MIAC Preview
By Ricky Nelson, D3sports.com
The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) has been the domain of St. Thomas more often than not since the mid-1990s. The Tommies have won 13 of the last 16 MIAC regular season titles, and they’re the favorites to do it again despite losing several seniors. Many teams are expected to contend for the role of MIAC spoiler, but a predicted title for St. Thomas is becoming as regular as the sun’s rising.
St. Thomas (28-18, 16-4 MIAC) started 2011 with an 8-13 record but rebounded to gain a share of its ninth consecutive MIAC regular season title and an appearance in the MIAC Playoff final. The Tommies lost in the final to Hamline, 7-5, but earned a Pool C bid to the UW-Whitewater Regional thanks in large part to a stretch when they won 17 of 18 games. The run started with an 8-3 win over D-I Minnesota on April 13, and St. Thomas didn’t lose another game for a month. The Tommies’ one win at regionals was sandwiched around two one-run losses to eventual champion UW-Whitewater and St. Scholastica.
St. Thomas led the MIAC with a .306 batting average, a .968 fielding percentage and a .258 opponents’ batting average. The Tommies had 10 seniors last season, including MIAC Most Valuable Player Taylor Rahm (.314 AVG, 33 R, 39 RBI), leading hitter Drew Cremisino (.385 AVG, 28 R, 36 RBI) and All-MIAC pitcher Kris Edwards (4-5, 2.85 ERA, 7 SV, 72.2 IP). Edwards signed with the independent St. Paul Saints last summer. St. Thomas had other seniors at shortstop, third base, outfield and another in the rotation. However, the Tommies are still the MIAC favorites despite their significant losses; as usual, St. Thomas has plenty of stars eligible to return.
In the dugout, third-year head coach Chris Olean added former Tommie Gold Glove third baseman Dan Leslie, and St. Paul Saints infielder and former Concordia-Moorhead star Jake Krause to his staff for 2012.
On the field St. Thomas could welcome back the production of three All-MIAC players: senior third baseman Charles Bruchu (.358 AVG, 37 R, 29 RBI, 15 SB), senior pitcher Bryce Gapinski (7-2, 3.38 ERA, 10 GS, .224 OBA) and sophomore catcher J.D. Dorgan (.370 AVG, 27 R, 32 RBI). Sophomore reliever Mark Ulrich (1-1, 2.14 ERA, 18 G, .173 OBA) is also eligible to return for a staff that could bring back as many as 21 of last year’s wins.
The Tommies’ quest for a 10th straight MIAC title, its 32nd in program history, begins with a doubleheader against regional power St. Scholastica on Feb. 27. A potential roadblock is its gauntlet of a slate, but that’s nothing new at St. Thomas, which also packed its 2012 nonconference schedule with games against D-I Minnesota, UW-Stevens Point, UW-Whitewater, UW Oshkosh, UW-La Crosse, RPI, Worcester St., Bethany Lutheran and another doubleheader with St. Scholastica at the end of the year.
Hamline (29-15, 15-5 MIAC) created a big splash on the nation stage with the program’s first NCAA berth, first MIAC Playoff championship and a school-record 29 wins. But the Pipers’ success wasn’t out of the blue. Hamline had several 20+ win seasons and MIAC Playoff appearances in recent years before breaking through in 2011. It was more of a progression than a one-off blockbuster. Hamline beat St. Thomas twice in the MIAC Playoffs to clinch the NCAA berth, where the Pipers split two one-run, extra-inning games before bowing out with a loss to UW-Stevens Point. A repeat performance isn’t out of the question, but the Pipers will have to do it without their ace and three offensive starters.
Gone are All-MIAC starting pitcher Cass Kreitlow (9-1, 4 CG, 3.07 ERA, .215 OBA), All-MIAC outfielder Tony Rogers (.342 AVG, 80 TB, 14 SB), starting second baseman Andy Powell (47 R, .460 OBP), and first baseman J.D. Modrynski (22 RBI, .991 FLD). But the 2011 team won with fundamentals (19 sac flies, 48 sac bunts, .967 fielding percentage, 100 walks allowed in 351 innings) and getting on base in a variety of ways (397 hits, 163 walks, 76 hit-by-pitch). Unless 11-year head coach Jason Verdugo reinvents the way his team wins games, no player is relied upon too heavily to produce and six returning offensive starters will be back to continue the team-first approach to proven success.
