ST. PAUL, Minn.---For the first time in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) baseball in the NCAA Division III-era, the league handed out two regular season conference titles as the College of St. Scholastica and Bethany Lutheran College split Saturday and finished with match 14-2 conference records Sunday.
The 2018 UMAC season isn't only different than in years past because of crazy spring weather and co-champions, but the postseason tournament will see five teams competing for the first time. St. Scholastica won the run differential tiebreaker over Bethany Lutheran, meaning the tournament will be hosted at Wade Stadium in Duluth, Minnesota, beginning at 1 p.m. Thursday.
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Tournament Site |
Players to Watch |
Team Info |
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The No. 1-seeded Saints finished the season 14-2 in conference play – the first time in the NCAA era that the Saints have lost more than one game to a UMAC opponent in the regular season. However, the Saints enter the tournament as the top seed and the team to beat. In the first year of a five-team format with the opening game being single elimination, the Saints won't know their opponent until the completion of the first game between No. 4 Northland College and No. 5 University of Wisconsin-Superior.
No. 4 Northland makes a return trip to the UMAC tournament for the first time since 2015 after a 9-7 finish in league play, while the No. 5 Wisconsin-Superior will appear in the postseason for the third-straight season since joining the UMAC after completing a 8-8 UMAC season. The LumberJacks clinched a spot with four wins over the week, while Wisconsin-Superior won eight-straight before falling in the final game to Crown College Sunday. The Yellowjackets swept the University of Minnesota Morris Saturday for the tiebreaker into the tournament.
In the regular season, the LumberJacks and Yellowjackets split their series in prolonged fashion – the Yellowjackets took the first game 11-9, but after nine complete innings with the score 8-8 the second game was postponed due to field time. Northland eventually won the game 9-8 in the 10th when it was completed 10 days later. Northland's top win of the season came early against No. 3 University of Northwestern on the road, while Wisconsin-Superior enters the tournament winning eight of their last nine.
The other match up of the day will see UMAC champion and No. 2 seed Bethany Lutheran take on No. 3 Northwestern in the second game Thursday. Northwestern is the only team in the UMAC to beat both Bethany Lutheran and St. Scholastica this season, which makes this the most intriguing matchup to open the tournament.
Bethany Lutheran opened its season with a 7-6 loss to the Eagles and then went on a 12-game conference winning streak before falling to the Saints Saturday. The Eagles defeated the Vikings and Saints in back-to-back series and suffered a loss to each opponent including a 9-5 loss in the second game vs. Bethany Lutheran.
The tournament is set to begin Thursday at 1 p.m. when No. 4 Northland and No. 5 Wisconsin-Superior meet. That will be followed by a 4 p.m. game between No. 2 Bethany Lutheran and No. 3 Northwestern. The final game at 7 p.m. will see No. 1 St. Scholastica take on the winner of the opening game. The loser of the first game will be eliminated from the tournament.
Players to Watch
No. 1 St. Scholastica (conference games only)
Steven Neutzling (St. Cloud, Minn./St. Cloud Cathedral) – .472 avg., 25 hits, 28 RBI, .830 slg, .579 OBP
Drew Colvard (Little Canada, Minn./Roseville HS) – .431 avg., .565 OBP, 28 hits, 35 runs, 18 BB, 13-of-13 SBA
Jake Turner (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS) – 4.65 ERA, 14 SO, 3 wins, 31 IP
No. 2 Bethany Lutheran (conference games only)
Ross Buemer – .463 avg., .889 slg., .525 OBP, 21 runs, 25 hits, 21 RBI, 5 HR
Ben Boran – .470 avg., .532 OBP, 22 runs, 31 hits, 20 RBI
Cody Leitner – 3.25 ERA, 2 wins, 27.2 IP, 27 SO
No. 3 Northwestern (conference games only)
Caleb PIersma – .414 avg., 24 hits, 21 runs, 11 RBI, 9 SB
Aaron Krahn – .358 avg., 24 hits, 31 RBI, .716 slg
Phillip Wall – 3.09 ERA, 2 wins, 32 IP, 15 SO
No. 4 Northland (conference games only)
Anthony Corrado – .470 avg., 31 hits, .652 slg., 5.57 ERA, 32.1 IP, 28 SO
Jakob Freele – .311 avg., 19 hits, 20 runs
Adrian Bethel – .313 avg., 20 hits, 15 runs, 5 HR, 17 RBI
No. 5 Wisconsin-Superior (conference games only)
Nick McNosky – .406 avg., 26 hits, 17 runs, 10 RBI, 8-of-8 SBA
Cory Albertson – .475 avg., 28 hits, 28 runs, 27 RBI, 9 HR, 1.136 slg., 0.569 OBP
Ryan Rodriguez – 3.86 ERA, 25.2 IP, 33 SO, .202 Opp. Avg.
Teams and Links
Playoff Schedule
Thursday, May 10 (Day One)
Game 1 – 1 p.m. – No. 4 Northland vs. No. 5 Seed (single elimination) |
Live Video |
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Game 2 – 4 p.m. – No. 2 Bethany Lutheran vs. No. 3 Northwestern |
Live Video |
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Game 3 – 7 p.m. – No. 1 St. Scholastica vs. Winner of Game 1 |
Live Video |
Live Stats |
Friday, May 11 (Day Two)
Game 4 – 1 p.m. – Loser of Game 2 vs. Loser of Game 3 |
Live Video |
Live Stats |
Game 5 – 4 p.m. – Winner of Game 2 vs. Winner of Game 3 |
Live Video |
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Game 6 – 7 p.m. – Winner of Game 4 vs. Loser of Game 5 |
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Saturday, May 12 (Day Three)
Game 7 – 1 p.m. – Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 6 |
Live Video |
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Game 8 – 4 p.m. – If Necessary Game (if two teams remain with one loss) |
Live Video |
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Event Information
The UMAC Tournament has the following admissions prices: Single Day Adult Ticket, $10; Single Day Student/Senior Ticket - $5; Adult Tournament Pass, $15; Student/Senior Tournament Pass, $7. All UMAC students, staff and faculty are FREE with valid institution ID for all games. No other passes will be accepted.
All tournament information including scores, recaps, team information and more can be found on the
UMAC Baseball Tournament page. Keep up with all of the tournament action on
Twitter and
Instagram using
#UMACchamp.
2018 Tournament Page
