ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College baseball team will face the University of St. Thomas in the first round of the MIAC Baseball Playoffs on Thursday, May 10 at CHS Field in St. Paul. The Scots, who are seeded fifth, finished the regular season with a 21-16 record, including an 11-9 mark in league play. The game starts at 7:00 p.m.
Due to the condensed schedule created by poor weather in April, the MIAC Playoffs have been expanded to six teams from four. The first-round games match the fourth and fifth seeds, as well as the third and sixth seeds, in single-elimination games. First-round winners advance to the double-elimination portion of the tournament, which runs from Friday, May 11 to Sunday, May 13.
Macalester is the defending MIAC Playoff champion after winning three straight games last year to claim the program's first playoff title and first NCAA Tournament berth. Sophomore
Matthew Plisko (Alpharetta, Ga./Pace Academy) leads the Scots' pitching staff with an 8-1 record, the most wins by a pitcher in the MIAC. Plisko also is a perfect 4-0 with an earned run average of 2.42 in four starts against conference opponents. Senior
Joe Trier (Madison, Wis./West), junior
Thomas Shogren (Woodbury, Minn./Minnehaha Academy) and sophomore
Jacob Simpson (Brooklyn, N.Y./Berkeley Carroll School) each have 2-0 records in league play.
The offense is led by junior
Graham Low (Piedmont, Calif./Piedmont), who ranks second in the conference with seven home runs overall and leads the MIAC with eight doubles against league opponents. Seniors
Collin Brantner (Farmington, Conn./Kingswood Oxford) and
Ben Castagnetti (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman), and junior
Sam Goldberg (N. Potomac, Md./Thomas S. Wootton) all are hitting .339 or higher on the season, with Goldberg leading Macalester with 33 runs batted in. The Scots have hit a conference-best 23 home runs, including 12 in MIAC play.
St. Thomas (18-16, 13-7 MIAC), seeded fourth, swept Macalester during the regular season, winning 5-1 and 8-2 on May 1 at Nicholson Field. Last year the Scots defeated the Tommies in the second game of the MIAC Playoffs, 7-6, that saw then-junior
Alex Baretta (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic) hit a two-run homer and former Scot
Quentin Stuart '17 blast a grand slam. The Tommies avenged the loss in the NCAA Regional, eliminating Macalester with a 3-2 decision in 11 innings.
The other first round game features No. 3 Saint Mary's (19-16, 13-7 MIAC) and No. 6 Gustavus (19-16, 11-9 MIAC) in a 3:00 p.m. start at CHS Field. Saint John's (31-6, 16-4 MIAC) won the regular-season crown and is the top-seeded team in the playoffs, with Bethel (29-9, 14-6 MIAC) finishing second. The double-elimination tournament gets underway on Friday, May 11, with Saint John's hosting the lowest remaining seed at 3:00 p.m.
Tickets are good for the day and are $10.00 for adults and $6.00 for any student. Children five and under are free. You can also purchase tickets online through the
St. Paul Saints' website. For more information, including parking availability, visit the
MIAC Baseball Playoffs Page.
Here is the entire championship bracket:
2018 MIAC Baseball Playoffs, hosted by Hamline University at CHS Field
Thursday, May 10
Game 1: No. 3 Saint Mary's vs. No. 6 Gustavus, 3:00 p.m.
Game 2: No. 4 St. Thomas vs. No. 5 Macalester, 7:00 p.m.
Friday, May 11
Game 3: No. 1 Saint John's vs. lowest remaining seed, 3:00 p.m.
Game 4: No. 2 Bethel vs. No. 3/4/5 seed, 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, May 12
Game 5: Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4, 12:00 p.m.
Game 6: Loser of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4, 3:30 p.m.
Game 7: Loser of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 6, 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, May 13
Game 8: Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 7, 11:00 a.m.
Game 9 if necessary, 30 minutes after the conclusion of Game 8.
Live stats and video for all games can be found here:
https://portal.stretchinternet.com/hamline/
