MIAC Baseball Post-Season Awards
WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary's University of Minnesota baseball coach
Nick Winecke may want to consider investing in a wheelbarrow.
A big one.
After all, his Cardinals—who qualified for post-season play for the third time in the last four years—are going to need one to lug home all their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference post-season awards.
Five Cardinals combined to earn eight conference honors when the league office announced the MIAC baseball award-winners Friday afternoon.
Willie Doll (Amherst, Wis.) led the way for the Cardinals, as the senior outfielder not only garnered First-Team All-MIAC and All-Defensive Team accolades, but also collected one of the conference's most prestigious honors—the Max Molock Most Valuable Player Award.
Ben Buerkle (Roseville, Minn.),
Bob Kinne (Roseville, Minn.),
Steph Scatassa (Westchester, Ill.), and
Nathan Mathwig (Woodbury, Minn.) joined Doll on the 30-man All-MIAC First-Team, while Kinne also added All-Defensive Team honors to his resume.
"It is nice seeing a lot of guys on our team recognized for their play this year," said Doll. "It says a lot about our team and how it's not just one guy doing it all. Every single guy on this team plays a huge role and that is what is so special about this group.
"Even though these awards are a huge individual honor, they are not what we are after," Doll added. "We all are in this for each other and to, now, win the MIAC tournament. We play for each other, and that's what makes the success we have been having feel so good."
A three-time All-MIAC First Team pick, Doll was a one-man offensive juggernaut during the conference season, leading the MIAC with a .514 batting average in 20 games—not to mention boasting conference highs in runs (28), hits (37), total bases (59), slugging percentage (.819), on-base percentage (.600), and stolen bases (11). Doll—an All-Defensive Team selection each of his four seasons as a Cardinal—also boasted a .954 fielding percentage in conference play, committing just two errors in 54 changes, while also throwing out a pair of base runners.
Throw in the Cardinals' 19 nonconference games, and Doll's numbers are equally as impressive—and equally as jaw-dropping.
Doll, who has played in all 152 games during his four-year collegiate career—including 151 starts—entered post-season play boasting a team-leading .441 batting average, while also leading the Cardinals in at-bats (143), runs (42), hits (63), and on-base percentage (.529).
Buerkle earned All-MIAC First-Team honors for the second straight season, as the junior third-baseman started all 20 MIAC games, hitting .375, collecting 27 hits—including six doubles, two triples and two home runs—in 72 at-bats, while also scoring 21 runs, delivering 22 RBIs and owning .597 and .471 slugging and on-base percentages, respectively.
Like Doll, Buerkle started all 39 overall games for the Cardinals this season, finishing second on the team in batting average (.393), runs (41), and RBIs (34), while leading the squad in triples (4) and walks (32), and sharing the team's top spot in doubles (13). Buerkle reached base safely in 38 of the Cardinals' 39 contests this season—including hits in 34 of the those 39 games—and has been held off the base paths just three times in 114 career contests.
Kinne earned a rare All-MIAC double with his First-Team selection. The junior outfielder—in his first season with the Cardinal baseball team—was an All-MIAC First-Teamer for the Cardinal men's hockey team each of the last two seasons.
And what an impact the Cardinal "rookie" made.
Kinne started all 20 conference games in right field, hitting .387, going 29-for-75 with six doubles, one triple and team-highs in home runs (5) and RBIs (27). Kinne scored 19 runs and was second to Doll in total bases (52) and slugging percentage (.693). In the field, the junior was perfect, recording 50 putouts in 50 chances for a 1.000 fielding percentage.
Joining Doll and Buerkle as an every game starter, Kinne hit .380 in 39 games (54-for-142) and amassed team-highs in home runs (6), RBIs (44), total bases (91), and slugging percentage (.641). The owner of a team-leading 12 multiple-RBI games, Kinne posted a pair of career-best five-RBI performances this season.
While Doll, Buerkle, and Kinne provided the offensive punch, Scatassa and Mathwig were a dominating 1-2 combination on the mound.
Scatassa made seven conference starts, compiling a 4-2 record and a 2.36 ERA in 42.0 innings—all team-highs. The senior right-hander allowed just 11 earned runs, while walking 13, striking out 34, and posting the team's lone MIAC complete game—a five-hit shutout against Carleton on April 26 that earned him MIAC Pitcher of the Week honors.
Scatassa entered post-season play having made a team-best 12 starts overall, going 6-2 with a 2.47 ERA in 65.2 innings—all tops among Cardinal starters. Opposing hitters hit just .236 off Scatassa, who surrendered 18 earned runs, walked just 21 batters, and fanned a team-leading 55 batters.
Scatassa dominated opposing hitters from the starter's role, while Mathwig did his work as the Cardinals' shutdown closer, going 2-0 with a 1.69 ERA and four saves in 11 conference appearances. Mathwig allowed just 14 hits in 16.0 innings, striking out 13 and holding the opposition to a .226 batting average.
Mathwig shared the team lead with 17 appearances this season, owning a perfect 5-0 record and a microscopic 0.93 ERA in 29.0 innings. The sophomore left-hander accounted for six of the team's 11 saves, leaving him one save shy of the single-season school record of seven, set by Tyler Krysiak in 2013.
Along with Doll's MIAC Most Valuable Player honor, St. Thomas' Eric Veglahn was named the conference's Mike Augustin Pitcher of the Year, while Augsburg's Mike Brookshaw was the league's Rookie of the Year, and Hamline's Jim Weyandt was tabbed the Jim Dimick Coach of the Year.
As part of the conference-wide sportsmanship initiative, the MIAC also announced the ninth annual All-MIAC Sportsmanship team for baseball, which included Saint Mary's
Alec Rolain (Appleton, Wis.)
