St. John's jumped to an early 5-0 lead and held on for a 9-6 win over St. Thomas on Sunday in the MIAC baseball playoffs, forcing a second game to determine the champion and an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III regional tournament.

The Johnnies (25-14) scored single runs in the first and third innings off St. Thomas starter Dominic Reed before Tom Druk hit a three-run homer in the fourth for a 5-0 lead.

St. Thomas (24-15-1) picked up its first run in the fourth inning when Brady Johnson scored on an Anthony Winters sacrifice fly, and added three runs in the eighth on a Ryan Gerber two-run home run and a Waylon Bemboom triple. 

But St. John's recovered those runs with a three-run home run by Gabe McDonald in the top of the ninth off St. Thomas freshman J.J. Jeronimus. He had relieved Reed in the sixth and had held the Johnnies off the board until the ninth. McDonald extended his hitting streak to 25 games with the home run.

St. Thomas scored twice in the ninth on wild pitches and had runners on second and third with nobody out, but St. John's reliever Kurt Jantscher struck out two batters and got a game-ending groundout.

The Tommies stranded 10 runners in the game, including seven in scoring position. St. John's starter Joe Stanton, who came into the game with a 1-2 record and a 4.35 ERA, scattered five hits over the first seven innings before running into trouble in the St. Thomas eighth.

St. Thomas turned five double plays in the game. Reed dropped to 2-5.

The two teams split during the regular season in St. Paul, with the Tommies winning the opener 12-8 and St. John's the second game 5-4.

(Check back later for results on Sunday's second game)