Vikings survive to face Saints in UMAC baseball championship round Saturday

Vikings survive to face Saints in UMAC baseball championship round Saturday

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DULUTH, Minn.---The 2017 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) baseball tournament championship round will see the top two seeds face off Saturday as No. 2 Bethany Lutheran College staved off elimination for a rematch with No. 1 College of St. Scholastica Saturday. 

No. 4 University of Wisconsin-Superior held off a comeback from No. 3 University of Minnesota Morris for a 12-11 victory before falling to No. 2 Bethany Lutheran in the evening elimination game Friday. The Vikings fell to No. 1 St. Scholastica in the middle game and will need to win twice Saturday to win the entire tournament. 

| Tournament Site | Game Three | Game Four | Game Five |
 
Game 3 - No. 4 Wisconsin-Superior def.  No. 3 Minnesota Morris, 12-11 | Box Score | 
After sweeping No. 4 Wisconsin-Superior in the regular season in close games, No. 3 Minnesota Morris knew the Yellowjackets would be hungry for a win. Despite having an early lead and putting together a strong attempt at a comeback, the Cougars couldn't overcome a 12-run performance over four innings from the Yellowjackets adn were the first team sent home Friday. 

The Cougars started off dominant with a run scored in the first, a no-hitter through three and a three-run effort in the bottom of the third to take a 4-0 lead. The third inning saw Chandler Erickson score his second run of the day on a two-RBI single from Connor Spindler. He then scored on a RBI from Donnie Mavencamp. 

The Yellowjackets began their scoring spree in the fifth that got started with a run on a throwing error before Brandon Rolf hit a two-RBI double to make it a one-run game. The Cougars went three-up three-down in the bottom of the inning which gave way to a five-run inning for the Jackets. Three runs came in on three-straight walks, while two came across on RBI singles from Chad Patko and Travis Miller. 

In the sixth, the Yellowjackets added a ninth run on a throwing error before the Cougars chipped away at the lead adding a fifth run. Cory Albertson pushed the Yellowjackets' run total to 12 with a three-run home run over the left field wall making it a 12-5 game. A sacrifie fly for the Cougars cut the lead to six heading into the final inning. 

Just as it appeared the Cougars had no chance to win, they strung together a solid ninth inning that started with a sac fly from Mavencamp to score the seventh run. Lucas Luedtke singled to pull the Cougars within four. Bryce Jergenson plated the ninth run before Erickson launched a two-run double to the left field wall. A diving grab from Patko at second ended the game and the Cougars comeback attempt. 

Rolf led the Yellowjackets at the plate with three hits and three RBI from the leadoff position, while Miller and Nick McNosky each had two hits a piece. Greg Pitts scored three of the Yellowjackets runs and was 2-for-2 with a walk. Grant Schneider earned the win pitching six innings with just five hits allowed and two strikeouts. 

For the Cougars, Erickson was 4-for-5 with three runs and two RBI as the lead off. Zach Kuefler went 4-for-4 with two runs scored and a walk. Tyler Hannan recorded the loss in one inning of work. The Cougars finished the season 18-20 overall after finishing tied for second in the UMAC standings for a program-best season. 

Game 4 - No. 1 St. Scholastica def. No. 2 Bethany Lutheran, 10-1 | Box Score |
The second game of the day featured two of the top UMAC pitchers this season in Martin Alcoverde of the No. 1 Saints and Brandyn Olsen of No. 2 Bethany Lutheran started out as a pitching battle. Unfortunately, though, for the Olsen, the Vikings committed several costly errors early that theey couldn't over come in the loss. 

Alcoverde allowed two hits in the opening inning, but the Saints' defense picked him up and held the Vikings scoreless. They then followed up with three runs in the bottom of the first due in large part to opponent mistakes. Joey Zwak reached on a throwing error and then came home on a triple from Tyler Duex. A single from Brian Minks brought Deux around before he later came home on another throwing error by the Vikings. 

Olsen and Alcoverde then pitched shutout ball through the next three innings until the Vikings finally capitalized on hits in the fifth. At the plate Olsen added a RBI on a ground out to score John Brown for the lone Viking run of the game. 