Two junior transfers, a first baseman from Des Moines Area CC and a shortstop from Iowa Central CC, are expected to fill holes in the infield. A pair of junior transfers, a lefty and a righty from Des Moines Area CC, are projected to join holdover Matt Mullendore (3-1, 3.82 ERA) atop the Piper rotation. All 10 relief pitchers are back for a staff that led the MIAC in walks per 9 and was fourth in the conference with a 4.33 earned run average.
Besides Mullendore and the relief pitchers, the Pipers also welcome back two All-MIAC players in the lineup: senior catcher Ben Richardson (.341 AVG, 13 2B, .996 FLD) and junior designated hitter Jordan Buck (.309 AVG, 32 RBI, 32 BB).
Hamline’s schedule begins with Dubuque at the Metrodome on Feb. 27 and includes a game with the D-I University of Minnesota in early March, games against Bethany Lutheran and UW Oshkosh, and a mid-March trip to Arizona.
Macalester (26-14, 16-4 MIAC) won a share of the MIAC title last season for the first time since 1950. The Macs gave up two runs in the top of the ninth against Hamline in the MIAC Playoff opener and lost 4-3. A win over St. John’s and a loss to St. Thomas ended a turn-around season in which Macalester was predicted to finish in eighth place by the conference coaches. The Macs had not been above .500 in the MIAC since 2002.
The season turned around for Macalester in a big way in April, when the Macs began a stretch of 17 wins in 19 games. Macalester pitchers gave up more than four runs just twice during that span, and the offense picked up a win in one of them. The team went as the pitchers went. The Macs went 5-5 in May, when their staff ceded five or more runs five times.
Not surprisingly the Macs tied for the MIAC lead with a 3.72 earned run average. But Macalester will be without departing senior All-MIAC aces Alex Ingram (8-1, 2.49 ERA, 68.2 IP) and Eric Robinson (8-2, 2.76 ERA, 65.1 IP). Factoring one other senior loss to the staff and another not on the roster and Macalester must replace 21 of last year’s wins. No returning pitcher won more than one game in 2011.
The offense doesn’t pose quite as many questions for 13th-year head coach Matt Parrington, the reigning MIAC Coach of the Year. Parrington will be without All-MIAC outfielder Will Chen (.325 AVG, 29 R) and another outfielder regular, but the bulk of the offense that hit .302 and tied for the MIAC lead with 16 home runs is scheduled to return. Back to lead the way are three senior All-MIAC batters: infielder Mitch Glasser (.408 AVG, 22 R, 30 RBI) and catchers Robert Williams (.355 AVG, 34 RBI) and Garrett Salzman (.403 AVG, 20 R, 22 RBI). Glasser batted .462 in conference play to lead the MIAC and was the toughest batter to strike out in all of D-III, going down on strikes once – during the penultimate game of the year at the MIAC Playoffs – in 120 at-bats. Salzman and Williams were first and second in the MIAC in hits during conference play.
If the Macs can come close to matching last season’s pitching successes, they could have three consecutive winning seasons for the first time in program history, if the MIAC record book is to be believed. Macalester gets underway with a doubleheader against UW-Superior at the Metrodome on Feb. 28 before heading on a trip to Arizona, where it will play Coe and UW-La Crosse among others.
St. John’s (19-14, 13-7 MIAC) earned the fourth and final seed at the 2011 MIAC Playoffs due in large part to a tremendous pitching staff that tied for the conference lead with a 3.72 earned run average. That staff held opponents to four runs in two games at the Playoffs, but the Johnnies bats mustered just one run against top seeds St. Thomas and Macalester and were the first team eliminated. The good news in Collegeville is that most of the pitching staff returns. How the team will score runs is a question mark.
If St. John’s can duplicate its recent success, it can accomplish what few teams have done in the history of the program. The last time the Johnnies were in the MIAC top four for three consecutive years was 1988-90. They have earned MIAC Playoff berths the past two seasons.
