Box Score ST. PAUL – The St. Scholastica baseball team defeated Northwestern College on Friday afternoon 8-2 to claim its 16th straight Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) regular season championship.

In this final series of the regular season, both the Saints and Eagles (24-12, 15-4 UMAC) were ranked first and second in the UMAC, respectively. Northwestern could have at least claimed a share of the regular season title and the No. 1 seed if they had swept the Saints.

The Saints got one run on the board in the top of the first when Jesse Heaton (Heyworth, Ill./Bloomington Central Catholic HS ) scored on a Kyle Flagstad (Hinckley, Minn./Hinckley-Finlayson HS) groundout. Brandon Peterson (Burnsville, Minn./Apple Valley HS) then led off the second inning with a home run to center field to make it 2-0.

Heaton made it three straight innings with a run in the third with a sacrifice fly to score Parker Olson (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS (Minn.-Duluth)). In the meantime, CSS starter Joel Wuorio (Two Harbors, Minn./Two Harbors HS) was cruising along, allowing just two hits through the first four innings. The Eagles finally got to Wuorio in the fifth as a double followed by a RBI single made the score 3-1.

The Saints extended their lead to 5-1 in the seventh as Andy Schwantes (Lakeville, Minn./Apple Valley HS (Minn.-Duluth)) hit a RBI double and Flagstad followed with a RBI single.

After Northwestern plated another run in the seventh, the Saints tacked on three more in the ninth as Schwantes hit a RBI triple and Flagstad followed with a two-run home run to make the final score 8-2.

One down note for the Saints was Kyle Moody (Maple Grove, Minn./Osseo HS )'s hit streak ended at 17 games today. CSS finished with 15 hits with Flagstad leading the way going 4-for-5 with four RBIs. Parker Olson (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS (Minn.-Duluth)) was 3-for-4.

Joel Wuorio (Two Harbors, Minn./Two Harbors HS) scattered eight hits in 6.1 innings to earn his third win of the season. The 6.1 innings pitched was the longest outing of Wuorio's collegiate career up to this point. Ben Grieger (Waverly, Iowa/Waverly-Shell Rock HS) pitched 1.2 perfect innings in relief.

The Saints (28-9, 19-0 UMAC) and Eagles will conclude their three-game series tomorrow with a doubleheader beginning at noon.