UMAC Game of the Week: Bethany Lutheran vs. St. Scholastica - Baseball
UMAC Game of the Week Archives
Game of the Week postponed until Sunday.
ST. PAUL -- The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Game of the Week is a feature that takes place each week throughout the conference portion of the season with one contest being selected and highlighted as the UMAC Game of the Week.
The week's UMAC Game of the Week will take place on Saturday, May 4 as Bethany Lutheran and St. Scholastica meet up in UMAC Baseball action. The games will played in Freeport, Minn. Both teams are currently undefeated in UMAC play. The Saints boast a 10-0 UMAC record while the Vikings are currently 8-0. The games will be key for both teams as the season begins to wind down and post-season tournament seeds are on the line.
About the Vikings
Bethany's hitting and pitching have definitely picked since the start of UMAC play. The Vikings scored 54 runs over 14 non-conference games (3.9 runs per game). In eight conference games, they've tallied 97 runs (12.1 rpg) which included a program record tying 32-run performance against North Central on Sunday. The team batting average has gone from .246 (in non-conference games) to .394 (UMAC games). Two of the key reasons for the rise are the last two winners of the UMAC Baseball Player of the Week award, Mitch Sellers and Dylan Gass. Sellers is batting .419 with 2 home runs and 12 runs batted in UMAC play and Gass is hitting .483 with a home run and 12 RBIs.
On the mound, Cory Ferm has been dominant. He has not allowed a run in three UMAC starts going 21 innings, giving up only eight hits, and striking out 33 batters. Ferm easily leads the conference in strikeouts with 71 (next closest is 35), is second in ERA (1.38), and is tied for the lead in wins (5). He's twice been named the UMAC Pitcher of the Week. The overall team ERA is 1.50 in conference games compared to 5.00 in non-conference play.
About the Saints
The St. Scholastica baseball team has won its first 10 conference games by an average score of 13.7-2.2. In the Saints last conference games on Tuesday at Northland, the Saints plated 40 runs in the doubleheader sweep.
Freshman Austin Colvard leads the team and the conference at the plate with a .416 average. Colvard leads the team with 16 multiple-hit games. Senior Kyle Flagstad has turned it on in the last six games with 12 hits, 13 RBIs, four doubles, a triple and a pair of home runs. In game one vs. Northland on Tuesday, Flagstad was 4-for-5 with seven RBIs, two doubles and two home runs.
Another senior, Jake Casareto, has hit safely in 15 straight games and has reached base in 21 consecutive contests. In the last eight games, Casareto has recorded 18 RBIs, including four, three-RBI games. Flagstad and Casareto are first and second in the UMAC in RBIs.
Kyle Jensen, Mickie Keuning and Michael Swenson have led the CSS pitching staff this season. Jensen was named UMAC Pitcher of the Week this past week after carrying a perfect game into the seventh inning in the victory over Minnesota Morris. Jensen struck out a career-high 12 Cougars in the win. Swenson is tied for a conference high with five wins and Keuning is third in the league with a 1.40 earned run average.
Game Notes
- The Saints swept the Vikings in four games last season and hold a 28-4 lead in the series since 2005.
- Bethany's 8-0 UMAC start is the team's best start to a conference season since they began 9-0 in 2010.
- The Saints have won seven straight against the Vikings. All four meetings last season were decided by four runs or less, including the UMAC Tournament semifinal.
- Last season was the first time the Saints and Vikings didn’t play in the UMAC Tournament Championship game since 2007.
- Saturday’s games will be first contests in series history played at a neutral site.
St. Scholastica Recap | Bethany Lutheran Recap | #UMACgotw | Final Score: CSS 3, BLC 1; CSS 6, BLC 2
For information on other contests around the league this week, visit the UMAC live scoreboard.