MIAC Release

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. - Saint John's freshman Max Edwards (Rockford, Minn.) was named the MIAC Mike Augustin Pitcher of the Year and the MIAC Rookie of the Year, while four other Johnnies earned All-MIAC honors when the 2026 MIAC Baseball Awards were announced on Tuesday, May 12. 

Senior right fielder Brendan Hemr (Blaine, Minn./Centennial), junior pitchers Hunter Hoen (Belle Plaine, Minn.) and Matthew Magnuson (Chanhassen, Minn./Chaska) and freshman pitcher Dylan Bloom (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area) joined Edwards on the All-MIAC team. St. Olaf led the league with seven honorees, followed by Bethel (6), SJU (5), Macalester (4) and Saint Mary's (3).

Junior second baseman Alex Matchey (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area) and freshman shortstop Will Koeppen (Minnetonka, Minn.) were named All-MIAC honorable mention. Matchey, senior third baseman Reed Marquardt (Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes) and senior pitcher Vinny Schleper (Shakopee, Minn.) were named to the MIAC All-Playoff team.

SJU has now had 70 All-MIAC honorees over the past 16 seasons.

Edwards
Edwards is the first student-athlete to earn MIAC Pitcher of the Year and Rookie of the Year awards in the same season. He is the fourth Johnnie to be named the MIAC's Pitcher of the Year (established in 1998) – joining Andy Schneider in 1998, Justin Thompson in 2014 and Jake Dickmeyer in 2018 – and the second MIAC Rookie of the Year (established in 2009), following outfielder Wyatt Ulrich in 2017.

Edwards led the MIAC in shutouts (2), tied for first in complete games (3), was second in both ERA (1.67) and opponent batting average (.179), tied for third in strikeouts (32) and was seventh in innings (32.1)in conference play. He made five starts and posted a 3-1 record. Overall, Edwards posted a 6-3 record, 2.01 ERA, .180 opponent batting average and 61 strikeouts in 62.2 innings (11 appearances and eight starts).

Hemr
Hemr finished second in the conference in stolen bases (9), tied for second in home runs (5), was sixth in slugging percentage (.636) and tied for seventh in total bases (42) in MIAC play. He batted .348 and led the team with 19 runs scored, while tying with junior first baseman Justin Brooks (Champlin, Minn./Champlin Park) for the team lead with 14 RBI. 
 
He started all 44 games in right field and led the Johnnies in home runs (9), runs scored (40) and slugging percentage (.533). Hemr became the 41st Johnnie in program history to eclipse 100 career hits, finished with a .333 average (104 hits) and tied for ninth in school history with 15 home runs in just two seasons of play.

Hoen
Hoen tied for fourth in innings (35.2) in MIAC play and tallied a 3-1 record and 3.03 ERA. He made a team-best 10 starts overall and posted a 5-1 record, 3.50 ERA and 50 strikeouts in 61.2 innings. His final decision was a victory – one run allowed in 6.1 innings – over top-seeded Bethel May 8 in the MIAC Tournament's first elimination game.
 
He is 8-1 with a 3.90 ERA and .252 opponent batting average in 97 career innings (20 appearances, 16 starts).

Magnuson
Magnuson was third in the MIAC in opponent batting average (.189) in league play and went 3-1 with two complete games and a 3.45 ERA in 31.1 innings. He registered a 5-2 record, 2.91 ERA and .229 opponent batting average in 55.2 innings overall in his first season on the varsity mound.

Bloom
The freshman lefty totaled a 2-0 record, 3.10 ERA and .230 opponent batting average with 21 strikeouts in 29 MIAC innings. Overall, he went 3-1 with a 3.63 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 44.2 innings.

Matchey
Matchey was second in the league in triples (3) and tied for fourth in sacrifice bunts (3) with a .319 batting average in conference action. He started all 44 games at second base and posted the team's longest hit streak of 14 games, while leading SJU in batting average (.333), hits (55) and triples (5). Matchey batted a team-best .455 (25-for-55) with runners in scoring position.
 
He batted .429 (9-for-21) with a .520 on-base percentage, four RBI and four runs scored in the MIAC Tournament.

Koeppen
Koeppen led SJU in batting average (.361) and hits (26), while finishing third in the conference in fielding assists (58) and sixth in walks (14) in MIAC play. He started 43 games, all at shortstop, and broke the program's single-season record for walks with 38. Koeppen reached base safely in SJU's last nine games and touted a team-best 21-game reaching base safely streak during the season.
 
He batted .364 (8-for-22) with five runs scored and a .462 on-base percentage from SJU's leadoff spot in the MIAC Tournament.

Marquardt
Marquardt shined at the plate in the MIAC Tournament, batting .545 (12-for-22), including going 5-for-9 (.556) with runners in scoring position and 6-for-7 (.857) with two outs, with nine RBI, seven runs scored and three extra-base hits (two doubles and triple). Six of his nine RBI came with two outs.
 
Overall, Marquardt led the team in RBI (37), doubles (11), extra-base hits (17), multi-hit games (18) and multi-RBI games (10), while finishing second in hits (54) and runs scored (38).
 
He ended his career sixth in SJU history in fielding assists (286), ninth in both double plays turned (48) and runs scored (108), and tied for 10th in doubles (29). Marquardt batted .329 with a .872 OPS, 138 hits and 77 RBI in 118 career games.

Schleper
Schleper appeared in four of the Johnnies' five MIAC Tournament games, totaling 5.2 innings of relief, and earned the save in both wins May 8. He led SJU with four saves and tied for the team lead in appearances (15) with a 2-0 record, 3.12 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 26 innings this spring.
 
SJU finished third in the MIAC with a 13-7 record (28-16 overall) and made its 16th-consecutive appearance in the MIAC Tournament (18th overall) under first-year head coach Scott Lieser this spring. The Johnnies led the MIAC in ERA (3.82) and opponent batting average (.248), and were third in fielding percentage (.975) in conference play.