Roe breaks Riegelman’s program home run record

Despite a slow start to the year with cold weather, cancellations and snow, SJU baseball’s Ethan Roe has exceeded all expectations.

The senior broke the SJU baseball record for the most home runs in a collegiate career, a record previously held by Jed Riegelman ’04.

Roe hit two homers in SJU’s doubleheader against St. Olaf on April 16, marking his 21st and 22nd career home runs.

“The home run record that he set this year just goes to show how special of a player he really is,” senior Nathan Brandecker said.

Roe has continually put in the work into his baseball career ever since he started in his first year in 2018.

“I would say one of the most important things over the past four years that has contributed to my success is the opportunity to have started on the team since my freshmen year,” Roe said.

Having the opportunity to play many in-game at bats is something Roe contributes to his later success as a junior and senior.

“He always had a ‘go get it done’ attitude. It seems that he is always working on something, and that has helped him be as good as he is,” Brandecker said.

In addition to practice on the field, the baseball team continues to put in the work in the weight room and gym, something that the two seniors agreed has upped their game.

“I have also really focused a lot of my energy on getting physically stronger,” Roe said.

With COVID breaking up his sophomore and junior years, Roe has had to adapt to the situation.

An extra year of eligibility was awarded to all spring athletes, in response to COVID interrupting the spring 2020 season.

Roe has seized this opportunity to pursue a graduate degree in clinical psychology, and he may use the extra year of eligibility to play at the next level.

As seniors, both Roe and Brandecker have strived to be leadership examples for the rest of the team.

“As a senior, I try to set positive examples for my younger teammates; however, I would say that I gain as much from them as they would gain from me,” Roe said.

Brandecker agreed that their teammates throughout their years on the team have influenced them, guiding them to be leaders both on and off the field.

“We knew that we wanted to emulate their attitude towards baseball and life,” Brandecker said.

As the season comes to a close in the next few weeks, Roe still has high hopes to how far the team can go and what goals they can accomplish.

The team continues to look toward winning the MIAC championship and competing in regionals.

“There have definitely been ups and downs throughout the season, but those goals are still intact and keep us motivated to work hard every day,” Roe said.

Personally, Roe wanted to build on last season’s success and continue with that momentum into the final weeks of the season.

Both seniors hope to leave a lasting impact on the SJU baseball team, both in the way they played and how they handled themselves off the field.

“This team has a lot of great history, and if I leave having etched my name into the program in some way or another, I will be satisfied with how my career went,” Roe said.