Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score

FT. MYERS, Fla. – Saint John's baseball opened its 2019 season with a doubleheader sweep of Rivier (N.H.), 9-0 and 4-2, on Monday, March 4, in Ft. Myers, Fla.

The Johnnies smacked nine extra-base hits, six doubles and three triples, and batted .370 (20-for-54) in 12 innings of play. The pitching staff, meanwhile, held the Raiders (0-4 overall) to a .125 batting average (6-for-48) and struck out 17 to only two walks. Three of the six hits allowed came in the doubleheader's final inning.

Junior right fielder Wyatt Ulrich (Indus, Minn./International Falls) led SJU with four hits (4-for-7), including two triples, and four RBI. He gave the Johnnies a 3-0 lead in game two with a two-out, two-run triple in the fourth inning. Junior shortstop Michael Gruber (Glenwood, Minn./Minnewaska Area), senior infielder Thomas Meland (Northfield, Minn.) and senior center fielder Max Jackson (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) collected three hits apiece. Jackson also stole three bases.

Four pitchers combined for the one-hit shutout in game one: senior Lance Kilde (Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong), senior Nate Lutmer (New Hope, Minn./Robbinsdale Cooper), junior Stanley Ridgeway (Litchfield, Minn.) and sophomore Justin Langer (St. Paul, Minn./Mounds View). Kilde made his fifth career start and allowed the lone hit with three strikeouts in four innings.

SJU started its season with five runs on five hits in the first inning of game one.

Junior southpaw Mason Miller (Big Lake, Minn.) made his first collegiate start in game two and allowed two hits, with nine strikeouts to one walk, in five innings to pick up the win. Rivier scored two unearned runs on three hits off senior Alex Budde (Cold Spring, Minn./Rocori) in the top of the seventh inning.

The Johnnies play Bluffton (Ohio) for a noon ET doubleheader on Tuesday, March 5.