COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Saint John's head coach Jerry Haugen '76 earned his 900th and 901st career wins in the Johnnies' doubleheader sweep of Hamline, 4-0 and 9-2, on Wednesday, April 13, in Collegeville.
The Johnnies (13-13, 5-3 MIAC) batted .355 with five home runs and received complete-game efforts from senior pitcher Nathan Brandecker (South St. Paul, Minn.) and junior lefty Casey Trapp (Blaine, Minn./Centennial), who held the Pipers (7-15, 1-5 MIAC) to a .161 (9-for-56) average.
Haugen, who is in his 45th season at the helm of the SJU baseball program, has a 901-684-5 (.568) record.
Game 1
All of the game's scoring came via two, two-run innings. Sophomore third baseman Joe Becker tripled to start the bottom half of the third inning and scored on junior first baseman Max Nyrop's (Alameda, Calif.) RBI single. Senior catcher Ethan Roe (Golden Valley, Minn./Blake) made it 2-0 with an RBI double, his ninth of the season and 30th of his career. The 30 doubles ties him with Derek Schiebel '17 for fourth in program history.
SJU tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the sixth. Becker added to the cushion with another RBI, this time with a two-out single, and junior shortstop Matthew Hayford (Rochester, Minn./Lourdes) scored from third base on an errant throw from the catcher when Becker stole second base.
Brandecker allowed four hits and struck out five to improve to 4-1 this spring. The complete-game shutout was the first of his collegiate career, as well as his 10th career win.
Nyrop, sophomore third baseman Joe Becker (New Prague, Minn.) and sophomore left fielder Rodney Erickson (St. Paul, Minn./Woodbury) added two hits apiece.
Game 2
SJU scored a run or more in each of the first five innings of game two. Nyrop started the scoring with a two-run home run in the bottom of the first, his fourth of the season and 15th of his career. The 15 homers places him in sole possession of fifth place in program history.
Hayford made it 3-0 with an RBI single in the bottom of the second inning and junior second baseman Owen Dauk (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) added another run with a leadoff home run, his fourth of the season and seventh of his career, in the third.
Both teams took turns scoring a run, but left the bases loaded with nobody out, in the fourth inning.
Senior catcher Ethan Roe (Golden Valley, Minn./Blake) tied the program record for career home runs with his 20th, a two-run shot, in the fifth inning. The homer was his team-leading seventh of the season. Sophomore designated hitter Jack Schleper (Shakopee, Minn.) brought in a pair of unearned runs with a two-run homer of his own, his fifth of the season and eighth of his career, two batters later.
Sophomore center fielder Jordan Amundson (Eden Prairie, Minn.) ended the Johnnies' scoring with a solo homer, his fourth long ball of the season, in the seventh inning.
HU finished the game's scoring with a two-out double, Trapp's 125th pitch of the afternoon, in the ninth.
Trapp moved his record to 3-0 with the win, allowing the two runs on five hits with eight strikeouts.
Dauk led SJU's bats with three hits in game two and finished 4-for-7 on the day. He has now reached base safely in the last 14 games.
The Johnnies travel to face St. Olaf for a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday, April 16, in Northfield.