MINNETONKA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University baseball team makes its first MIAC Tournament appearance in 10 years Friday, as the Cardinals square off against St. Thomas at 3 p.m. at Veteran's Field.

The MIAC Tournament Field:
#1 St. Thomas Tommies (19-1 MIAC | 31-16 Overall)
#2 Saint John's Johnnies (13-5 MIAC | 25-12 Overall)
#3 Bethel Royals (11-9 MIAC | 20-18 Overall)
#4 Saint Mary's Cardinals (10-10 MIAC | 21-18 Overall)

The MIAC Tournament Schedule:
Friday, May 11, 2012 | Veteran's Fields | Minnetonka, Minn.
Game 1: #4 Saint Mary's 4, #1 St. Thomas 2 (10 innings) | SMU Recap
Game 2: #2 Saint John's 7, #3 Bethel 3 | SJU Recap
MIAC Day 1 Recap | Day 1 Photo Gallery

Saturday, May 12, 2012 | Veteran's Fields | Minnetonka, Minn.
Game 3: #1 St. Thomas 7, #3 Bethel 0 | UST Recap
Game 4: #2 Saint John's 4, #4 Saint Mary's 2  | SMU Recap
Game 5: #1 St. Thomas 10, #4 Saint Mary's 2 | SMU Recap
MIAC Day 2 Recap | Day 2 Photo Gallery
Sunday, May 13, 2012 | Rice Creek Fields | Shoreview, Minn.
Game 6: #1 St Thomas 6, #2 Saint John's 3 | SJU Recap
Game 7: #2 Saint John's 10, #1 St. Thomas 5 | SJU Recap
MIAC Day 3 Recap | Day 3 Photo Gallery

GameDay Live On The Web:
Live Stats | Live Audio/Video | Video Preview
Tournament Homepage | Tournament Preview

How They Got Here:
Though the top two seeds were already in place, the drama of the 2012 MIAC baseball season culminated during the final day of the regular-season, Bethel scored a final-day sweep to grab one of the two remaining spots, and Saint Mary's used a split and a little help to finalize the four-team field. ST. THOMAS locked up the regular-season title and the tournament's No. 1 seed with a week to go in the regular season, finishing with a near-perfect 19-1 MIAC mark and a 31-16 overall record. SAINT JOHN'S, fueled by a 13-5 conference mark and a 25-12 overall record also secured its post-season fate early, clinching the No. 2 seed with four games to play. … BETHEL posted 4-3 and 10-2 wins over Concordia — which was also battling for a tournament berth — on the final day of the regular season to push its record to 20-18 overall and 11-9 in the conference to emerge from a crowded field and snag the No. 3 seed. … SAINT MARY'S completed the four-team field by starting the day with a split against Carleton, which turned the Cardinals' (21-18, 10-10) attention to the scoreboard. Augsburg also got to 10 wins with a 2-1 win over Saint John's in the first game of their doubleheader, but the Johnnies split the series with a 4-2 win in Game 2. SMU swept the Auggies on April 29 to take the fourth seed via the first tiebreaker criteria, which is head-to-head results.

MIAC Tournament — A Year Ago:
May 13-15, 2011 | Veteran's Stadium * Minnetonka, Minn.
St. Thomas beat Hamline 5-1 in the first game of the tournament's final day — handing the Pipers their first loss of the tourney and setting up a winner-take-all final game of the double-elimination tournament. Hamline scored three runs in the top of the eighth to rally for a 7-5 victory and the MIAC's automatic NCAA Division III National Tournament berth. The Pipers, seeded third, won its first two games by identical 4-3 scores to move into the title series without a loss. Five of the tournament's seven games were decided by two runs or less — including three one-run contests | 2011 MIAC Tournament Homepage

SMU At The MIAC Tournament — Their Last Appearance:
May 10, 2002 | SMU vs. St. Olaf | Dundas, Minn.
For eight-and-two-thirds innings in the opening round of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament, the Cardinals were flawless. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, however, SMU made its lone mistake — a fielding error by Rob Kimlinger — and the Oles made the Cardinals pay, as Kevin Quame laced a 2-1 Wlliamson offering to deep left-center, scoring two runs and carrying St. Olaf to a 2-1 victory.
May 10, 2002 | SMU vs. Gustavus | Dundas, Minn.
As Yogi Berra once said, "Talk about deja vu all over again." Less than three hours after losing a heartbreaking 2-1 decision to St. Olaf on a two-out double in the bottom of the ninth inning, Saint Mary's heart was broke again, as Gustavus' Tom Ramy launched a one-out, three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to break a 0-0 tie and give the Gusties' a 3-0 victory.