After throwing well over 100 pitches, the Saints started to wear down on Olsen in the sixth picking up four runs on three hits and a fourth Vikings' error. The first three Saints' batters of the inning tallied singles to load the bases for Trevor Bernsdorf who reached on a fielder's choice and drove in Connor Wollenzien before Riley Bernsdorf scored on a throwing error. Drew Colvard and Zwak then picked up back-to-back sacrifice flies to score two more making it 7-1 in favor of the Saints. 

In the bottom of the seventh, the Saints compiled another inning of offense with RBI from Eric Pearson and Trevor Bernsdorf to take a 10-1 lead. Joe Gonrowski and Matt Hanson combined for three shutout innings and allowed no hits to seal up the win and the Saints' spot in the tournament championship Saturday. 

Steven Neutzling led the Saints offensively going 3-for-5 and Zwak, Duex and Riley Bernsdorf each tallied two hits a piece. Alcoverde pitched six innings for his seventh win of the season and struck out six Vikings in the process. Trent Saharek led the Vikings with two hits, while Olsen finished with six innings pitched and just four earned runs on seven hits in suffering his first loss of the season. 

Game 5 - No. 2 Bethany Lutheran def. No. 4 Wisconsin-Superior, 8-6 | Box Score |
With a shot at the Saints and the conference tournament title on the line, the evening elimination game was sure to be a thriller. After building a lead early, the Vikings managed to get two outs including a strikeout on bases loaded in the top of the night to send the Yellowjackets packing. 

The Vikings may have committed a series of errors in their opener, but the reverse was true in the nightcap as the Yellowjackets allowed the Vikings three runs on a few misfortunes. Brown was hit by pitch as the lead off and eventually scored on a throwing error. Walker Linde then singled to center scoring Saharek and Kevin Harris who each had hits to reach base. 

The Yellowjackets responded immediately in the second when Braeden Barr doubled to send Albertson and Nik Mattson across to make it 3-2. Brown and Jordan Grams each scored to push the Vikings' lead to three in the bottom of the second. Albertson scored Kyle Bellin in the top of the third for UWS to put the score at 5-3 in favor of the Vikings. 

In the bottom of the fourth, Clay Anderson reached on an error as the first batter and eventually scored on a single from Saharek. Brown added another run to his stat line later in the inning to give the Vikings what felt like a safe 7-3 lead. 

Wisconsin-Superior got some momentum back in the fifth as Albertson drove in another run to pull back within two. Barr then doubled down the left field line to plate two runs to make it a 7-6 game and put the pressure on the Vikings to hold. Bethany added another run in the seventh before holding off a late-game surge from the Yellowjackets. 

Saharek led the Vikings' attack going 3-for-5 with two RBI, while Linde and Anderson each had two hits. Logan Nissen came in to pitch in relief in the fifth and struck out seven batters including the final of the game to help the Vikings to a win. Barr led the Yellowjackets with three hits and four RBI at the plate. The Yellowjackets end their season 16-27 with the loss. 

The championship game between No. 1 St. Scholastica and No. 2 Bethany Lutheran is set to start at 1 p.m. Saturday at Wade Stadium. Should Bethany Lutheran win the opener, the second game will take place at approximately 4 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.
 

Playoff Schedule
Thursday, May 11 (Day One)
Game 1 – No. 2 Bethany Lutheran def. No. 3 Minnesota Morris, 7-4 | Box Score | UMM Recap | BLC Recap |
Game 2 – No. 1 St. Scholastica def. No. 4 Wisconsin-Superior, 12-2 | Box Score | CSS Recap | UWS Recap |

Friday, May 12 (Day Two)
Game 3 – No. 4 Wisconsin-Superior def. No. 3 Minnesota Morris, 12-11 | Box Score | UMM Recap | UWS Recap |
Game 4 – No. 1 St. Scholastica def. No. 2 Bethany Lutheran, 10-1 | Box Score | CSS Recap | BLC Recap |
Game 5 – No. 2 Bethany Lutheran def. No. 4 Wisconsin-Superior, 8-6 | Box Score | BLC Recap | UWS Recap | 

Saturday, May 13 (Day Three)
Game 6 – 1 p.m. - Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 5 | Live Broadcast |
Game 7 – 4 p.m. - If necessary – same teams as Game 6 | Live Broadcast |
 

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.
 
2017 Tournament Page