Game Summaries
Game 1: #4 Hamline 4, #1 St. Thomas 1
Hamline Josh Roiger tossed a complete-game, scattering 12 hits, and Hamline used a three-run fifth inning to upset 28th-ranked and top seed St. Thomas, 4-1. The Pipers (26-13), in their first postseason appearance, used a Dan Kaczrowski bases-loaded single to score two runs in the fifth, followed by Andrew Bennett's RBI double. The Pipers extended the lead to 4-0 in the sixth when James Bachmeier led off the inning with a triple and scored on Brian Kingery's single.
Roiger (8-1) beat the Tommies for the second time this season, throwing 127 pitches, 86 of which were for strikes, in winning his eighth consecutive decision. Dan Leslie (7-2) suffered the loss, allowing eight hits and three runs in five innings of work.
The loss left the Tommies on the bubble in terms of NCAA Championships selection. They'll have to await the NCAA committee's announcement of the tournament field late Sunday night or early Monday morning. The win left the Pipers one victory away from their first NCAA Tournament appearance as they have now won 14 of their last 18 games.
Game 2: #2 St. Olaf 6, #3 Gustavus 4
Todd Mathison pitched 6.1 innings of scoreless relief and Tyler Johnson's two-out RBI single in the fifth helped second seed St. Olaf rally past third-seeded Gustavus, 6-4.
The 19th-ranked Oles (27-8) used a three-run fifth to erase a 4-2 deficit. A pair of hits and hit by pitch loaded the bases with no outs. Following a line-out, Luke Gagnon flew out to shallow leftfield. Wade Vrieze threw home, overshooting the catcher by a good five feet. The errant throw went into the first-base dugout, allowing two runs to score. Johnson followed with a two-out single to right, giving the Oles a 5-4 advantage.
The Oles' Andrew Schmiesing added a solo homer in the sixth, but Mathison (8-0) didn't need the insurance run, as the rookie scattered four hits in shutting down the Gusties over the final six-plus innings.
Gustavus (28-12) took a 4-2 lead in the second when Tony Konicek blasted a grand-slam to straightaway centerfield off Ole ace Eric Tobias. Konocek ended the day 3-for-4 for the Gusties and Aaron Madson added two hits.
Eight different Ole starters recorded hits, with Brett Berry driving home a pair of runs with a first-inning double. Johnson and Schmiesing had two hits each for the Oles. St. Olaf advanced to the MIAC Playoffs title game for the fifth time in seven tries.
Game 3: #2 St. Olaf 3, #4 Hamline 2
St. Olaf's Paul Johnson tossed a complete game, fanning 13, and Chris Terrazas drove home the eventual game-winning run with a RBI single in the fifth as St. Olaf outlasted Hamline, 3-2, in the MIAC Playoff title game.
The win clinches the MIAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for 19th-ranked St. Olaf (28-8), which will find out its placement in the championship field late tonight or early tomorrow morning.
The Pipers (26-14), who had won 14 of their last 18 after Friday's upset of regular-season champion St. Thomas, used a James Bachmeier two-run home run to tie the game at 2-2 in the second and had the potential game-tying run at second with one out in the eighth. Johnson struck out Bachmeier and Brian Kingery, who was 4-for-6 in the two tournament games, to escape the jam. Johnson then worked a perfect ninth for his fifth win of the season.
The Oles took a brief 2-0 lead in the second on Kyle McDermott's two-run shot to center, his first homer of the season and only his third and fourth RBI on the year. Bachmeier responded with his own two-run blast in the bottom of the frame, his fifth of the season.
The Oles broke the tie in the fifth when Terrazas singled home leadoff hitter Brian Astry, who singled with one out to start the rally.
Hamline's best chance to even the score came in the sixth, when Bachmeier and Kingery both singled with one out, putting runners on the corners. An attempted bunt was lined right back to Johnson, who caught the ball and doubled Kingery off first base to end the inning.
Johnson (5-2) scattered nine hits and walked two for his fifth complete game of the season. Hamline's Kyle Foster (5-3) suffered the loss, as he lasted five innings and allowed seven hits and three runs. Brian Martin tossed four scoreless innings in relief of Foster, giving up but three hits.