BOXSCORE MINNETONKA, Minn. – And the comeback kings live to fight another day.

Playing in their 11th game in a six-day span, the Augsburg College baseball team rallied from a 4-0, third-inning deficit to tie the game at 4-4, then won the game in extra innings, a 5-4, 11-inning victory over St. Mary's University in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Playoff quarterfinal contest on Friday evening at Veterans Field.

Louie LaChapelle (SR, Eagan, Minn.) singled, advanced to third on back-to-back hit batters, then scored on a one-out wild pitch in the bottom of the 11th inning, completing the comeback for Augsburg (24-14 overall) and sending the No. 3 seeds to Saturday's (5/11) semifinal game at 6 p.m. against No. 2-seed Concordia-Moorhead (18-14).

Tyler Beck (JR, Fairmont, Minn.) pitched eight innings of scoreless relief for the Auggies to earn the victory, striking out five while walking two and allowing just four hits. Sixty-two of Beck's 89 pitches in the game were strikes.  St. Mary's (19-17) stranded a runner at third in the top of the 10th, then Beck got the Cardinals out in order in the 11th, setting up LaChapelle's 11th-inning heroics.

The Auggies came back from a 4-0, third-inning deficit to claim the victory – the 15th time this season that Augsburg has rallied back to gain a victory after allowing its opponents to score the first run of the game. It's also the fifth time Augsburg has rallied from a deficit of three runs or more for a win this year.

The rally started in the fifth inning, when back-to-back singles by Billy Brookshaw (FY, Prescott, Wis.) and Zach Pavlisick (SR, Phoenix, Ariz./Central HS) led to Augsburg's first run of the game. Gary Mariscal (JR, Savage, Minn./Prior Lake HS) moved the two up on a sacrifice bunt, and an RBI groundout by Brent Koblow (SR, Forest Lake, Minn.) cut the Cardinals' lead to 4-1.

Mariscal's sacrifice was the first of four sacrifice bunts for the Auggies in the game – two by Mariscal and two by Pavlisick – which all helped contribute to Augsburg runs.

Ryan Sward (SR, Eagan, Minn.) led off the sixth inning with a triple to the left-center gap, and a sacrifice fly by Adam Carl (JR, Eagan, Minn.) plated Sward to cut the lead to 4-2. Brookshaw led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Pavlisick, and advanced to third following a fielding error. He came in to score on a groundout by Kappers, trimming the lead to 4-3.

In the ninth inning, Brookshaw led off by being hit by a pitch, advanced to second on a wild pitch, then moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Pavlisick. Mariscal then brought home Brookshaw on a suicide squeeze sacrifice bunt, tying the game at 4-4 and forcing extra innings.

The Cardinals struck first off of Augsburg starter Tanner Oakes (SO, Jordan, Minn.). In the second inning, Willie Doll stroked a ground-rule double to the left-field corner, and Drew Denning plated him with a triple that just eluded a diving Mariscal in center field.  St. Mary's scored two more runs in the top of the third, as David Barry singled and eventually came around to score on a single by Kevin Miley. A Kyle Servais sacrifice fly drove home Paul LaNasa, giving the Cardinals a 4-0 lead.

Auggie threats in the third and fourth innings were squelched by inning-ending double plays, but the Auggies pulled off a double play of their own to stop a Cardinal rally in the fifth inning.

Augsburg starter Oakes struck out one while not walking a batter and allowing six hits in three innings of work. St. Mary's starter Teddy VanRanst struck out three while not walking a batter in six innings of work.

Sward went 3-for-5 at the plate for the Auggies, while Kolbow, LaChapelle and Brookshaw had two hits each. Barry, Miley and Denning had two hits each for the Cardinals.

In the other quarterfinal on Friday, No. 4-seed Bethel (25-14) topped No. 5-seed St. John's (18-17) 4-2. The Royals will face MIAC regular-season champion St. Thomas (31-5) in the first semifinal on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Veterans Field.