Complete All-MIAC Team

WINONA, Minn. — As a team, the Saint Mary's University baseball team put an end to a 10-year drought when the Cardinals qualified for the 2012 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament.

And individually, Jon Schlemmer (De Pere, Wis.), Kevin Gannon (Roselle, Ill.) and Paul La Nasa (Mahtomedi, Minn.) put an end to another lengthy drought, as the trio were all named to the All-MIAC First Team — marking the first time since the 2001 season that SMU had three or more players on the MIAC's all-conference team.

Gannon, playing his first season in a Cardinal uniform, was the team's offensive spark plug, closing out the regular season with a .395 batting average, while also leading the team in at-bats (132), runs (26), hits (52), doubles (16), RBIs (31) and total bases (73). The sophomore first baseman — who had at least one hit in 29 of the team's 38 games — put together a team-high 11-game hitting streak this season and recorded a team-best 18 multiple-hit games. In the field, Gannon owned a .979 fielding percentage, making just four errors in 189 chances at first base.

Schlemmer, who hit a career-best .367, belted 17 extra-base hits among his 36 hits this season — including team-highs of five triples and four home runs. He also boasted a team-leading .673 slugging percentage and collected eight multiple-RBI games. Schlemmer's four home runs came in two games — the sophomore recorded two-home run, five-RBI performances against both Viterbo and St. Olaf.

LaNasa proved to be Mr. Steady for the Cardinals — both at the plate and in the field. The sophomore started 38 of the team's 39 games at second base, compiling a .321 batting average (34-for-106) with seven doubles, one triple and 15 RBIs. He owned both of the Cardinals' four-hit games — going 4-for-5 against Lewis & Clark on March 10 and adding a 4-for-5 effort against UW-Oshkosh on March 25. In the field, La Nasa was near perfect, committing just three errors in 173 chances (.983 fielding percentage) — including just one error in 82 chances (.988 fielding percentage) in the Cardinals' 20 conference games.

Bethel's Matt Rowley was named the winner of the Max Molock Most Valuable Player award, while St. Thomas' Dylan Thomas earned the Mike Augustin Pitcher of the Year honor and Gustavus' Grant Soderberg was the MIAC's Rookie of the Year. St. Thomas head coach Chris Olean, who guided the Tommies to a 19-1 conference record, was tabbed the Jim Dimick Coach of the Year.

As part of the conference-wide sportsmanship initiative, the MIAC also announced the sixth annual All-MIAC Sportsmanship team for baseball, which included SMU's Teddy VanRanst (St. Paul, Minn.).