vs. The MIAC Tournament Field:
Saint Mary's vs. St. Thomas | April 9, 2012 | St. Paul, Minn.
As if playing the seventh-ranked team in the country wasn't tough enough, the Cardinals had to try and solve the league-leading and nationally ranked Tommies in icy temperatures that included 25-mph winds in St. Paul, Minn. Unfortunately, no matter how hard they tried, it was a combination the Cardinals just could not unlock. St. Thomas pitcher Bryce Gapinski outdueled SMU's Teddy VanRanst (St. Paul, Minn.) in the opener, as the Tommie right-hander limited the Cardinals to just four hits — while retiring the last 11 batters he faced — in a 3-0 UST victory. And in the nightcap the Tommies used a two-run fourth inning to rally from a 3-2 deficit and hand SMU a 4-3 setback Monday.

Saint Mary's vs. Saint John's | April 21, 2012 | Winona, Minn.
SJU pitchers Ryan Spengler and Joey Long limited the Cardinals to just four hits — three singles and Pat Krieger's (Mendota Heights, Minn.) first-inning double — as the Johnnies dropped SMU 5-1 in the opener of their MIAC doubleheader at Max Molock Field. The Cardinals' bats came to life in Game 2, as SMU banged out nine hits and used a five-run second inning to earn a split with a 9-3 victory.

Saint Mary's vs. Bethel | March 31, 2012 | Winona, Minn.
The Cardinals surrendered a three-run home run in the top of the seventh in falling to Bethel 4-3 in the teams' MIAC opener at Max Molock Field, and the Royals' used that momentum to propel them to a 12-2 victory in the nightcap.

St. Thomas vs. Saint John's | April 10, 2012 | St. Paul, Minn.
It was blistering cold day at the Koch Diamond on the UST campus, but that didn't stop the flame-throwing tandem of Dylan Thomas and Steve Maher from dishing out dominant back-to-back complete-game performances in a showdown between the only two unbeaten MIAC teams. The two junior-college transfers combined for 22 strikeouts in 14 innings to help lead No. 5-ranked St. Thomas to 2-1 and 5-0 victories and a doubleheader sweep over St. John's.

St. Thomas vs. Bethel | April 29, 2012 | St. Paul, Minn.
St. Thomas scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning, then held off a furious Bethel comeback, as the Tommies opened their conference doubleheader against the Royals with a 4-3 victory. UST then completed the sweep with a 2-0 win in the nightcap, as the Tommies' Dylan Thomas tossed a complete-game, four-hit shutout, walking four and striking out six. The Tommies' scored the game's only runs in the second on a two-run single by Jon Kinsel.

Saint John's vs. Bethel | April 14, 2012 | Collegeville, Minn.
Saint John's and Bethel battled to a conference split in their regular-season meeting in Collegeville, Minn. Trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the ninth, Luke Larson drew a bases-loaded walk to plate the game-tying run and Max Forster did the same — on a high 3-2 pitch — to bring in the game-winning run in SJU's 4-3 Game 1 win. Bethel recorded three, two-out hits to score three runs in the top of the fifth, then added an insurance run in the seventh beat the Johnnies 4-1 in the nightcap.

