Reusse: St. John’s-to-St. Thomas baseball transfers see rivalry from two sides

There remain signs with the message “Just Say No” in yards of homeowners near the University of St. Thomas’ main campus in St. Paul, although they are not as numerous as was the case last fall when classes started at that location for the 139th consecutive year.

Admittedly, there has been a degree of campus sprawl and crowding since Bishop John Ireland opened St. Thomas as a seminary in 1885.

The neighbors were worked up over the new, 5,500-seat arena being built on the south portion of the campus. This will house Division I programs with ambitions in men’s and women’s basketball and men’s and women’s hockey.

Construction has continued through legal action and appeals, and on Monday, St. Thomas made an announcement. The additional fundraising following the astounding $75 million donation from Lee and Penny Anderson was complete:

A total of $131 million from Tommies donors had been raised to open the doors on the new Lee & Penny Anderson Arena in mid-October.

The basketball and hockey athletes will be moving into high-class Division I digs, but some of the Tommies athletic programs continue to squeeze in where they can on those jam-packed acres on each side of Summit Avenue.

This is definitely true for baseball, which is played on a rise above O’Shaughnessy Stadium at a ballfield now called Koch Diamond. It could be described as a “boutique” ballpark, although that merely would be a euphemism for, “This is it?”

The field is a sprawling rectangle that appears to be a fine playing surface, if you don’t mind that the dimensions include 465 feet to straightaway center. The few rows of metal bleachers behind home plate might hold 200.

And if it starts raining, as it did in the late stages of Thursday’s game between the Tommies and South Dakota State, the sports information staff and radio announcers must race from their small outside tables to a nearby garage.

Also: For a day game when school is in session, it takes resolve and extreme luck to park within a 15-minute walk to Koch Diamond.

“Non-students with an interest in baseball need tremendous dedication to get to one of your games,” I said to Max Nyrop.

He laughed and said: “I would agree with that. Parking here is an adventure.”

Nyrop is a productive designated hitter for the Tommies. Before that, he spent four years getting a degree in global business leadership and playing baseball for historic rival St. John’s.

“We were canceled by COVID-19 in 2020, but I did get to play against the Tommies in 2021,” Nyrop said. “That allowed me to feel personally the rivalry. I run into Johnnies now, and most understand my situation.

“But a few give me that look — ‘I can’t believe you’re playing for the Tommies.’ ”

Nyrop and the Johnnies were 2-3 against St. Thomas in 2021. He went 4-for-15 in those games. St. John’s reliever Kody Dalen — who also plays for the Tommies in 2025 — pitched in four games, effectively, with a save.

As with numerous athletes, being in both COVID-affected years, Nyrop had two extra seasons of eligibility. And St. Thomas offered him a chance to compete in the D-I Summit League.

“Max had a monster season for us last year — hit nine home runs, drove in more than 30," coach Chris Olean said. “He’s started a little slow this season, and we’ve been doing matchups at DH, but the biggest part of the season is coming up.

“We like having him. Dalen, too. When we played St. John’s back in ’21, those were two Johnnies that really stood out for us.”

St. Thomas was the national runner-up in Division III in 2021. Those talented D-III players allowed the Tommies to be competitive (10-14) in the Summit in 2022.

They were terrible in 2023, then popped up and won the six-team Summit in 2024. Now the Tommies are trying to hold first place in a weekend home series with South Dakota State.

Nyrop — a California kid with Minnesota natives as parents (no relation to Billy Nyrop, the former NHL defenseman, he said) — has this unique situation in the move from D-III to D-I:

The baseball facilities at St. John’s are far superior. First, veteran coach Jerry Haugen and the Johnnies received a new, turf ballpark, mostly through a donation from Scott Becker. And then:

“Have you seen that clubhouse Scott and the [donors] built up there?” Nyrop said. “It’s an incredible facility. It’s something amazing to leave behind for Jerry Haugen from his almost 50 years coaching there. He’s retiring as coach; big celebration up there next weekend for him.

“I can’t say enough about Jerry. He developed me as a player and as a person.”

Nice addition to his coaching staff there in Becker, too, with his corporate success and passion for the Johnnies.

“Scott Becker is like a second father to me,” Nyrop said.

The verdict is in: Max Nyrop is a Tommie who has burned no Johnnies bridges.