DULUTH, Minn. – The St. Scholastica baseball team defeated Northwestern on Saturday 12-8 at Wade Stadium to win its 16th consecutive Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament Championship and earn the conference's automatic qualifier into the NCAA Tournament.

On a blustery day which saw essentially all four seasons with bursts of rain, snow, sleet and sunshine, Northwestern defeated Martin Luther 5-2 earlier in the day to advance to the title game for the second consecutive year.

In the championship game against the Saints, the Eagles (17-18) got on the board in the top of the first thanks to a pair of St. Scholastica errors. Unfortunately, for the Saints that would be a trend for much of the game.

After St. Scholastica went down in order in the bottom of the first, the Saints got things rolling in a big way in the second. The first seven batters in the inning reached base as Andy Schwantes (Lakeville, Minn./Apple Valley HS (Minn.-Duluth)) had a two-run double, Padraic Getchell (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater HS (North Dakota)) had a RBI double and later scored on a Kyle Jensen (Wyoming, Minn./Forest Lake HS) sacrifice fly. Then Kyle Flagstad (Hinckley, Minn./Hinckley-Finlayson HS) had a RBI double, Jake Casareto (International Falls, Minn./Falls HS) had a RBI single, Schwantes had another RBI single, Jake Kuschke (Mahtomedi, Minn./Mahtomedi HS) had a RBI single and Jordan O'Neill (Blaine, Minn./Totino-Grace HS) had a RBI double. In the inning the Saints had 10 runs come across on nine hits as CSS led 10-1 after two.

Northwestern got two of those runs back in the third with one coming off a play where two St. Scholastica errors were committed. The Eagles scored two more unearned runs in the fourth to keep within striking distance at 10-5.

The Saints added some cushion to the lead in the sixth on a Kuschke two-run single to make it 12-5. However, St. Scholastica would commit three errors to begin the seventh inning that ultimately led to three unearned runs for the Eagles to make it 12-8. Northwestern would strand the bases loaded in the inning.

The backend of the St. Scholastica bullpen would hold it in the final two innings as the Saints hung on for the 12-8 victory.

CSSSaints.com photo by Erin Cullen

Of the eight runs that were scored by Northwestern, just one was earned. The Saints set an unfortunate program record, committing eight errors in the win.

Jake Nystrom (Fargo, N.D./Fargo North HS) earned the win in relief, going three innings, striking out three and scattering four hits. Mickie Keuning (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS (Angelo State)) started for the Saints and went four innings, allowing four hits. Daniel Wood (Canyon, Minn./South Ridge HS) and Zack Farmer (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS) combined to pitch the final two innings and allowed just one hit.

Casareto, Parker Olson (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS (Minn.-Duluth)) and Kuschke all went 3-for-4 with Kuschke and Schwantes each recording three RBIs. Casareto extended his hitting streak to 22 games, which is currently the fifth-longest in program history.

The Saints (27-9) will find out where they will make their ninth straight NCAA Division III Regional Tournament appearance and whom they will face when the pairings are announced Monday morning.