CSC Release

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Five Saint John's student-athletes were named to the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District baseball team on Tuesday, June 2.

The five Johnnies honored (in alphabetical order) were junior first baseman Justin Brooks (Champlin, Minn./Champlin Park), senior right fielder Brendan Hemr (Blaine, Minn./Centennial), senior third baseman Reed Marquardt (Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes), junior catcher Mason McCurdy (Lake Elmo, Minn./Stillwater Area) and junior center fielder Riley Schwellenbach (Woodbury, Minn./East Ridge). 

Each institution may nominate up to five student-athletes for Academic All-District recognition in baseball. Nominees must be a sophomore or older with a 3.5 cumulative GPA or higher. On the field, nominees must have played 90 percent of their team's games or started 66 percent of the season. Pitchers must have made either 17 appearances or pitched 25 innings to be eligible at the time of nomination (May 26).

The CSC Academic All-District honor is the second-consecutive for Hemr and Schwellenbach. 

Hemr and Marquardt are expected to collect their third Academic All-MIAC distinction (minimum 3.50 GPA) later this month, while the conference honor will be the second for Brooks and Schwellenbach.

Hemr graduated May 16 with a 3.68 GPA in computer science. He started all 44 games in right field and led the Johnnies in home runs (9), runs scored (40) and slugging percentage (.533). Hemr finished second in the MIAC 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 conference play en route to All-MIAC honors. He 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.

Schwellenbach is a data science major with a 3.96 GPA. He started all 44 games in center field and batted .320 with 33 runs scored, 29 RBI and 14 stolen bases. Schwellenbach was the only starter in the field to record a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage (116 chances). He currently ranks seventh in program history with 36 stolen bases. The two-sport athlete was named an All-MIAC wide receiver for SJU's nationally ranked football team this past fall. 

Marquardt graduated last month with a 3.56 GPA in finance. A 2025 All-MIAC selection, Marquardt garnered All-MIAC honorable mention and MIAC All-Playoff team honors in 2026. He led SJU 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). Marquardt shined at the plate in the 2026 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 (2 doubles and a triple). Six of his nine RBI came with two outs. 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.

Brooks played 41 games with 35 starts for SJU this spring, including 33 at first base. He batted .287 with 30 RBI, 27 runs scored and a .769 OPS. Brooks started all 20 games in MIAC play and tied for the team lead with 14 RBI. He is an accounting major with a 3.71 GPA.

An accounting major with a 4.0 GPA, McCurdy played 41 games with 39 starts, including 35 at catcher in his first season as a Johnnie. The transfer from Division I Creighton batted .264 with a .704 OPS, 31 runs scored, 10 doubles and 17 RBI.

The Johnnies finished third in the MIAC with a 13-7 record (28-16 overall) and made their 16th-consecutive appearance in the MIAC Tournament (18th overall) under the direction of first-year head coach Scott Lieser in 2026.