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Ole Baseball Repeats as MIAC Champions

Jason Welle
May 8, 2001

The St. Olaf College baseball team hit the cover off the ball in a sweep of the University of St. Thomas. The Oles won the home doubleheader by scores of 13-5 and 18-5 respectively in an afternoon where they hit ten homeruns and clinched the regular season MIAC Conference Championship over a Tommie team ranked #1 nationally by last week?s ABCA poll.

The afternoon started off well for St. Thomas when it scored two runs in the top of the first inning. The Oles got one run back in their half of the first, but the real explosion began in the second inning. After first-year Joe Pavelko (FY, Richfield, Minn.) singled with one out, junior Joe Hammond (Neillsville, Wis.) reached on an error and junior Steve Ryan (So. St. Paul, Minn.) walked, loading the bases for junior Brian Sprout (Lake City, Minn.), two-time MIAC Player of the Year. Sprout cleared them with a grand slam to center field, giving St. Olaf a 5-2 advantage it would never relinquish. The Oles picked up runs on solo homers in each of the next two innings. With one down in the third, senior Nick Beissel (Lakeville, Minn.) swatted an 0-2 pitch over the center field fence; Sprout homered to left in the fourth inning to put the Oles up 7-2. St. Thomas got back-to-back hits to lead off the fifth inning and ended up scoring two to bring the game closer before the Oles breakthrough fifth inning. St. Olaf collected five hits and two walks in the fifth, scoring six runs and concluding the Oles? scoring. St. Thomas? Olson hit a solo homer in the sixth, making the final 13-5. Junior Aaron Koppen (Pine City, Minn.) got the win on the mound, pitching 6 and 2/3 innings.

The Oles wasted no time in jumping on top in game two. Three of the first four hitters reached base, loading the diamond for Nick Beissel. He knocked out the Oles? second grand slam of the day, putting St. Olaf up 4-0 and setting the table for another great game at the plate. Junior Dan LaManna (So. St. Paul, Minn.) hit a two-run homer in the second inning, his fifth of the season. St. Thomas got one run back in the third when it led off the inning with two singles and sacrificed a man home, but the Oles responded with another barrage. Sprout hit a two-run homer as part of a four-run inning that put the Oles up 10-1. First-year Charlie Ruud (Cannon Falls, Minn.) balked home senior Mark Fenstad in the fourth inning for the Tommies? second run. St. Olaf scored eight runs in a monstrous fourth inning in which they hit four home runs. Pavelko and Sprout led off the inning with back-to-back solo bombs. After senior Casey Coulsen?s (Rosemount, Minn.) ensuing single, two hit batsmen loaded the bases for junior Kevin Quame (Benson, Minn.). Quame singled to score two; junior Lars Finanger (Decorah, Iowa) followed with a three-run shot to clear the bases again. Pavelko scored the eighth run with his second home run of the inning, a solo blast. St. Thomas picked up three runs in the sixth inning to close the game?s scoring. The Tommies got four consecutive hits in the inning, yielding the final score of 18-5. Ruud started the game for the Oles and picked up the win.

Sprout?s four homers gives him thirteen for the year, a new St. Olaf season record (the old record was 11, set by Doug Dainty in 1987). He reached base the first eight times he batted, knocking in eight runs and scoring eight himself. LaManna went 4 for 7 on the day, was hit by a pitch and walked once.

St. Olaf finishes the regular season with an 18-2 record in the MIAC, 27-7 overall. St. Thomas places third in the league at 29-8 overall and 15-5 in conference play. The MIAC Tournament in Northfield this weekend, May 11-13, determines which team receives an NCAA Regional playoff invitation. St. Thomas will play St. Mary?s for their first game on Friday, while top-seeded St. Olaf will play the fourth seed, either Gustavus or Concordia. Both games will start at 3:30.

Contact Pat Buresh at 507-786-3315 or buresh@stolaf.edu.