Box Score Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

DULUTH, Minn. – The third-ranked St. Scholastica baseball team saw its 21-game winning streak come to an end in a 4-3 game one loss to Martin Luther College today at Wade Stadium. The Saints then responded by scoring the most runs in program history in a 34-1 game two battering.

The day started with a 30-minute tribute to the late John Baggs as the team retired his No. 33 jersey and displayed a banner on the right field wall of Wade Stadium. John Baggs' son, Maddux, threw out the first pitch to start the action.

CSS jumped out to a 3-0 lead in game one as it scored a run in the third, fourth, and fifth innings. #Nick Lee# (Sr.-Carlton, Minn.) and #Joe Link# (So.-Woodbury, Minn.) had RBI-singles in the third and fourth, while #Sean Claugherty# (Jr.-Oakdale, Minn./Tartan) hit a mammoth home run off the flag pole in right center to give the Saints a 3-0 lead in the fifth.

Everything came unglued in the top of the sixth, but it looked at first that the Saints were going to get out of inning without allowing a single run. With runners at the corners and no outs, the Knights hit a shallow fly ball to center where Joe Link (Woodbury, Minn./Woodbury HS) corralled it and then threw the ball home to get runner out at plate.

Now with a runner at second and two down, Martin Luther had a RBI-single to make it 3-1. That was followed by a double to put runners at second and third. The Knights then hit a two-run single to tie the game at 3-3 and had another RBI-single down the right field line to give them a 4-3 edge.

After the Saints went down quietly in the sixth, they had one last chance in the seventh. Sean Claugherty (Oakdale, Minn./Tartan HS) led off with a walk and then advanced to second on a wild pitch. After a strikeout, Nick Lee (Carlton, Minn./Carlton HS) walked to put runners at first and second. However, that is where the runners would stay as the next two batters would be retired and the Knights handed the Saints their lone conference loss of the year for the second straight season.

Martin Luther pitcher Zach Pudlo earned the win for the Knights and was the same pitcher that defeated the Saints last season. #Steve Gerten# (Jr.-West St. Paul, Minn./Henry Sibley) dropped his first decision of the year for St. Scholastica. Sean Claugherty (Oakdale, Minn./Tartan HS) was 2-for-3 to lead the Saints offensively.

The Saints let out their frustrations from game one in the nightcap as they scored a program record 34 runs. The previous record was 33 runs against Cazenovia College down in Florida in 2007.

CSS scored in every inning, except the second, and scored 11 in the fourth. #Brian Marshik# (So-Arden Hills, Minn./Mounds View) was 4-for-5 with four RBIs and #Brian Peterson# (So.-Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Hill-Murray) was 2-for-2 with five RBIs. Steve Gerten (West St. Paul, Minn./Henry Sibley HS), #Michael Harris# (So.-Andover, Minn.), #Matt Mikel# (So.-Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Simley), and #Chad Peterson# (So.-New Brighton, Minn./St. Anthony Village) all had three RBIs in the game. #Matt Lewis# (So.-Erie, Pa./Cathedral Prep) improved to 3-0 on the year as he received the win on the mound for CSS.

The Saints are now 31-3 overall and finish the regular season 19-1 in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC). This is the 13th consecutive UMAC regular season championship for the Saints. CSS's 21-game winning streak was the second-longest in program history. The Knights fall to 11-26 overall and 7-12 in the conference.

It will be a battle for regional supremacy tomorrow when the Saints host No. 19-ranked University of St. Thomas at Wade Stadium in the regular season finale. According to the official NCAA Regional Rankings, the Tommies are ranked first with the Saints second. The first pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. and all of the action can be heard on ESPN Radio 560-WEBC.