MINNETONKA, Minn. – Saint John's won its first MIAC Baseball Playoff Championship and earned the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament with a 10-5 victory over No. 2 St. Thomas on Sunday, May 13, in Minnetonka.
The Johnnies (29-14, 14-6 MIAC) will make their third trip to the NCAA Tournament, and first since 1998, this Wednesday, May 16, at a site to be determined. The NCAA pairings are scheduled to be announced Monday, May 14. Details will be announced on www.gojohnnies.com as soon as the information becomes available.
St. Thomas (34-8, 19-1 MIAC) forced the one-game championship with a 6-3 win against SJU earlier in the day Sunday. The Johnnies bounced back, however, taking control of the title game with a seven-run third inning en route to the 10-5 victory.
The Tommies turned an infield single into a run to take an early 1-0 lead in the first inning of the decisive game. SJU answered, however, with a crooked number in the bottom of the third.
Freshman catcher Kurt Jantscher (Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) walked to start the inning and sophomore outfielder Tom Druk (Plymouth, Minn./Orono) doubled to left center to tie the game at 1-1. UST's Zach Franz hit the next batter, freshman outfielder Aaron Pfaff (New Ulm, Minn./Cathedral), before junior Connor Cline (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) cleared the bases with a two-run double.
Junior shortstop Max Forster (Minnetonka, Minn./Hopkins) greeted the new reliever, John Licht, with a two-run homer, his fourth of the season, to make it 5-1. Sophomore outfielder Dylan Graves (Mora, Minn.) singled through the left side and sophomore designated hitter Josh Groth (Fridley, Minn.) blasted his second home run of the season to plate the Johnnies' sixth and seventh runs of the inning, all with no outs.
St. Thomas' Dylan Thomas tallied a two-out, RBI single in the fifth but was thrown out at home attempting to score on a double from Charles Bruchu to end the inning.
Back-to-back walks and an error on a sac bunt attempt from Pfaff loaded the bases for SJU in the sixth before Forster extended SJU's lead to 9-2 with a two-run single.
UST loaded the bases with nobody out in both the seventh and eighth innings but managed to score only three runs. Tim Kuzniar singled in a pair of runs in the seventh to cut UST's deficit to 9-4. Thomas hit a bloop single to right field, but Ben Podobinski was thrown out at home attempting to score from second for the first out of the inning. The Tommies' next batter, Bruchu, lifted what looked to be a sac fly to center, but Graves made the catch and threw out Thomas tagging from second before Kuzniar reached home plate.
Senior outfielder Brace Hemmelgarn (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral) ripped a two-out, RBI double to bring in Jantscher in the bottom half of the inning. Jantscher, who made his first start of the season behind the plate, walked three times and scored two runs from the No. 8 spot in the lineup.
The Tommies managed to load the bases, and eventually score a run, with no hits in the eighth to end the scoring for both teams.
Junior Scott Schroeder (Richmond, Minn./Rocori) improved to 4-0 with the win, his fourth start of the season, allowing four runs on 10 hits with three strikeouts in six innings. Sophomore catcher Justin Thompson (Chanhassen, Minn./Chaska) allowed two hits in an inning of work, while junior Joey Long (Belvidere, Ill./Rockford Boylan) struck out two in two innings of hitless relief. He allowed one hit and struck out three in four innings (three appearances) of scoreless relief in the tournament.
Forster ended the game 2-for-4 with a homer and four RBI, while Cline and Groth each had a hit and two RBI.
SJU manufactured a run with a leadoff walk in the top of the third inning of Sunday's early game. Long took the base on balls and advanced to third on groundouts from Thompson and Becker before Pfaff ripped a 2-2 pitch through the right side to give the Johnnies an early 1-0 lead.
The lead was short-lived, however, as UST scored three runs on four hits in the bottom half of the inning. The Tommies added a run each in both the fifth and sixth innings off Cline, and added another off junior Adam Wenker (Sartell, Minn./Sartell-St. Stephen) in the seventh.
Long cut the Johnnies' deficit to 6-3 with a one-out, two-run triple in the top of the ninth.
Cline fell to 7-5 on the year, allowing five runs (four earned) on 10 hits with three strikeouts in six innings. Wenker allowed a run on two hits in two innings of relief. Four different Johnnies tallied a hit as UST out-hit the “visitors” 12-4. Four of the Tommies' six runs scored with two outs.
Notes: With the win, SJU tied its program record for most wins in a season, 29-8 in 1994, the Johnnies' first trip to the NCAA Tournament…the MIAC Playoff title is the first for SJU since soccer won the crown in Fall 2005…Graves ended the tournament 7-for-18 with two home runs, four RBI and four runs scored.