Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Saint John's baseball inched closer to its 14th-consecutive MIAC Tournament appearance with a sweep of St. Scholastica – 4-2 and 11-2 – on Saturday, April 27, at Haugen Field at Becker Park.

The Johnnies (22-11, 11-5 MIAC) batted .355 (22-for-62) with nine extra-base hits – eight doubles and a home run – on the day. 

Four SJU pitchers, meanwhile, held a CSS team (20-13, 7-9 MIAC) that entered the day batting .334 on the season to a .186 average (11-for-59) in the twin bill (including 2-for-20 with two outs). The foursome did not issue a free pass and faced only three, three-ball counts.

Senior left fielder Jack Schleper (Shakopee, Minn.) saw his 14-game hit streak end in the opener but became SJU's all-time leader in doubles with 42, breaking the previous record of 41 held by Matt Butorac '11, when he smacked a pair of RBI two-baggers in game two.

Game 1 (at Saint John's 4, St. Scholastica 2)
The first two Saints reached with singles and a run scored on a double play to give the visitors a quick 1-0 lead in the first inning. Senior second baseman Owen Dauk (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) singled with one out in the bottom half of the first and scored on an RBI double from senior third baseman Joe Becker (New Prague, Minn.) to tie the game.

Junior first baseman Jackson Peter (Elrosa, Minn./Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa) and junior catcher Blake Mellgren (Northfield, Minn.) singled with one out in the bottom of the fourth inning before sophomore shortstop Reed Marquardt gave SJU the lead with an RBI double. Dauk made it 4-1 with a two-out, two run single two batters later.

CSS scored what proved to be the game's final run, unearned, on another double play in the top of the fifth inning.

Junior Connor Hartley (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Rosemount) went the distance (seven innings), allowing the two runs (one earned) on six singles to improve to a team-best 6-2 (5-0 MIAC) record on the year. He finished with 78 pitches (56 strikes).



Game 2 (at Saint John's 11, St. Scholastica 2)
Senior right fielder Rodney Erickson (St. Paul, Minn./Woodbury) started the Johnnies' three-run first inning with a leadoff double and scored on Schleper's first RBI double of the game. Becker, who walked prior to Schleper's at-bat and moved to third on the double, scored on a sacrifice fly from senior designated hitter Andrew Mahlke (Victoria, Minn./Chanhassen). Schleper then scored on a wild pitch to give the home team an early 3-0 cushion.

Mellgren singled to start the bottom of the second inning and Marquardt crushed his first collegiate home run for a 5-0 lead.

CSS found the scoreboard with a pair of runs (one earned) off freshman starter Carter Theisen (Rosemount, Minn.) in the fourth inning, but SJU answered with three more in the bottom half. Marquardt walked with one out, advanced to third on a single from Erickson and scored on Dauk's RBI groundout. Becker stroked an RBI single up the middle and Schleper gave SJU an 8-2 advantage with his record-breaking double. Becker now has an even 50 RBI this season and needs two to tie SJU's single-season record of 52 set by Ryan Roder '97 in 1997.

Peter doubled with one out in the fifth inning, moved to third base on another single from Mellgren and scored on a wild pitch. Erickson then plated Mellgren with his second double of the game. Mellgren ended the game's scoring with a two-out RBI single in the sixth inning to give him a 3-for-5 performance.

SJU's 8-9-1 batters (Mellgren, Marquardt and Erickson) combined to go 9-for-13 with six runs scored and four RBI in the victory.

Theisen surrendered the two runs (one earned) on three hits in five innings for his first MIAC win and improve to 3-1 overall.

Seniors Quinn Krueger (Woodbury, Minn.) and Jeremy Klick (Maple Grove, Minn.) combined for five strikeouts and gave up a hit each in two innings of relief apiece.

Erickson (two runs) and Mellgren (three runs) each went 4-for-8 with an RBI, while Marquardt collected a 3-for-6 showing with three RBI and three runs scored on the day.

The Johnnies play host to Crown (15-16, 13-5 UMAC) for nine-inning non-conference game at 2:30 p.m. Monday, April 29, in Collegeville.