Saint Mary's Cardinals News and Notes:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule | 2012 Media Guide
Fueled by their regular season-ending split against Carleton — and a little help from Saint John's — the Cardinals are making their first MIAC Tournament appearance since 2002. … The Cardinals head into post-season play having won five of their last seven. … After opening conference play 0-6, SMU has gone 10-4 in its last 14 MIAC contests. … The Cardinals' 3-2 Game 1 victory over Carleton on Monday was their 21st win of the season. It marks the first time SMU has reached the 20-win plateau since 1996, when the Cardinals finished 23-15. … SMU's 3-2 victory over Carleton in their opener Monday was the 16th one-run game the Cardinals have played this season. Ten of SMU's 18 losses have been by one run. … As a team, the Cardinals are hitting .314 — only regular-season champion St. Thomas owns a better batting average among MIAC teams at .315. … The Cardinals closed out the 2012 regular season leading the MIAC in runs (217), hits (363), RBIs (195), doubles (78) and on-base percentage, while finishing second in slugging percentage (.422), total bases (1,369), at-bats (1,155) and walks (133). … SMU boasts 10 players who are hitting above .300, led by Pat Krieger (Mendota Heights, Minn.) and Kevin Gannon (Roselle, Ill.) at .395 and .394, respectively. … Gannon also enters the MIAC Tournament leading the team in at-bats (132), runs (26), hits (52), doubles (16), RBIs (31) and total bases (73). … Gannon has recorded a team-best 18 multiple-hit game. He and Danny Geraghty (Park Ridge, Ill.) each put together 11-game hitting streaks this season. … Jon Schlemmer (De Pere, Wis.) has belted 17 extra-base hits among his 36 hits this season, including team-highs of five triples and four home runs. He is also boasting a team-leading .673 slugging percentage. … Schlemmer owns a team-leading eight multiple-RBI games. … Schlemmer's four HRs have come in two games. The sophomore has recorded two-home run, five-RBI performances against Viterbo and St. Olaf this season. … SMU launched a season-high three home runs in its 11-8, Game 1 win over St. Olaf on April 18. Schlemmer hit two and Matt Tessmer (West St. Paul, Minn.) accounted for the other. … Tessmer's bomb was the first HR of his collegiate career. … Gannon and Zach Wolfe (Wabasha, Minn.) join Tessmer as Cardinals who have hit their first collegiate home runs this season. Gannon hit his first collegiate home run in Game 1 against Lewis & Clark on March 10, while Wolfe's first collegiate round-tripper came against Simpson on March 8. … Mike Feriancek (River Falls, Wis.) has stolen a team-leading 20 bases on 22 attempts this season. … Paul LaNasa (Mahtomedi, Minn.) has recorded both of the Cardinals' four-hit games, while Schlemmer's five RBIs vs. Viterbo and St. Olaf are a single-game team-best. … Teddy VanRanst (St. Paul, Minn.) has been the ace of the Cardinals' pitching staff, picking up his team- and career-high sixth win against Carleton Monday, when the junior left-hander allowed two runs on seven hits in six innings of work. … VanRanst enters Friday's tournament opener against St. Thomas with a 6-4 record and a 3.05 ERA. He has thrown a team-leading 59.0 innings, recording four complete games and one shutout — all career-bests — while also striking out 27 batters. … VanRanst has lasted at least four innings in all 10 of his starts. … Tyler Krysiak (Bloomington, Minn.) notched saves No. 5 and No. 6 last week — holding both Hamline and Carleton without a hit or a run. … Krysiak's six saves tie SMU's single-season school record, first set by Eric Van Brocklin in 1993. … Justin Kronebusch (Altura, Minn.) leads the squad with 37 strikeouts and is second to VanRanst in innings pitched with 52.0 … The Cardinals boast six pitchers — Sam Nord (West. St. Paul, Minn.), Sean Minder (Maplewood, Minn.), Krysiak, Pat Regan (Mound, Minn.), Jake Merkle (Mahtomedi, Minn.) and Will DeBruin (Neenah, Wis.) — who have notched their first collegiate pitching wins this season. … As a team, the Cardinals are fielding at a .962 clip — led by LaNasa (.983) and Gannon (.979). LaNasa has committed just three errors in 170 fielding attempts at second base, while Gannon has just four errors in 185 chances at first base. … As a team, the Cardinals have plated 217 runs in 39 games this season — including a season-high 15 runs in their 15-4 Game 2 win over Gustavus on April 14. … SMU is 16-2 when leading after the sixth inning, and are 19-2 when out-hitting its opponent. … The Cardinals enjoyed a streak-snapping four-day run from April 14-18.  SMU picked up its first conference sweep in 41 MIAC doubleheaders with their 7-6, 15-4 victories over Gustavus on April 14, then notched their first back-to-back MIAC sweeps since 2003 with 11-8, 5-3 wins over St. Olaf four days later on April 18. … SMU's sweep of Gustavus on April 14 was its first over GAC since beating the Gusties 9-3 and 6-4 on April 6, 2005. The Cardinals' last sweep of St. Olaf, meanwhile, came on April 21, 2001, when SMU beat the Oles 7-1 and 2-1. … The Cardinals' 1-0, 14-inning victory over UW-Oshkosh on March 25 was their longest game since beating Christian Brothers University 6-5 in 14 innings on March 30, 1999. … SMU's 6-5, eight-inning win over Augsburg on April 29 was the Cardinals' third extra-inning game — and third extra-inning win — this season. Along with Augsburg and UW-Oshkosh, SMU also dispatched of Lewis & Clark 14-13 in 10 innings on March 10. … With their 9-2, 5-2 victories over NCAA Division II Northern State on March 4, the Cardinals opened the season with a sweep for the first time since taking two from Valley City State to kick off the 2005 season.

