DULUTH, Minn. (csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica baseball team will play its first games at Wade Stadium this weekend when the Saints host the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament.
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Tournament Schedule:
Thursday
Play-In Game: Martin Luther vs. Northland – 6 p.m.
Friday
Game 1: No. 2 Bethany Lutheran vs. No. 3 Northwestern – 10 a.m.
Game 2: No. 1 St. Scholastica vs. No. 4 (Play-In Winner) – 1 p.m.
Game 3: Loser of the Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2 – 4 p.m.
Game 4: Winner of the Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 – 7 p.m.
Saturday
Game 5: Winner of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4 – 1 p.m.
Game 6 (Championship): Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 5 – 4 p.m.
Sunday
Game 7 (If Necessary): Played only if Winner of Game 5 wins Game 6 – Noon
About the Saints
Record: 24-9, 14-0 UMAC
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CSS claimed its 17th consecutive UMAC regular season crown as the Saints defeated Bethany Lutheran 3-1 and 6-2 last Sunday. The Saints were undefeated in conference play for the second straight season and have won 46 straight regular season conference games.
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For the first time, the Saints will enter the UMAC Tournament at Wade Stadium without actually playing a regular season game at Wade.
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Seniors Kyle Jensen (Wyoming, Minn./Forest Lake HS), Kyle Flagstad (Hinckley, Minn./Hinckley-Finlayson HS), Jake Casareto (International Falls, Minn./Falls HS) and Andy Schwantes (Lakeville, Minn./Apple Valley HS (Minn.-Duluth)) have provided good leadership for the Saints and lead the team in nearly every statistical category.
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Casareto will enter the UMAC Tournament riding a 19-game hitting steak and a 25-game reached base streak.
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The Saints have had underclassmen step up as well this season. Freshman Austin Colvard (Little Canada, Minn./Roseville HS) led the UMAC in hits, while sophomore Mickie Keuning (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS (Angelo State)) led the UMAC with a 1.08 ERA.
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The Saints had a solid year at the plate as a team. CSS led the UMAC in hits, walks, runs, RBI's and stolen bases. The Saints outscored opponents 289-118 in the regular season.
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The CSS pitching staff was also excellent this season. The Saints gave up just 95 earned runs (tops in the UMAC) despite pitching at least 17 2/3 innings more than any other UMAC team.
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The sixth inning has been an indicator for the Saints success this year. CSS has never lost a game in which they have been leading after six innings. However, the Saints have never come back from a deficit after the sixth.
About the Vikings
Record: 14-14, 10-4 UMAC
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The Vikings will be the second seed in the UMAC Tournament. This year they got the second seed by rallying from three runs down to defeat Northwestern in game two of a doubleheader on Tuesday to salvage a series split. They then won the coin flip to determine the second seed for the tournament.
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Joe Tuholsky had a solid season for the Vikings, hitting .391 in 24 games this season and batting .516 in conference play.
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The Vikings have hit for power this season, as they have eight players with at least one home run and led the UMAC with 16. Clint Aretz led the UMAC with four homers and had a solid .338 average.
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The Vikings lead NCAA Division III with 2.83 doubles per game and are fifth in the country with 8.7 strikeouts per nine innings.
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Bethany Lutheran has been solid at the plate this season, hitting .342 collectively in conference play and racking up 76 doubles on the season.
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Pitcher Cory Ferm leads the conference in strikeouts (79), wins (6), and is second in ERA (1.17). He threw a no-hitter against Martin Luther in his last outing on Monday. He is sixth in the nation with 12.2 strikeouts per nine innings.
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The Viking pitching staff has also been solid in conference play as well, with an ERA of 3.05 in UMAC play. Bethany led the UMAC with 208 Ks on the season.
About the Eagles
Record: 15-16, 10-4 UMAC
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The Eagles enter the Tournament as the No. 3 seed after losing a coin flip with Bethany Lutheran.
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Northwestern has made it to the tournament's second day in each of the last two years, including the title game last season.
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Northwestern was second in the UMAC in runs, hits and team batting average. Northwestern hit .358 in conference play and .305 overall on the year.
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Cody Durkee was fifth in the UMAC with 24 RBIs and Cody Kielsa was second in the conference with 11 stolen bases.
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Andy Peterson has been a solid starter for the Eagles, and finished tied for second in the UMAC with five wins. He had a 2.44 ERA and had 37 Ks in 51.2 innings.
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Zach Markwith had a strong season at the plate, hitting .358 and leading the team with 43 hits. He became Northwestern's all-time leader in career hits on April 26 in a doubleheader against Minnesota Morris.
About the LumberJacks
Record: 15-13, 8-7 UMAC
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Northland will enter Thursday's play-in game after finishing in a tie with Martin Luther. Northland has one more loss than the Knights, but that was due to a third game being played in a series against Crown College. That third game was played before the conference decided to reduce the UMAC schedule to 14 games. Thus that loss had no bearing in the tiebreaker scenarios.
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The 'Jacks split with the Knights in Morris, Minn. last Saturday, dropping game one 11-10, but winning the nightcap 12-11 in 10 innings.
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Northland ended the season on a high note, defeating Finlandia University 10-0 yesterday at home and winning five of their last seven games.
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Mitch Howard and Travis Hendrickson and were second and third in the UMAC with batting averages of .397 and .396, respectively.
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Hendrickson was second in the UMAC with 34 RBIs and Matt Lennon was fourth with 28. Lennon was also second in the UMAC with 12 stolen bases, and Peter Aerts was fourth with 10.
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Colin Moberly tied for fourth in the conference with 2 homers and Logan Schuman as second in the UMAC with three saves.
About the Knights
Record: 12-10, 8-6 UMAC
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Martin Luther's fourth place finish in the UMAC was the best finish the program has had since the 2008 season, when it finished in fourth place with a record of 9-10 in the UMAC.
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MLC's win over Bethany Lutheran on Monday gave the team a chance to make the postseason tournament, and was also the first win over the Vikings since April of 2008.
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Jake Ziel has been a solid starter for the Knights, posting a 2.44 ERA and was second in the UMAC with 54 strikeouts in the regular season. Ziel had a 1.59 ERA in conference play.
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Teammate Joe Janke was fifth with 39, and Christian Kuether had a 2.45 ERA as well.
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Ziel was also a big part of the Martin Luther offense, batting .393 and leading the team with a .464 slugging percentage and 33 hits.
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Martin Luther finished the season strong, winning six of their last eight games, three of which were by two runs or less.
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Galen Holzhueter hit .378 and led the team with a .556 slugging percentage in UMAC play.
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The Knights have hit .290 as a team on the season while opponents hit .287 on the year.