The march to the 2012 MIAC Playoffs requires new platoon leaders. Not at the top – head coach Jerry Haugen enters his 35th season as one of 19 active D-III coaches with 600 or more victories – but the Johnnies will have to replace six starters from an offense that was last in the MIAC with a .342 on-base percentage and 16 stolen bases while batting .276. Gone are All-MIAC shortstop and SJU’s all-time doubles leader Matt Butorac (.339 AVG, 15 2B, 29 RBI), All-MIAC utility Brett Kramer (.358 AVG; 4-3, 1.44 ERA, 62.1 IP, 59 K), All-MIAC Defensive Team catcher Brian Skluzacek (32 GS, .995 FLD) as well as two regular outfielders and an infielder.
Junior All-MIAC outfielder Alex Powell (.333 AVG, 19 R) and an intra-conference transfer from Saint Mary’s, sophomore All-MIAC third baseman Luke Larson (.333 AVG, 14 RBI), are expected to lead the revamped, youthful offense that’s projected to be comprised of four sophomores, four juniors and one senior.
Besides staff ace Kramer, St. John’s welcomes back all of its double-digit innings pitchers, although junior Max Forster will make shortstop and bullpen work his priority this season after logging the fourth most innings for the Johnnies last year. It was the returning pitchers that spearheaded a seven-game MIAC winning streak in April, including three shutouts, which put the Johnnies in position for the Playoffs.
Senior Hayden Zimmerman (3-4, 6.57 ERA, 9 GS), junior Conner Cline (6-1, 2.31 ERA, 7 GS) and sophomore closer Joey Long (3-2, 1.40 ERA, 4 SV) will anchor the staff. Zimmerman and Cline both won two games during the pivotal seven-game MIAC streak last season. Cline and Long will also man the right side of the infield as two-way players.
Scoring runs may prove difficult for the Johnnies once again, but that didn’t prevent them from playing postseason ball in 2011. It may not prevent them this season either. A word to the wise: you better hold the lead late in the game. St. John’s was 14-1 when leading after six innings last season.
Gustavus Adolphus (14-21, 10-10 MIAC) was 5-16 in late April but put it together late to finish at .500 a season after it went 5-15 in conference play. Gustavus knocked off MIAC Playoff entrants St. John’s and Hamline along the way, but it could have been more if the offense pushed more across the plate. The Gusties averaged four runs per game to rank last in the MIAC and 334th of the 367 teams in D-III. In conference play they scored 3.3 runs per game. On the other side, their pitchers were fifth in the MIAC with a 4.54 earned run average but ranked 342nd in the nation with 4.3 strikeouts per nine. Yet somehow the Gusties found a way to break even.
Sixteenth-year head coach Mike Carroll worked his winning magic with a young roster that featured just two seniors. But one of them, All-MIAC utility Cody Sukalski (.308 AVG, 20 RBI; 3-3, 3.93 ERA), was arguably his best player. Sukalski, the Gusties lone All-MIAC rep, led the Gusties in most categories, including at-bats, hits, total bases, wins, innings pitched and strikeouts. He also takes with him 14 of the team’s 41 extra-base hits.
Four Gustavus potential returning batters hit .300 or better for an offense that could return as many as seven starters. The pitching staff only loses Sukalski and could bring back 79 percent of last year’s wins and innings pitched. That staff had just four pitchers register earned run averages higher than 3.86. Junior reliever Taylor Fish (4-1, 0.36 ERA, 10 G) and Kellan Eurle (2-2, 2.81 ERA, 4 CG) highlight the potential mound returnees.
The Gusties play UW-Stevens Point at the Metrodome in their opener on March 4 before heading to Arizona later in the month.
St. Olaf (21-18 overall, 9-11 MIAC) loses just three regulars from a team that finished below .500 in conference play for the first time since 1975, but one of those two players is the highest draft pick in St. Olaf history. The Oles won 20 or more games for the 18th consecutive season. Eighteen-year head coach Matt McDonald’s teams have never won fewer than 21 games nor had a losing season, but St. Olaf finished sixth in the MIAC last year, its first time outside the top four since 1986.