St. Thomas Tommies News and Notes:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule
The Tommies are in the MIAC playoffs for 13th time in the 13-year history of the format and are looking to secure their 17th NCAA playoff berth in the last 18 seasons. … The Tommies are ranked No. 2 in the latest d3baseball.com and ABCA polls. They were unranked in first d3baseball poll of season — after a 28-18 finish in 2011 — and have climbed from No. 25 to 23 to 19 to 13 to 7 to 5 to 3 to 2. In the ABCA poll, UST has climbed from No. 13 to 10 to 8 to 7 to 4 to No. 2. … St. Thomas has been among Division III's elite baseball programs over the last 18 seasons. The Tommies were NCAA runners-up in 1999 and 2000; and won NCAA championships in 2001 and 2009. They have won 30 or more games in 16 of the last 18 seasons. … Dylan Thomas went 4-0 with a save in April on the mound and also took over the DH role. In UST's 19-1 conference run, Thomas is hitting .481 with 26 hits and 19 RBI and a current 11-game hitting streak… As a pitcher, Thomas started 0-2 but in his last seven appearances is 5-0 with a 0.75 ERA. … Steve Maher became UST's first pitcher to reach 10 season wins during April. He finished the conference season tied with Macalester's Nick Meerson as the MIAC wins leader with five victories. … Bryce Gapinski was 2-0 with 0.00 ERA in 11 innings last week and ran his scoreless streak to 18 innings. He moved to 26-5 on his career (2.90 ERA, 41 starts, 45 app.) with two wins and 11 shutout innings in MIAC victories at Concordia and at Gustavus, and now has four shutouts on the MIAC season. Gapinski moved to 7-0 on the season and lowered his ERA to 1.93. He allowed no runs, three hits and two walks (one K) in five innings at Concordia, and on Monday allowed no runs, five hits, one walk (three Ks) in six innings to defeat Gustavus in a game that was 1-0 through four innings. Gapinski has 16 career wins against MIAC opponents including at least one over eight of the conference's 10 teams. … UST hit just three home runs in its first 28 games, but has eight in its last nine games. … Charles Bruchu has reached base in 13 of his last 15 games and has no errors in his last 55 chances at third base. … Ben Podobinski is batting .368 with 46 hits, 34 runs and 16 steals in 36 games as the team's leadoff hitter. … The Tommies are tops nationally among 365 Division III programs with a .980 field percentage — only eight of their 24 errors have come from their infielders (1B, 2B, SS, 3B). … UST is 14-1 this season in games decided by two runs or less — or in extra innings — after going 7-12 in such games in 2011. … The Tommies have eight comeback wins in 2012. … Before their 9-2 loss to the University of Minnesota on May 1, Gopher loss, the Tommies had won a school-record 21 games in row. The previous record was 18 in a row back in 1997. … UST's 9-3, Game 1 loss to Gustavus last Monday, snapped their 30-game regular-season MIAC winning streak. … St. Thomas has won or shared 10 consecutive MIAC baseball championships. It's the fourth longest active MIAC team title streak after St. Thomas men's indoor track and field (28 in row), Gustavus men's tennis (24 in row) and UST women's indoor track and field (13 in row).

