Game 1 Box Score |
Game 2 Box Score
COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Saint John's baseball closed its conference schedule with a doubleheader split with Bethel on Senior Day (Saturday, May 2) at Haugen Field at Becker Park.
The split enabled SJU (24-14, 13-7 MIAC) to secure the third seed in next week's four-team MIAC Tournament. The Johnnies face second-seeded Macalester at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 7, at CHS Field in St. Paul. Top-seeded Bethel takes on fourth-seeded Saint Mary's in the tournament's first game at 2:30 p.m. Thursday.
The Johnnies erased deficits of 2-0, 5-2 and 9-7 for a 10-9, walk-off win in the opener. Bethel (29-8, 17-3 MIAC), however, erased a 3-0 SJU lead with seven runs in the third inning and totaled 21 hits in a 17-9 victory in game two.
Outs were at a premium, as the two teams combined for 45 runs and 55 hits in the doubleheader, including 18 for extra bases and seven home runs.
Senior right fielder
Brendan Hemr (Blaine, Minn./Centennial) led SJU at the plate by going 4-for-7 with two home runs – including a grand slam in game one – five RBI and four runs scored in the two games. Six Johnnies had three hits or more on the day.
Game 1 – at Saint John's 10, Bethel 9
Down 9-7, junior first baseman
Justin Brooks (Champlin, Minn./Champlin Park) tied the game with a two-run homer with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Senior
Vinny Schleper (Shakopee, Minn.) induced a 1-2-3 top of the seventh inning before junior center fielder
Riley Schwellenbach (Woodbury, Minn./East Ridge) smacked the first pitch he saw down the left-field line for a lead-off single in the bottom half. He moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt from freshman shortstop
Will Koeppen (Minnetonka, Minn.) and advanced to third on an infield single from Hemr. Junior second baseman
Alex Matchey (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area) followed by lining an 0-2 pitch into right field for the game-winning single.
BU gained the first lead of the game with a solo homer in the first inning and tacked on another run in the third.
Koeppen walked with one out in the third inning, sprinted to third base on a single from Hemr and scored on Matchey's first RBI single of the game. Junior catcher
Mason McCurdy (Lake Elmo, Minn./Stillwater Area) plated Hemr with a fielder's choice to tie the game at 2-2.
Game one's circus effect started in the fourth inning. The Royals tallied three runs in the top of the frame for 5-2 advantage, but SJU answered with five runs on just one hit at the bottom half for a 7-5 lead. The Johnnies loaded the bases thanks to a hit batsman and two walks, and Koeppen brought in the first run with a four-pitch walk with one out. Hemr followed with an opposite-field grand slam, his second of the season (the team's third), for the Johnnies' first lead.
A quiet fifth inning led to another back-and-forth sixth. BU erased the deficit, and then some, with four two-out runs before Brooks tied it at 9-9 in the bottom half.
Schleper improved to 2-0 with the win. Freshman lefty
Dylan Bloom (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area) made the start and allowed five runs on five hits in 3.1 innings. Junior
Matthew Magnuson (Chanhassen, Minn./Chaska) relieved him and surrendered four runs on five hits in 2.2.
Game 2 – Bethel 17, at Saint John's 9
Hemr walked with one out in the bottom of the first inning and scored on a triple off the bat of Matchey, his fourth of the season. McCurdy made it 2-0 with an RBI groundout in the ensuing at-bat. Junior designated hitter
Zach Helfmann (St. Louis Park, Minn.) walked with one out in the second inning and scored from second base on a two-out single from Koeppen for a 3-0 lead.
The Royals took advantage of four hits and four free passes (one hit batsmen and three walks) for the crooked number of seven in the top of the third inning and added another in the fourth.
Brooks started the bottom of the fourth inning with a double and scored on a sac fly from senior left fielder
Owen Amrhein (Waconia, Minn.) and the home team followed a similar formula in the fifth inning: Koeppen doubled to start and scored on a two-out single from McCurdy.
BU plated two runs in the sixth inning and four more in the seventh to threaten the 10-run rule with a 15-5 lead. The Johnnies, however, scored three runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to extend the game. Senior first baseman
Collin Kray (Little Falls, Minn.) stroked an RBI single and Amrhein brought in two more with a hit up the middle.
Hemr launched another homer to right-center field with one out in the eighth inning before Bethel ended the scoring with a two-run bomb in the ninth.
Junior
Brady Drkula (Cottage Grove, Minn./Park) gave up the first five runs on four hits in 2.1 innings for the loss.
Amrhein (3-4), Koeppen (3-5) and Kray (3-3) all had three hits in the loss. Kray entered the contest as a defensive replacement in the sixth inning.
The Johnnies play host to Minnesota-Morris for the regular-season finale at 4 p.m. Monday, May 4, in Collegeville.