St. Olaf got out of the gates with a 7-0 record in 2011, including a win over eventual World Series participant UW-Whitewater. The Oles were humming along with a 16-3 overall (4-0 MIAC) record after the first week of April, suffering just one in-region loss and reaching a season-best 15th ranking in the Week 6 poll. St. Olaf never won consecutive games after the first week of April, stumbling to a 5-15 finish.
The Oles will have to regain their MIAC Playoff form without senior-to-be starting pitcher Ben Hughes, who signed with the Colorado Rockies after being taken in the 10th round of the first-year player draft. Hughes, the MIAC Pitcher of the Year who accounted for seven of the team’s 21 wins and 83 of the team’s 215 strikeouts last season, was the first D-III player taken in last year’s draft.
St. Olaf batted .297 with a .387 on-base percentage but struggled to win close games later in the season. St. Olaf, despite the significant loss of Hughes, could return to its traditional place in the MIAC’s upper crust if it can get back to winning those close games. The Oles were 7-0 in games decided by two or fewer runs through their first 11 games in Florida. They went 1-9 in games decided by three or fewer runs after returning to Minnesota. To help lead the team back to the playoffs, the Oles have one returning All-MIAC player, sophomore second baseman Nick Kulla (.333 AVG, .980 FLD).
After compiling a robust 284-120 (.703) record in the decade from 2000-09, the Oles are just 43-36 (.544) over the past two years. St. Olaf has a lot to prove this season, but with 10 players returning on offense, the Oles have the benefit of the doubt.
Bethel (20-19, 8-12 MIAC) went through a late-April and May swoon, going 3-10 to end the season and ending any chance of a postseason appearance. The Royals were shut out three times during the 13-game stretch while averaging just 4.2 runs per game. Before the slide began, Bethel was coming off of an eight-game winning streak and had averaged 7.3 runs per game through April 21. The Royals were also last in the MIAC with a .934 fielding percentage. Ironing out those consistency issues will be a key in 2012.
Newly named head coach Brian Raabe is tasked with finding that consistency. Raabe, a former University of Minnesota infielder and Minnesota Twins draft pick, inherits a program that loses five seniors but could return its only All-MIAC player. The ingredients for a Royals MIAC Playoff appearance could be there in Raabe’s first season, but Bethel hasn’t finished in the MIAC top four since 2000.
The five departed seniors were two of Bethel’s five starting pitchers, its top relief pitcher, its top run producer and designated hitter, and the starting first baseman. But they represented just 26 percent of the innings pitched and 18 percent of the team’s at-bats from a team that finished third in the MIAC with a .299 batting average and seventh with a 5.18 earned run average.
As many as seven starters could return to Bethel’s offense, led by potential returnee and All-MIAC senior third baseman Mike Sedjo (.286 AVG, 29 R, 10 SB). The pitching staff loses seven wins, but only one potential returning staff member with more than seven innings pitched allowed opponents to hit better than .300.
Bethel begins the season at the Metrodome Feb. 27 against Olivet Nazarene. Also on the Royals schedule are a doubleheader with UW-Whitewater and a mid-March trip to Florida.
Concordia-Moorhead (13-14, 8-12 MIAC) was affected by the Metrodome roof collapse more than most. The Cobbers had 12 games cancelled, and its northern Minnesota location wasn’t conducive to easy scheduling remedies. Concordia had contingency fields in Nebraska and Iowa as it scrambled to fill dates. The Cobbers played just 27 games but remained alive in the MIAC Playoff race into May, but they went 2-6 in the last month.
Concordia-Moorhead 34th-year head coach Bucky Burgau has 12 more games scheduled at the Metrodome in 2012. Burgau added Cobber alum and former World Series champion Chris Coste to his staff this season. Coste played 16 years of professional baseball and won a championship with the Phillies in 2008. Burgau, Coste and the staff will see a different team on the field as the Cobbers had 13 seniors on the 2011 roster.
One non-senior tossed more than 12 innings last season – senior-to-be Zach Frappier (3-2, 5.35 ERA, 37 IP) – and seniors accounted for four spots in the regular 2011 lineup, including the team’s lone All-MIAC player, shortstop Michael Carlson (.340 AVG, 14 SB). The Cobbers tied for the conference lead with 16 home runs and sported a 5.60 earned run average in 2011, but last year’s results were due in large part to the senior class that takes with it nine wins and nine home runs.
