
-SJU, .402
-UMM, .402

On-Base Percentage
-BU, .445
-UMM, .390
-SJU, .381

ERA
-SJU, 3.16
-BU, 4.97
-UMM, 6.40

Opponent Batting Average
-SJU, .244
-BU, .282
-UMM, .296

Fielding Percentage
-UMM, .967
-BU, .965
-SJU, .962

A LOOK AT THE ROYALS: Bethel (28-7, 16-2 MIAC) enters the final doubleheader of the MIAC regular season riding a five-game win streak thanks to a sweep at Concordia – 8-6 and 10-3 – on Tuesday (April 28). Sophomore infielder Hayden Sperbeck leads the team in batting (.412), hits (54) and is tied for first in doubles (13), while junior infielder Seth Nelson is next with a .375 average and a team-best 11 home runs. Senior lefty Drew Girtz touts a team-best 45 runs scored and 20 stolen bases at the plate, and is 4-1 with a 3.00 ERA and .246 opponent batting average with 51 strikeouts in 36 innings on the mound.

LAST SEASON: SJU went 0-3 against Bethel in 2025.

G1: at Bethel 4, Saint John's 0; G2: at Bethel 5, Saint John's 4 (April 19 in Arden Hills)
The Johnnies mustered four hits and went down on strikes nine times to Bethel's Max Sutter in game one and surrendered a 4-1 lead in the nightcap. BU held the Johnnies to a .190 (11-for-58) batting average and recorded 19 strikeouts on the day. SJU batted 5-for-23 (.217) with runners on base, including 2-for-14 (.143) with runners in scoring position.

SJU had two runners on base in each of the first two innings of game one before Bethel broke through for a single run with three doubles in the bottom of the second.

Oran Hinkle hit his seventh home run of the season to lead off the bottom of the third and a leadoff walk eventually scored with two outs in the fifth. Back-to-back doubles to start the bottom of the sixth inning plated BU's fourth run.

Theisen took the loss (4-2 record) after he allowed all four runs on seven hits – five of which were for extra bases (four doubles and a homer) – with four strikeouts in the seven-inning, complete-game effort.

Sperbeck gave the Royals an early 1-0 lead in game two with a solo shot – the lone hit allowed by Hoen in four innings – in the bottom of the first.

Third baseman Joe Becker '24 and first baseman Owen Best '25 walked to start the fourth inning and trotted home when Hemr blasted a three-run homer with two outs to give SJU its first lead of the day.

Another two-out RBI, this time a single from Matchey, made it 4-1 in the top of the fifth inning. BU left the bases loaded in the bottom half of the fifth.

Marquardt and Becker singled to start the seventh inning but they did not budge from second and first, respectively.

The Royals cut their deficit to 4-3 with a pair of runs off Will Fazio '25 in the bottom of the sixth inning. Dobesh relieved Fazio with one out and runners at second and first, and induced a lineout to Matchey in left. Matchey then doubled up the runner at second base to end the inning.

Sophomore Drew Lange took the loss (2-1 record) after he allowed two runs, one earned due to his own throwing error, in the seventh inning.

Marquardt led SJU's bats with a 3-for-5 performance.

Bethel 6, Saint John's 3 (May 8, MIAC Tournament in Collegeville)
SJU had runners on second and third with nobody out in the sixth inning and did not score, and left the bases loaded with one out in the eighth. The visitors on the scoreboard committed three errors in the field and were 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position, 1-for-9 with two outs and 4-for-14 with runners on base. BU, meanwhile, was 6-for-13 with runners in scoring position on the evening.

The Royals gained a quick 1-0 lead thanks to back-to-back doubles in the first inning and made it 2-0 on an RBI single in the third. 

The margin grew to 4-0 with a pair of unearned runs in the fourth inning before junior designated hitter Zach Helfmann (St. Louis Park, Minn.) blasted a two-run bomb to left field, his seventh home run of the season, in the top of the fifth inning. 

BU answered, however, with two runs (one earned) in the bottom half of the frame for a 6-2 advantage.

Matchey launched his first homer as a Johnnie on the first pitch of the sixth inning, but that was the closest SJU would get.

Connor Hartley '25 allowed the six runs, though only three were earned, on 12 hits in seven innings. He struck out five and walked two.

Hoen recorded an out in the eighth inning before leaving the game due to injury. Dobesh replaced him and recorded a pair of strikeouts.

Amrhein went 2-for-2 with a double and a pair of walks.

SERIES HISTORY: SJU is 47-36 against Bethel since 1988, including a 21-15 record in Collegeville, but just 19-21 in the series over the last 40 meetings since 2009. 

A LOOK AT THE COUGARS: Minnesota-Morris (17-16, 11-4 UMAC) clinched a berth to the UMAC Tournament and finish their conference season with a trio of games this weekend at Wisconsin-Superior – a doubleheader Saturday and a single nine-inning game Sunday – before traveling Monday to Collegeville for the second time in 10 days. Freshman pitcher/infielder Kellan Oligmueller leads the Cougars with a .347 batting average (25-for-72) in 26 of 32 games. He went 3-for-5 against the Johnnies with a run and an RBI. Senior first baseman Ben Meuser leads the team in hits (38), RBI (29), doubles (8), triples (2) and total bases (62). No Morris pitcher has an ERA lower than 3.60 this season. Sophomore Travis Godfrey leads the three regular starters with a 4.50 ERA in 10 appearances (3-4 record). He's allowed 26 earned runs in 52.0 innings pitched with 46 strikeouts to 19 walks, including four runs in 5.2 innings with one strikeout against the Johnnies.

LAST WEEK: SJU overcame an early 7-0 deficit to edge Minnesota-Morris 10-9 back on April 24 in Collegeville. The home team 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 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 Dobesh on the mound. 

SJU broke the visitors' shutout after Marquardt 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 Hemr, who got on base via a single and advanced on a Wareham 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. Amrhein 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. 

Drkula allowed a single in the ninth, but junior McCurdy threw out the pinch runner trying to steal for the second out. Schwellenbach 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. Jensen 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.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 20-22 all-time against Minnesota-Morris, including a 12-10 record in Collegeville. The record improves to 13-9 (9-3 on the home diamond) since 1980.