DULUTH, Minn.—The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Baseball Tournament begins at Wade Stadium on Thursday with St. Scholastica once again the top seed.  Bethany Lutheran College returns to the tournament once again as the two seed with Northwestern College earning the third seed this season. Northland College rounds out the four-team double-elimination tournament.

GameDay Media:
Tournament Website | Live Video | Live Stats

Last Action:
The Saints won their 16th consecutive UMAC regular season title and ended the 2012 season with an undefeated league record for the first time since 2006 with a weekend sweep of the Northwestern Eagles winning 8-2, 9-1, and 12-4.

#1 Seed-St. Scholastica Saints (30-9, 21-0 UMAC)
The Saints enter the tournament with an undefeated conference record for the first time since 2006 … CSS is peaking at the right time having won nine straight games coming into their first round matchup with Northland … Kyle Flagstad (Hinckley, Minn./Hinckley-Finlayson HS) has been a big part of the offense this season batting a conference best .459 with a league-high .780 slugging percentage and seven triples… Kyle Moody (Maple Grove, Minn./Osseo HS ) also holds the crown at the top of the conference with 50 RBIs, 16 doubles and is tied atop the UMAC with 50 hits … Jake Nystrom (Fargo, N.D./Fargo North HS) has been the team's ace on the mound and is tied for the conference lead with six wins, while also leading the Saints with 51 strikeouts… Thomas Rogers (Cloquet, Minn./Cloquet HS )' outstanding season continues out of the bullpen with a team and conference best 0.44 earned run average allowing just one earned run in 20.1 innings pitched ... Michael Swenson (Scandia, Minn./Forest Lake HS) isn't an overpowering pitcher for the Saints, but is second on the team with five wins and is fifth in the conference with an earned run average of 2.40 … The Saints won the conference tournament and received the automatic qualifier into the NCAA Tournament last season defeating Northwestern and winning two straight against Bethany.

#2 Seed-Bethany Lutheran Vikings (21-15, 14-5 UMAC)
The Vikings have been apart of the UMAC Tournament ever since they joined the league in 2005 … In last year's tournament the Vikings came up short in the championship game losing to St. Scholastica … Tommy Kramer has been the hit machine for the Vikings with a .388 batting average and a team best 47 hits… Kramer also leads the team with 38 runs scored… Adam Geiger has supplied a lot of the runs for the Vikings this season leading the team with 33 RBIs—right ahead of Kramer's 32—and leading the team with 14 doubles as well … Garrett Benson has led the Vikes on the mound with a 6-2 record and a 2.90 earned run average … Aaron Siefken is tops on the team with 64 strikeouts and a 5-4 record of his own … The Vikings will play Northwestern College in the first round of the tournament … Bethany beat Presentation and Northwestern in last year's tournament, but lost twice to CSS, first in the semifinals and then in the championship game.

Last Meeting: (CSS All-Time Record vs. Bethany Lutheran: 27-4)
The Saints swept the Vikings in Mankato to kick off conference play this season defeating Bethany 6-2, 13-10 and 5-1.

#3 Seed-Northwestern Eagles (24-14, 15-6 UMAC)
The Eagles come into the conference tournament following three straight losses to St. Scholastica … Those three losses ended a seven-game winning streak … Cody Kielsa led the Eagles from the plate this year with a .402 batting average, 49 hits, eight doubles, four triples, and four home runs … Josh Hanson was tied with Kielsa with four home runs, while Zach Markwith kept pace with Kielsa with four triples of his own … Andy Peterson ended the season with a 6-3 record and 3.66 earned run average … Peterson also led the team with 47 strikeouts with Mark Meredith right behind him having 46 strikeouts … The Eagles will face off with Bethany Lutheran in round one of the tournament … Northwestern was 1-2 in last year's tournament losing to St. Scholastica in the first round then defeating Presentation College before being eliminated by Bethany Lutheran.

Last Meeting: (CSS All-Time Record vs. Northwestern: 65-9)
The Saints swept the Eagles just last weekend to end the regular season winning 8-2, 9-1, and 12-4.

#4 Seed-Northland LumberJacks (16-23, 9-12 UMAC)
The 'Jacks got some help from Martin Luther College on Monday, defeating Presentation in game one of a doubleheader, giving Northland the No. 4 seed via tiebreaker over Presentation … Peter Aerts held the best batting average on the team this season at .377 while also leading the team with 48 runs scored, and 55 hits … Travis Hendrickson led the team with 43 RBIs while Colin Moberly was tops with 13 doubles … Brandon Bodart and Kyle Strom both had 4-5 records on the year tied atop the team … Strom led the team with 30 strikeouts … The LumberJacks will play the top-seeded Saints in the first round of the tournament … Northland is making its first UMAC Tournament appearance since the 2008 season.

Last Meeting: (CSS All-Time Record vs. Northland: 53-0-1)
The Saints swept the 'Jacks earlier this season in a doubleheader at Wade Stadium defeating Northland 8-5 and 19-3. In the first game in Ashland, CSS scored a combined nine runs in the seventh and eighth innings to break a 3-3 tie to win 12-3.