Baseball 5/14/05 -- MIAC Playoffs -- St. Thomas 7, Augsburg 0

GAME BOXSCORE

DUNDAS, Minn. (5/14/05) -- Tournament Most Valuable Player Brett Olson (Sr., St. James, Minn.) went 3-for-3 at the plate with a double, scoring two runs and driving in a run, as his University of St. Thomas baseball team claimed its fifth Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference playoff championship in the last six years, as the Tommies blanked Augsburg College 7-0 on Saturday afternoon at Dundas Memorial Park.

The Tommies scored five runs in the first two innings to improve to 30-10 and claim the MIAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III national tournament, which begins next weekend with regional action.

Augsburg closes one of its most successful seasons in the last two decades at 24-18, finishing second in its first-ever trip to the MIAC postseason playoffs. The Auggies' 24 wins mark just the third 20-win campaign for the squad since 1992, and the most wins for the Auggies in a single season since its last MIAC regular-season title campaign of 1987 (31-10).

St. Thomas scored three runs in the first inning and two more in the second to take a commanding lead. With runners at the corners and two outs in the first, a sharp liner glanced off of Augsburg starting pitcher Eric Grant's (Jr., Coon Rapids, Minn.) forearm. Grant was forced to leave the game and was relieved by Eric Weber (So., Hastings, Minn.). A run came in off the single, and two more runs came in on a single by Sean Young (Jr., St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall HS).

Weber was relieved by Josh Remme (Jr., Faribault, Minn.) and two more runs came across in the second, after a single by Olson and a fielder's choice by Josh Howard (Sr., Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View HS). Howard drove in another run on a double to center field in the fourth inning, and a sacrifice fly by pinch-hitter Jordan Roering (Jr., North St. Paul, Minn.) plated the last run of the game for the Tommies, driving in Olson, who had doubled earlier in the frame.

Olson, Howard, Mike Kimlinger (Jr., St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall HS) and Mike Moran (Jr., Mendota Heights, Minn./Henry Sibley HS) all had doubles for the Tommies, four of the 10 hits they had in the game.

Meanwhile, four Tommie pitchers combined on the shutout, led by Will Montgomery (Fr., West St. Paul, Minn./Henry Sibley HS), who struck out four and allowed just four hits in six innings of work. Ryan Naughton (Jr., Maplewood, Minn./Tartan HS), Chris Crubaugh (Jr., Woodbury, Minn.) and Brian Krause (Sr., Appleton, Wis./North HS) each pitched an inning for St. Thomas.

Darren Ginther (Jr., Crystal, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong HS) went 2-for-3 to lead Augsburg, which was limited to just six hits in the game.

Ginther was one of three Auggies to earn All-Tournament Team honors, joined by catcher Troy Deden (Jr., Northfield, Minn.) and infielder/pitcher Andrew Werner (Fr., Vermillion, Minn./Hastings HS).

Tyler Kraft (So., Savage, Minn./Burnsville HS) finished the game on the mound for the Auggies, marking his 24th pitching appearance of the season. It also marked the sixth time that he has pitched in two games on the same day this season.

2005 MIAC Playoffs All-Tournament Team:

Chris Bullis, St. Thomas; Troy Deden, Augsburg; Darren Ginther, Augsburg; Josh Howard, St. Thomas; Brian Krause, St. Thomas; Scott Halupczok, Concordia; Bryan Romsa, Concordia; Eric Tobias, St. Olaf; Andrew Werner, Augsburg.
Tournament MVP: Brett Olson, St. Thomas.