No. 1 St. Scholastica headlines UMAC baseball tournament set for start Thursday
ST. PAUL, Minn.---The 2017 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) baseball season may have seen the College of St. Scholastica emerge with a 21st-consecutive conference title, but the remainder of the conference tournament wasn't finalized until the very last pitch Sunday.
With a perfect 16-0 record in league play, St. Scholastica earned the No. 1 seed and right to host the conference tournament beginning next Thursday in Duluth, Minnesota.
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Tournament Site |
Players to Watch |
Team Info |
Schedule |
Event Info |
Bethany Lutheran College returned to the UMAC tournament after missing out a year ago earning the No. 2 seed, while the University of Minnesota Morris qualified for a second-straight postseason as the No. 3 seed. The University of Wisconsin-Superior earned four UMAC victories over the weekend to grab the No. 4 seed.
As a perennial UMAC powerhouse, no one is surprised the Saints took the top spot after returning a plethora of talent. However, the Saints did it in undefeated fashion going 16-0 against UMAC opponents. Additionally, the Saints may have one of their best teams in recent memories as they are ranked No. 25 in the D3baseball.com national poll and No. 4 in the Midwest Region. They also went 9-4 against teams from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conferencce (MIAC) and Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) this season.
The Saints will take on bridge rival No. 4 Wisconsin-Superior in the evening game Thursday which could provide extra incentive for an upset for a Saints' opponent. The Yellowjackets entered the final weekend of play 5-7 and prevailed ahead of Northland College thanks to two series sweeps. Down 5-3 heading into the final two innings against the University of Northwestern, the Yellowjackets scored two in the eighth and won on a steal home for a 6-5 win sealing their second-straight postseason berth with a 9-7 UMAC mark.
No. 2 Bethany Lutheran may have been the closet team this season to upsetting the top-seeded Saints this season suffering a 1-0 loss in extra innings. The Vikings return to the playoffs thanks to a respectable 12-4 mark in conference play this season. They enter the tournament as one of the hottest teams winning their last seven against UMAC teams. In that stretch, the Vikings have scored in double digits five times.
The Vikings' last conference loss came against the No. 3 Cougars as the two teams split in conference play. Minnesota Morris dropped to the No. 3 seed Saturday after splitting with Northland College – a team the Cougars beat a year ago to qualify for the tournament for the first time in 10 seasons. The Cougars enter the tournament with a 12-4 record and will face the Vikings in what should be a very competitive opener Thursday.
With the No. 1 seed, the Saints earned the right to host the UMAC tournament – all games will be hosted at Wade Stadium in Duluth, Minnesota, beginning Thursday. The first game between No. 2 Bethany Lutheran and No. 3 Minnesota Morris is set for 4 p.m. Thursday, while game two between No. 1 St. Scholastica and No. 4 Wisconsin-Superior is slated for 7 p.m.
All tournament information including scores, recaps, team information and more can be found on the
UMAC Baseball Playoffs page. Keep up with all of the tournament action on
Twitter and
Instagram using
#UMACchamp.
Players to Watch
No. 1 St. Scholastica (conference games only)
Joey Zwak – .438 avg., 28 hits, 23 runs, 19 RBI, .531 OBP
Brian Minks – .418 avg., .562 OBP, 23 hits, 25 runs, 22 RBI, 16 BB
Grant Rindal – 2.57 ERA, 17 SO, 4 wins, 21 IP
No. 2 Bethany Lutheran (conference games only)
Brandyn Olsen – .530 avg., .848 slg., 35 hits, 25 runs, 26 RBI, 2.45 ERA, 4 wins, 42 SO
Trent Saharek – .424 avg., .457OBP, 28 hits, 17 RBI
John Brown – .354 avg., 23 hits, 21 runs, 15 RBI
No. 3 Minnesota Morris (conference games only)
Chandler Erickson – .420 avg., 29 hits, 12 runs, 11 RBI
Jackson Gessell – .358 avg., 24 hits, 16 runs, 9 RBI
Michael Dockendorf – 3.60 ERA, 4 wins, 35.0 IP, 30 SO
No. 4 Wisconsin-Superior (conference games only)
Nik Mattson – .381 avg., 16 hits, 10 RBI, .500 slg.
Chad Patko – .313 avg., 21 hits, 17 runs, 17 RBI, .567 slg.
Rich Vanden Branden – 3.81 ERA, 26.0 IP, 3 wins, 18 SO
Teams and Links
Playoff Schedule
Thursday, May 11 (Day One)
Game 1 – 4 p.m. - No. 2 Bethany Lutheran vs. No. 3 Minnesota Morris
Game 2 – 7 p.m.
- No. 1 St. Scholastica vs. No. 4 Wisconsin-Superior
Friday, May 12 (Day Two)
Game 3 – 1 p.m. - Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2
Game 4 – 4 p.m. - Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2
Game 5 – 7 p.m. - Winner of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4
Saturday, May 13 (Day Three)
Game 6 – 1 p.m. - Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 5
Game 7 – 4 p.m. - If necessary – same teams as Game 6
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.
2016 Tournament Page