NCAA Release
INDIANAPOLIS (csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica baseball team will make its ninth straight NCAA Tournament appearance and for the fourth straight year the Saints will be playing in Whitewater, Wis. where they will open up with the University of St. Thomas on Wednesday at noon.
The 56-team tournament field was announced Monday morning. The Saints were one of the 38 teams to receive an automatic bid by winning the UMAC Tournament on Saturday. There are eight regional tournaments with four involving eight teams and four involving six teams. All of the regionals are double-elimination format with the winners of the eight regional tournaments advancing to the national tournament in Appleton, Wis.
The Saints will be the No. 6 seed and enter the regional tournament with a 27-9 record and have won seven straight games since getting swept in a doubleheader by UW-Whitewater. CSS is coming off its 17th straight Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) regular season championship and 16th straight UMAC Tournament title.
The Saints have not been the six seed at a six-team regional since the 2007 season. CSS is 1-2 all-time in the opening game as the No. 6 seed in a six-team regional. The Saints were the No. 6 seed as well last year in an eight-team regional where they won their first two games in a NCAA Regional in program history.
The Whitewater Regional will feature three teams currently ranked in the D3baseball.com top 25, including two in the four.
The top seed in the regional for the second consecutive year is St. Thomas. The Tommies won the regional last season defeating the host, UW-Whitewater, in the regional final. The Tommies won the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) regular season and tournament championships. St. Thomas is ranked second in the D3baseball.com poll.
CSS split with the Tommies during the regular season at the Metrodome and will want to forget the last time they faced St. Thomas in a NCAA Regional Tournament as it suffered a 22-2 loss in last year's winners' bracket semifinal.
The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point is the second seed in the regional. The Pointers captured the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Tournament championship on Sunday. The Pointers swept the Saints in a doubleheader this season in Stevens Point. UWSP is currently ranked 23rd.
The host, UW-Whitewater, is the No. 3 seed after earning an at-large bid. The Warhawks captured the WIAC regular season championship. The Saints were swept in a doubleheader at Whitewater just a couple of weeks ago. Whitewater is ranked fourth.
Case Western Reserve University (Ohio) makes the trip to Wisconsin for its second NCAA Regional Tournament appearance in program history and will be the No. 4 seed. The Spartans earned a Pool B bid out of the University Athletic Association (UAA) where they finished tied for the regular season title.
Benedictine University (Ill.) will be the No. 5 seed in the regional. The Eagles earned an at-large bid out of the Northern Athletics Conference (NAC). It will be the first appearance for Benedictine since the 2003 season.
All of the action will take place at Prucha Field at James B. Miller Stadium on the campus of UW-Whitewater.
