DULUTH, Minn. (
csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica baseball team will take on the University of Northwestern (Minn.) in an Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) doubleheader on Saturday.
Where:
Reynolds Field – St. Paul, Minn.
When:
Saturday at 1:30 p.m. (DH)
Live Video: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/unw/
Live Stats: http://unweagles.com/sports/2012/11/7/gen_1107121456.aspx
Social Media:
Twitter:
www.twitter.com/cssbaseball
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St. Scholastica Saints
Stats
Record: 21-7, 10-0 UMAC
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference: Standings | Stats
Last Action: The Saints saw their 15-game winning streak come to an end with a 6-4 loss to Saint John's University on Sunday … CSS was also out-hit in the defeat for the first time since March 28.
Schedule Adjustments: The Saints had their doubleheader at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point canceled on Wednesday … The Saints are still searching to add a game or two to make up for those lost games … Next Wednesday's regular season home finale against Northland College will now start at 1:30 p.m.
Ranked No. 3 in the Region: St. Scholastica is ranked No. 3 in the Midwest Region in the first official NCAA Regional rankings that were posted on Thursday … The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater is first and Concordia University-Chicago is second … Of the seven CSS losses this season, five have come against teams that are regionally ranked … The Saints have also won seven games against regionally-ranked teams.
Where They Stand: The Saints hold a three-game lead in the loss column over the University of Minnesota Morris and Northland College with six games remaining … With two wins on Saturday, the Saints will be in the drive seat for another UMAC regular season title.
Minks Approaching a Milestone: Senior third baseman
Brian Minks (St. Cloud, Minn./St. Cloud Cathedral HS ) remains one double shy of becoming only the second Saint in history to record at least 50 doubles, 10 triples and 10 home runs in a career … The only other CSS player to do that has his number retired and that was Ben Sickler in the 90s.
Taking Two: The Saints rank second in NCAA Division III in doubles per game averaging 2.86 per contest … Their 80 doubles this season rank 12
th in the country.
That Bullpen Though: Despite
Joe Gonrowski (Elk River, Minn./Elk River HS ) allowing his first earned run of the season against Saint John's on Sunday, the St. Scholastica bullpen saw it earned run average dip to 2.26 and opponents' batting average fall to .211 over the weekend. … The Saints are 18-0 this season when leading or tied after the sixth inning.
Streaks/Trends: Joey Zwak (Duluth, Minn. /Duluth East HS ) enters Wednesday's games on a 12-game hitting streak …
Steven Neutzling (St. Cloud, Minn./St. Cloud Cathedral ) and
Riley Bernsdorf (Meadowlands, Minn. /Floodwood HS) have each reached base safely in 19 consecutive games.
Upcoming Opponents
Northwestern Eagles
Record: 14-18, 4-4 UMAC
The Eagles were swept by Northland College last Saturday in Ashland, allowing a total of 36 runs in the doubleheader … Northwestern was scheduled to face the University of Wisconsin-Superior on Tuesday, but those games were postponed … The Eagles are led offensively by Tyler Osborn, who ranks second in the conference in batting average (.435), but leads the UMAC slugging percentage (.800) and home runs (8) … Another force in the lineup is Ryan Sutterer, who leads the conference with 35 RBIs and is second the league with six home runs … Sutterer also has recorded five saves and has only allowed one hit in 6.1 innings … Nathan Ehnstrom leads the pitching staff with a 6-2 record and an opponents' batting average of .264 … Micah Williams has the lowest earned run average on the squad at 4.01.
Series Record: CSS leads 81-10
(Last Meeting: 10-3 CSS – 5/13/2016)
Series History: The Saints defeated the Eagles for the UMAC Tournament title 10-3 in their last get-together … Northwestern split with Saints in the regular season … Saturday will be the first time the Saints will face the Eagles on the turf surface at Reynolds Field … CSS played Bethel University at that facility to open the 2016 season and won 6-2.
Looking Ahead: The Saints will step out of conference on Monday to face Carleton College for one nine-inning game in Northfield.