The new-look Cobbers hit the field at the Metrodome on March 6 against Minnesota Duluth.
Carleton (12-23, 6-14 MIAC) is the only MIAC team that can say it ended its season with a win. The Knights beat St. Thomas, Hamline and St. Olaf last year, but they also lost nine consecutive MIAC games in which they didn’t score more than five runs in any of them.
Carleton was last in the MIAC with a .265 batting average and 360th out of 367 D-III teams with 3.9 strikeouts per nine. But the Knights still won games against top teams and put themselves in a position to win several more. Carleton was 1-10 in games decided by two or fewer runs.
Seventh-year head coach Aaron Rushing returns most of his roster. The Knights lose just one of eight pitchers who logged more than 10 innings last season and two starting position players, neither of whom batted north of .250.
Back on offense are the team’s leading hitter, senior second baseman Alex Wirta (.388 AVG, 22 R, .480 OBP), and the leading run producer, sophomore outfielder Ray Yong (.314 AVG, 24 R, 15 2B). The pitching staff walked more batters than it struck out last season but it held opponents to a sub-.300 batting average, recorded two shutouts and comes back nearly intact.
The season Knights could make their way to the MIAC’s upper half for the second time in four years. Carleton opens with Lawrence at the Metrodome on Feb. 19 before a mid-March trip to Arizona, where it will play Carthage and Eastern Connecticut among others.
Augsburg (11-22, 6-14 MIAC) returns two all-conference players in its quest to improve on last season’s ninth-place finish and perhaps make a push for the MIAC Playoffs. The Auggies made the Playoffs in 2010, so it’s not a stretch to think they could get back there.
The Auggies’ graduation hits are highlighted by All-MIAC shortstop Donald Blunt, who signed a professional contract with the St. Paul Saints after leading the team with six home runs, 25 runs batted in, and a .600 slugging percentage. Augsburg also loses its starting third baseman, one outfielder and three of its top four pitchers in terms of innings pitched.
Nine-year head coach Keith Bateman returns 22 players, including two All-MIAC senior leaders –designated hitter/third baseman Adam Seaman (.370 AVG, 3 HR, .447 OBP) and All-MIAC first baseman Tom Petersen (.317 AVG, 15 RBI). With several slots in the lineup filled with returning players or to be filled as a result of position battles, the offense is taking shape. The MIAC is a pitcher’s conference where teams averaged just 5.10 runs per game overall, but Augsburg scored 4.15 runs per game last season.
It’s the Auggie pitching staff that is the mystery. Bateman has two returning players and a freshman penciled in the rotation, but question marks abound after the top three on a staff that finished next to last in the MIAC with a 5.76 earned run average and a .315 opponents’ batting average. Juniors Eren Cur (0-1, 17.1 IP) and Craig Lynch (3-4, 3.98 ERA) are expected to lead the 2012 staff.
The MIAC schedule may force Augsburg to win early to have a shot at a return trip to the conference playoffs. The Auggies went 3-5 at home last season, and the Auggies start 2012 with eight straight MIAC home games. Also on the schedule is a game against the University of Minnesota at the Metrodome, where Augsburg will play nine games this year, and a mid-March trip to Arizona.
Saint Mary’s (11-27, 3-17 MIAC) finished in the MIAC cellar for the third straight season in 2011, but the team’s leading hitter and two other .300 hitters are back for a team that hit .279.
Fourth-year head coach Nick Winecke welcomes back senior catcher Curt Swanson (.356 AVG, 22 R 2 HR) to lead his offense. Saint Mary’s had one All-MIAC player last year, but he transferred to MIAC rival St. John’s for the 2012 season. The pitching staff ranked last in the MIAC with a 7.03 earned run average and walked more than it struck out, but the Cardinals staff will start anew as only two pitchers who contributed more than 20 innings last year are on the 2012 roster.
The Cardinals open 2012 on March 4 against Northern State in Arizona, where they’ll also play regional contender Concordia Chicago.
