WINONA, Minn. — Saturday evening, the Saint Mary's University baseball team locked up its first-ever Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Playoff title — and the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Division III national tournament.
 
What that game didn't decide, however, was the "who, when, and where."
 
Now they know.
 
The Cardinals will square off against Aurora University (37-6) — the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) tournament champion — at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday at Reynolds Field on the University of Northwestern campus in St. Paul, Minn., the NCAA announced late Sunday evening.
 
The rest of the regional field includes host University of Northwestern (Minn.), Trinity (Texas) University , Misericordia (Penn.) University, and John's Hopkins (Md.) University.
 
Saint Mary's finished 4-1 in the double-elimination conference playoffs, opening with back-to-back-to-back wins over Concordia, Gustavus, and St. Thomas. The Tommies forced a winner-take-all final game with a 6-5 win Saturday afternoon, and the Cardinals responded with a 6-3 victory — highlighted by Will Matthews' (Geneva, Ill.) three-run home run.
 
There are eight NCAA regional sites across the nation, hosting six teams each. All regionals will use a double-elimination format. Winners of the eight regional tournaments will qualify for the pool play double-elimination championship at Perfect Game Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Friday-Tuesday/Wednesday, June 4-8/9, 2021.