Johnnies falter against tough competition in Florida

The SJU baseball team went 3-8 over the nine-day spring break.

Overall, the Johnnies played nine different teams, with some stiff competition.

Three teams are ranked in the DIII Baseball Top 25 poll this week and two are receiving votes.

The Johnnies started the trip in Fort Myers, Fla., and the first two days saw late leads slip away. The Johnnies lost to Augustana (IL) and dropped both games in the doubleheader to Haverford (PA).

SJU was eventually able to get into the win column on the third day with a win over Muskingum (OH) and a doubleheader split against Hiram (OH).

The team then went 45 minutes north and played the second half of their games in Port Charlotte, Fla.

The first day in Port Charlotte was a matchup against nationally ranked No. 2, now No. 1, Marietta (OH).

The Johnnie bats broke out in a big way, scoring 20 runs and taking the big 20-8 win.

“Marietta is a great team,” senior pitcher Nathan Brandecker said. “They are currently ranked first in the nation. It feels good to know that we are capable of playing with anybody this season. It should add to our confidence going forward into conference play.”

Later that day, SJU let another lead slip away as they eventually lost in extra innings to Heidelberg (OH).

The team would go on to lose three more games in the next three days to drop their overall record to 5-9.

Overall, it was the free baserunners the Johnnies let up that hurt them.

Over the 11 game stretch the pitching staff gave up 39 walks and hit 33 batters leading to a 7.23 ERA.

“It’s obviously tough to get beat the way that we did down in Florida, but that is only going to benefit us when we get to conference play. We learned a lot about the team and each other and saw some elite pitching, so by the time we get to conference play I think we will be prepared for anything we see,” senior Ethan Roe said.

The Johnnies did earn back-to-back MIAC Baseball Player of the Week awards with some impressive performances over the first two weeks of the season.

On March 7, sophomore Joe Becker earned the first week’s award.

Becker started the season by leading the Johnnies in hits (10), runs scored (seven), and RBIs (nine) through the first six games. The sophomore also went 5-for-10 with runners on base and 5-for-7 with runners in scoring position. Six of his nine RBIs came with two outs.

Roe was next in line, earning the MIAC Baseball Player of the Week award for week two. The senior catcher batted .412 (14-for-34) while belting two home runs, four doubles and 16 RBIs in eight games.

Roe’s week was highlighted when he went 4-for-6 with a three-run home run, four RBIs and three runs scored in the win against No. 2 Marietta (Ohio).

Roe then hit a grand slam later in the day against Heidelberg.

The Johnnies return to play on March 20 against Crown College in Collegeville.