Saint John's Johnnies News and Notes:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule
The 2012 appearance at the MIAC Tournament is the Johnnies' fifth overall and their third consecutive. SJU has a 3-8 tournament record, of which five of the losses were decided by one run. … Saint John's wrapped up conference action May 7 with plenty of statistical references to the 1994 MIAC championship season. For starters, the Johnnies' current win total is the second-most in school history; second only to 1994's 29-8 record. For the second consecutive season, SJU led the MIAC in ERA (2.79). That total, as well as the Johnnies' opponent batting average (.230) are the team's best in MIAC play since 1994 (2.35 ERA, .224 avg.). …
The additional role of “closer” has been a smooth one for junior Joey Long, a transfer infielder from Division I Creighton. Since assuming the duties, as well as 43 starts in the infield each of the past two seasons, Long shattered the Johnnies' records for both season and career saves. He currently owns a 4-2 record with 13 saves, a 2.04 ERA, a .215 opponent batting average and a 4.63 strikeout/walk ratio in 39.2 innings pitched (28 appearances). The stats are even better against MIAC opponents: 3-2 record, 11 saves, 1.04 ERA, .202 opponent batting average, and a 4.60 strikeout/walk ratio in 26 innings (21 appearances). … Hayden Zimmerman is currently fourth in school history in three different career categories: wins (17), innings pitched (192.2) and strikeouts (145). He needs one victory to tie Eric Chandler (1993-95) for third; one inning to tie Matt Johnson (2001-04) for third and three to pass Cole Deibele (2001-04) for second; and two K's to pass Brett Kramer (2008-11) for third and seven to move past Denny Coleman (1966-69) for second. … In addition to his 11 starts on the mound, Connor Cline has made 14 starts as the Johnnies' designated hitter, 13 at first base and two more at second this season. Cline led the Johnnies in batting (.400) and RBI (14) in conference play, and currently leads the pitching staff in wins (7), innings pitched (64.2) and strikeouts (63). … Dylan Graves batted .333 (5-for-15) with two mammoth home runs as the Johnnies went 3-2 (3-1 MIAC) last week. The speedy sophomore blasted a solo shot in SJU's 10-5 loss to nationally-ranked NCAA Division II St. Cloud State April 30 and added a towering shot, 20 rows up the Metrodome's left-field seats, May 7 against Augsburg. Graves tallied two home runs and four RBIs in Game 1 of SJU's home opener versus Concordia on April 7. He led the Johnnies in homers (3), extra-base hits (9) and slugging percentage (.579), while finishing second in batting (.316), hits (18) and runs scored (11) in conference play. Graves enters this weekend with 61 putouts and four outfield assists from centerfield this spring. … Max Forster cracked his second Metrodome home run of the season, the first half of back-to-back homers with Graves, in the Johnnies' 4-2 win over Augsburg May 7. He ended the regular season as SJU's leader in runs (24), hits (39), doubles (9), triples (3), extra-base hits (15), slugging percentage (.529) and multiple-hit games (11). Forster has also reached base safely in each of his last 12 games and enters this weekend with a .893 fielding percentage. The 6-foot-3 shortstop, however, has committed only four errors and touts a .955 fielding percentage in his last 27 games (three errors, .956 pct. in 20 MIAC games). … The Johnnies led the league in pitching (2.79 ERA) but finished last in batting (.256) in 20 regular-season MIAC games this spring. Want more bad news for struggling bats? SJU batted only .213 (48-for-225) in its last seven MIAC playoff games (1-6 record). Coach Jerry Haugen's crew totaled 12 extra-base hits and left 51 men on base in the 64 innings. The pitching staff, meanwhile, surrendered a .287 average (68-for-237) with 20 extra-base hits (15 doubles and five home runs) during that span.

Bethel Royals News and Notes:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule
The Royals locked up their first post-season berth in 12 years on Monday, as Bethel recorded 4-3 and 10-2 victories over Concordia. … Bethel enters post-season play having won three of its last four games. … The Royals' back-to-back wins vs. Concordia Monday snapped a streak of eight straight doubleheaders without a Bethel sweep. … Bethel opened the season with back-to-back wins over North Central on Feb. 27 and went 13-6 in its first 19 games. … As a team, Bethel enters Friday's tournament-opener against Saint John's hitting .314 — including boasting six players hitting above .300. … Matt Rowley heads into post-season play hitting a team-leading .434. He also leads the team in at-bats (136), hits (59), doubles (14), RBIs (36), total bases (89), slugging percentage (.654) and on-base percentage (.500). … Rowley has also been the ace of the Royals' pitching staff, compiling a 7-4 record and a 2.10 ERA. He has pitched a team-leading 73 innings, recording three complete games and a team-leading 57 strikeouts. … Rowley earned MIAC Pitcher of the Week honors Monday, after playing a huge part in Bethel's late-season playoff surge. He threw 10 shutout innings in two of the Royals' three wins last week — allowing just six hits and two walks against 10 strikeouts. … David Freed has scored a team-leading 39 runs, while Jesse Nickols owns a team-leading six home runs. … Jay Slick, second to Rowley in batting with a .365 average, has drawn a team-leading 24 walks and has stolen seven bases in eight attempts. … Buddy Flaherty has made a team-high 21 pitching appearances, compiling a 1.02 ERA and a 5-1 record, while also owning six of the team's eight saves. … The Royals have scored 199 runs — including a season-best 12 runs in a 12-2 win over Saint Mary's on March 31. … Bethel is 17-1 when leading after the sixth inning, but just 1-13 when trailing heading into the seventh inning. … The Royals have played five extra-inning games this season, going 2-3 — including a 13-inning, 4-3 win over Carleton on May 2. … Bethel's 13-inning win over Carleton was the longest game in the MIAC this season.