MIAC baseball coaches award a Rookie of the Year as part of the annual postseason honors. 

Midway through the season, Hamline's Devin Rodgers is quickly becoming a serious contender for the award. Tne Californian score three runs, was on base four times (two hits, two walks) and recorded four stolen bases Friday as the Pipers split a pair of 5-4 decision with Minnesota-Morris at CHS Field. At 14 stolen bases, he is second in the conference and nearly halfway to the school record of 29 set by Brandon Bauleke in 1996. 

Rodgers' baserunning abilities was on full display in the Pipers' win in the opener. The game was scoreless in the second inning when Mitch Benson was hit by a pitch. Rodgers walked. The pair then took off on a successful double steal. Benson was forced out at the plate on a grounder hit by Jake Dujmovic with Rodgers advancing to third. Another double steal followed with Rodgers easily beating a relay throw to the plate. HU scored another run in that inning and three more in the third on RBI hits by Rick Tormey and Benson. 

That proved to be just enough to hold off the Cougars. Evan Bayer went the first 4,1 innings to earn the win with Zach Munsterman gaining a save for working the seventh inning. 

In the second game, the Cougars jumped to an early 2-0 lead only to see Tormey cut in half with his second home run of the year to left field. UMM went up 5-2 but Rodgers got two back by scoring runs in the fourth (on a Jacob Picht single) and the sixth via a wild pitch. He recorded two more thefts in the game. Jake Woessner, who started the game, took the loss for HU. Tormey improved his batting average to .309 on the season with a pair of hits. One other bright note: Alex Bauermeister threw four innings of solid relief, allowing just one run  and two hits.

Hamline is 9-13 overall. They return to MIAC play (where they stand 2-2) Saturday with a doubleheader at Gustavus Adolphus. The first game begins at 1:00 p.m.