DULUTH, Minn. – After last year's Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Baseball Tournament featured five games decided by three runs or less, including three by just one run and a walk-off hit to win the championship in the seventh-and-deciding game, the same four teams are back to compete for the conference's first automatic qualifier at Wade Stadium, starting on Thursday.

GameDay Media:
Tournament Web Site | Live Video | Live Stats

Last Action:
The Saints won their 15th consecutive UMAC regular season title by completing a sweep of Northwestern College at Wade Stadium on Saturday. CSS took game one 5-1 and needed a Brandon Peterson (Burnsville, Minn./Apple Valley HS) RBI double in the sixth to get past the Eagles in game two 2-1.

#1 Seed-St. Scholastica Saints (32-5, 20-1 UMAC)
The sixth-ranked Saints enter the tournament winners of 16 of their last 17 games, with their only loss coming regional power University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in a doubleheader … CSS has won 30 games for the 13th straight season and enter the UMAC Tournament having lost five or fewer games for the fourth straight season … CSS has won the UMAC Tournament every year in its existence since 1997 … In the latest NCAA Division III statistical rankings, the Saints dropped to second in country in scoring (9.6) behind Mitchell College (9.9) … CSS ranks fourth in batting average (.350) and team ERA (2.53) … They are ranked sixth in runs scored (356) and ninth in slugging percentage (.505) … St. Scholastica's leading hitter this season, junior Kyle Moody (Maple Grove, Minn./Osseo HS ), is ninth in the nation in batting with a .462 average … He is also 18th with 1.32 runs batted in per game … Senior Joe Link (Woodbury, Minn./Woodbury HS) needs just one more stolen base to tie the single-season program record … He is currently 39-for-39 and is ranked third in the nation … Link is second with 1.05 stolen bases per game and 28th with 47 runs scored … He will enter the UMAC Tournament on a 13-game hitting streak.

#2 Seed-Bethany Lutheran Vikings (25-8, 18-2 UMAC)
The Vikings have been apart of the UMAC Tournament ever since they joined the league in 2004 … The last tow year, the Vikings have defeated CSS in the semifinals and have been just one game or as was the case last year, one inning away from winning its first title … The 18-2 conference record is the program's best … BLC has much more pitching depth than it had the past two seasons, which could prove dividends this year … Preseason second team All-American is back, but he is also joined by eight-game winner Justin Kohls and Darin Hendley is also 4-0 this season … Another pitcher, Aaron Siefken defeated the Saints this season … Offensively, the Vikings are led by Zach Herd, who is batting .411 and was .493 in UMAC games … He is also second in the conference with 12 stolen bases.

Last Meeting: (CSS All-Time Record vs. Bethany Lutheran: 22-4)
The Saints went up against the Vikings four times this season in Mankato with the last being a non-conference contest. In that game, the Saints hit six home runs on an 18-6 victory. CSS took two of the three conference games.

#3 Seed-Presentation Saints (16-16, 12-8 UMAC)
Presentation will be the No. 3 seed once again in this year's tournament … Last year, the Saints put a big scare into both CSS and BLC … In the opening game of the tournament against Bethany Lutheran the Saints fell 3-2 and had the tying runner on third with one out in the ninth … In an elimination game against St. Scholastica the Saints fell by one run again 7-6 and had the tying and winning runs in scoring position … Undoubtedly, Presentation is led offensively by transfer Justin Kline … Kline is fifth in the nation with 20 doubles and second with 0.63 doubles per game … He is also eighth in the nation with a .547 on-base percentage … Spencer Sudbeck leads the Saints with four home runs and Shane Cunningham, who did not play against CSS earlier this season has 11 stolen bases … The Achilles' heel for Presentation this season has been its pitching … The Saints will enter the tournament with the highest team ERA (8.02).

Last Meeting: (CSS All-Time Record vs. Presentation: 23-1)
The Saints swept Presentation in the first three games played at Wade this season. In the third game on Good Friday, Presentation jumped out to a 7-0 lead before the Saints scored 12 unanswered runs to win.

#4 Seed-Northwestern Eagles (13-23, 10-10 UMAC)
The Eagles enter the UMAC Tournament having lost their final six games of the regular season … However all six losses came against the top-seeded Saints and the top three teams in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference … Even though the Eagles went 0-9 during the regular season against the other three teams in the tournament, the Eagles lost five of those games by two runs or less … The Markwith brothers, Zach and Josh, from Hawaii are two of the top three hitters on the Eagles … Zach Markwith will enter the tournament on a 12-game hitting streak … He is also the third-toughest player to strikeout in the nation … Josh Markwith hit two home runs at Wade Stadium on Friday night … Andy Borud is 11-for-13 in stolen bases and leads the team with a .443 on-base percentage … On the mound, the Eagles are led by freshmen Cory Larson and Andy Peterson … Both Larson and Peterson kept CSS in check for the most part in Saturday's doubleheader.

Last Meeting: (CSS All-Time Record vs. Northwestern: 55-1)
The Saints swept the Eagles just this past weekend at Wade Stadium.