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Bethany Lutheran-Game 1 Box Score
Bethany Lutheran-Game 2 Box Score

DULUTH, Minn. – The eighth-ranked St. Scholastica baseball team won three games and captured its 14th straight Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Baseball Tournament Championship on Saturday, but this time around in one of the most thrilling endings in the tournament's 14-year existence.

The Saints (38-6) began the day with an elimination game against Presentation (18-19). The Saints scored their first run of the game when they loaded the bases with two outs and #Joe Link# (Jr.-Woodbury, Minn.) was hit by a pitch to force in #Sean Claugherty# (Sr.-Oakdale, Minn./Tartan). #Chad Peterson# (Jr.-New Brighton, Minn./St. Anthony Village) added a RBI-single in the second to make it 2-0 CSS after two innings.

The Saints added to their lead in the top of the sixth, plating four runs. Chad Peterson (New Brighton, Minn./St. Anthony Village HS) had a two-run triple to get the scoring started. #Steve Gerten# (Sr.-West St. Paul, Minn./Henry Sibley) and #Paul Kolodge# (Sr.-Cloquet, Minn.) followed with RBI-single to make it 6-0.

After being held hitless for the first five innings, Presentation got a run across in the sixth and then plated three in the eighth to make it 6-4.

Presentation then loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the ninth. After a fielder's choice cut the lead to 6-5, Presentation had runners on first and second with one out. CSS's #Jake Nystrom# (Fr.-Fargo, N.D./North) then induced a fly out to right to make it two outs. Presentation then drew a walk to load the bases again. However, Nystrom would get the final batter to strikeout to end the game 6-5 as the Saints stayed alive.

#David Barningham# (Jr. Bayfield, Wis./Washburn) earned the win for the Saints. He went 7.1 innings pitched and allowed just four hits. Nystrom earns his second save of the year. Kolodge was 3-for-4 with a RBI to lead the CSS offense.

In the first championship game against Bethany Lutheran (29-11), the Vikings capitalized off of a CSS error in the first to take a 1-0 lead.

That score held up until the top of the fifth and #Andy Manos# (Jr.-White Bear Lake, Minn.) drove in two on a single through the left side to make it 2-1 Saints.

In the sixth inning, #Brandon Peterson# (So-.Burnsville, Minn./Apple Valley) drew a bases-loaded walk, Manos was then hit by a pitch to force in another run, and Chad Peterson (New Brighton, Minn./St. Anthony Village HS) had an infield RBI-single to make it 5-1 CSS.

Link drove in another run in the seventh to extend the margin to 6-1. The Saints tacked on one more in the eighth when #Kyle Flagstad# (Fr.-Hinckley, Minn./Hinckley-Finlayson) scored on a wild pitch to make the final score 7-1 as the Saints forced a winner-take-all game.

#David Vogelgesang# (Fr.-Hastings, Minn.) did not allow a earned run in the contest as he struck out seven and scattered six hits to earn the complete-game win. Chad Peterson (New Brighton, Minn./St. Anthony Village HS) and Joe Link (Woodbury, Minn./Woodbury HS) each had three hits to lead the St. Scholastica offense.

In the winner-take-all game, the Vikings scored a run in each of the first two innings to take a 2-0 lead. The Saints added a run in the bottom of the second with a Manos RBI-single to make it 2-1.

The Saints took the lead in the bottom of the third, scoring four runs in the inning. #Scott Greening# (Jr.-Antigo, Wis.) got the scoring started with a three-run double to left center. Brandon Peterson (Burnsville, Minn./Apple Valley HS) followed with a RBI-single.

The Vikings responded and scored a run in the sixth and would tie the game in the eighth, getting two across in the inning. Neither team would score in the ninth inning, which meant the UMAC Tournament title would be decided in extra innings.

Bethany struck right of way in the top of the 10th, plating two runs in the inning. The Vikings then went to their ace Cody Hallahan to close the game out in the bottom half. Hallahan earned the complete-game victory against the Saints last night, throwing over 140 pitches.

Hallahan did not look fatigued early, striking out the first two batters, which meant the Saints were down to their last out with nobody on base. However, Brandon Peterson (Burnsville, Minn./Apple Valley HS) took the first pitch he saw and singled to right field. Andy Manos (White Bear Lake, Minn./White Bear Lake HS ) followed and took the first pitch he saw to right field and both runners moved up to second and third after the right fielder mishandled it.

#Brian Marshik# (Jr.-Arden Hills, Minn./Mounds View) then came to the plate and was down to his final strike. He would put the ball in play and it snuck through the left side to score both Peterson and Manos to tie the game as we went to the 11th inning.

After the Vikings went down in order in the top half, Kolodge and Link started the bottom half with back-to-back singles. Greening then sacrificed both runners over. After an intentional walk, the bases were loaded with one out. #Griffin Bell# (Jr.-Oconomowoc, Wis.) then came to the plate in a pinch-hitter role and drilled a ball off the center field wall to drive in Kolodge to give the Saints an 8-7 walk-off victory.

#Kyle Jensen# (Fr.-Wyoming, Minn./Forest Lake) pitched the final inning for the Saints to earn his first collegiate victory. Marshik, Kolodge, and Manos all had three hits to lead the Saints offensively.

The Saints will now await their fate for their sixth straight NCAA Tournament appearance. The tournament selections will be announced late Sunday night, early Monday morning.