DULUTH, Minn. (
csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica baseball team has one more Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) doubleheader remaining and it may decide the regular season champion as rival Bethany Lutheran College visits Wade Stadium on Saturday.
Where:
Wade Stadium – Duluth, Minn.
When:
Saturday vs. Bethany Lutheran – 1:30 p.m. (DH) -
UMAC GAME OF THE WEEK
Monday vs. St. Thomas – 5 p.m.
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St. Scholastica Saints
Stats
Record: 19-8, 13-1 UMAC
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference: Standings | Stats
What you need to know about the Saints:
-The Saints are coming off a sweep of Northland College on Tuesday.
-CSS plated 39 runs in the doubleheader sweep of the LumberJacks.
-Junior
Bobby Eckert (Farmington, Minn./Farmington HS (Century CC)) hit his second home run of the season in the game two win.
-Sophomore
Aaron Weber (Sauk Rapids, Minn./Pierz HS) had six hits combined in the two games.
-Junior
Conor Wollenzien (North Mankato, Minn./Mankato West HS) recorded his 100
th career hit in game two.
-Senior
Steven Neutzling (St. Cloud, Minn./St. Cloud Cathedral) extended his reached base safely streak (hit, walk, HBP) to 62 games.
-That is the longest streak in program history and the third-longest in NCAA Division III history.
-Neutzling is one home run shy of becoming the third player in program history to record 200 career hits, 50 doubles and 20 home runs (Sean Claugherty/
Justin Harriman).
-Neutzling is also only five RBIs shy of tying Harriman's program record of 178 career RBIs
-Senior
Drew Colvard (Little Canada, Minn./Roseville HS) ranks fourth in NCAA Division III, averaging 1.59 runs per game.
-His 43 runs scored is 11 more than the next highest number in the conference.
-Colvard also leads the conference with 43 hits and 15 stolen bases.
-The Saints rank fifth in the nation, averaging 2.70 doubles per game and fifth in scoring, averaging 9.9 runs per game.
-CSS has played 13 of its last 14 games at Wade Stadium and the trip to Whitewater on Monday was its first game outside of the Twin Ports in a month.
-The Saints are 17-0 when leading or tied after six innings.
-CSS has won 21 consecutive UMAC Regular Season championships.
What You Need to Know about Bethany Lutheran:
-The Vikings are tied with the Saints in the loss column in conference play with a record of 9-1.
-However, they have three UMAC doubleheaders remaining, including on Friday against Crown College.
-After playing the Saints on Saturday, the Vikings will face Northland College in the regular season finale on Sunday.
-BLC is the hottest team in the conference with a nine-game win streak.
-It has scored at least 12 runs in five of the last six wins.
-Offensively, the Vikings rank second in the league behind CSS in slugging percentage (.475) and on-base percentage (.426).
-Bethany leads the conference with 20 home runs.
-Ben Boran leads the team with a .370 average, while Grant Becher has a team-best 23 RBIs.
-Nick Caldeen is second in the conference with six home runs.
-In limited action, Ross Beumer leads all UMAC players with a .449 average, a 796 slugging percentage and a .526 on-base percentage.
-BLC has three players ranked at the top of the conference in hit by pitches.
-The Vikings also rank second behind the Saints in pitching with a team ERA of 4.68 and an opposing batting average of .305.
-Alex Babcock and Logan Nissan each have four wins on the year and both rank in the top six of the conference in strikeouts.
-Cody Leitner has team-best ERA of 3.00 in a team-high six starts.
Series Record: CSS leads 45-4
(Last Meeting: 8-0 CSS – 5/13/2017)
Series History: The Saints defeated the Vikings in the UMAC Tournament championship game 8-0 last season … CSS has won 24 straight in the series with four of those games decided by three runs or fewer
What You Need to Know about St. Thomas:
-The Tommies are 17-13 overall and currently sit second in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) standings.
-St. Thomas has four pivotal conference games this weekend before facing the Saints for one game Monday night.
-It is coming off a split against Bethel University on Thursday.
-Senior Zach Gottfredsen leads the team with 31 hits and a .307 average.
-Senior Hunter Hart has a team-best four home runs and 15 RBIs.
-Junior Sam Cobbs also has 15 RBIs on the year.
-Senior Jake Smith has a team-high eight doubles and 14 RBIs.
-Pitching is the strength of the Tommies as they rank third in NCAA Division III in hits allowed per nine innings (6.81), third in strikeouts per nine innings (10.5), fifth in team ERA (2.59) and lead the nation with a 4.50 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
-Junior Henry DeCaster leads the team with a 1.73 ERA, but has not received much run support in his outings with a team-high four losses.
-Senior Ryan Zimmerman leads the team with six wins and 67 strikeouts.
-Zimmerman ranks eighth in the nation with 13.7 strikeouts per nine innings.
Series Record: UST leads 27-20
(Last Meeting: 10-5 UST – 5/21/2017)
Series History: The Tommies ended St. Scholastica's season at the NCAA Regional last year … The teams split the regular season series last year in St. Paul … The last time the teams met at Wade Stadium, the Saints swept a doubleheader from the Tommies.
Looking Ahead: The winner of the UMAC regular season will host the UMAC Tournament beginning on Thursday, May 10.
