05/14/07

For the third season in a row St. Scholastica baseball will be heading to the NCAA Tournament, taking part in the Midwest Regional this Wednesday through Friday, May 16-19, in Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.

The Saints, fresh off their 11th consecutive UMAC title held last weekend at Wade Stadium, will enter the Regional as the No. 6 seed. Their first game will be against top-seeded UW-Stevens Point, the 25th-ranked team in the nation. St. Scholastica was ranked 29th in the same poll (ABCA, May 8).

Joining St. Scholastica and the Pointers in the Regional will be No. 2 seed St. Thomas (national ABCA No. 14), No. 3 seed Ripon (Wis.) College, No. 4 St. Olaf (ABCA No. 27), and No. 5 seed UW-Oshkosh (ABCA No. 8).

Stevens Point and St. Scholastica have already squared off once this season. In the second game of the 2007 schedule, the Saints and Pointers played in the Minneapolis Metrodome with Stevens Point taking a 7-6 decision. The Saints held a 5-0 lead before surrendering all seven Pointers runs —two were unearned — in the top of the third inning.

Leading the Saints into the Regional will be UMAC Player of the Year Blake Eller, and UMAC Co-Pitchers of the Year Chad Weiss and Adian Kummet.

A junior outfield, Eller is hot off a weekend in which he batted .500 (6-for-12) including four extra-base hits at the UMAC tournament and was named the Tournament MVP. Weiss, a senior pitcher/outfielder, earned All-Tournament honors as well.

In addition to Eller, Weiss, and Kummet, five more Saints were selected to the All-UMAC First Team at season’s end. Junior outfielder Steve Kraushaar, junior catcher Mike Lewis, senior pitcher Mark Moriarty, senior pitcher/infielder Keith Ritsche and senior infielder Brandon Swartz joined the trio on the all-conference squad. Senior pitcher Mark Erickson earned honorable mention All-UMA honors.