Johnnies Secure No. 2 Seed, Bennies Come Up Short in MIAC Semis

The St. Cloud State University baseball team completed the weekend sweep with a win over Minot State, the St. John's baseball team swept Augsburg and secured the no. 2 seed in the MIAC Tournament, the St. Cloud Norsemen took game two against Aberdeen, the Minnesota Twins shutout the Athletics, and the St. Ben's softball team came up short in their post-season run on Saturday. On Sunday, the Wild will face the Blues in game four and the Lynx will look to earn their first win of the season when they host Washington.

RECAPS:

- The SCSU baseball team topped Minot State 9-8 to close out the regular season on Saturday. The score went back and forth with the Beavers taking an early lead, the Huskies tying and taking the lead, and then Minot once again pushing out to a 6-4 lead. St. Cloud State mounted a comeback that included scoring four runs in the top of the ninth to lock up the win. John Nett and Paul Steffensen each scored two runs for SCSU. The Huskies improve to 36-11 and will begin NSIC Tournament play on Wednesday when they face the University of Sioux Falls at 6:00 p.m.

- The SJU baseball team earned a doubleheader sweep of Augsburg on Saturday and locked up the no. 2 seed in the upcoming MIAC Tournament. The Johnnies took game one 9-4 and game two 5-1. Jordan Amundson led St. John's with four runs on the day, and Ethan Roe added three. The Johnnies improve to 23-15 and will begin their bid for the conference title when they face Gustavus on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

- The Norsemen beat the Wings 6-2 in game two of the best of five NAHL Division Finals series. Hanson Hunter led all scorers with two goals for St. Cloud. Tomas Bolo made 24 saves and allowed two goals in the win. The series is now tied at 1-1. The teams will take the ice again on Friday in South Dakota at 7:15 p.m.

- The Twins shut out Oakland 1-0 in game two on Saturday. Jorge Polanco scored the only run of the game for Minnesota in the bottom of the sixth inning. Sonny Gray threw seven strikeouts and allowed two hits in the first four innings. Danny Coulombe, Griffin Jax, and Jhoan Duran combined for eight strikeouts and one hit in the remainder of the game. The Twins improve to 17-11 and the A's fall to 10-17. The teams will conclude the series on Sunday at Target Field. Pre-game coverage begins at 12:00 p.m. on AM 1240 and 95.3 FM WJON.

- The CSB softball team fell to St. Olaf 7-4 in the semifinal round of the MIAC Tournament. Shreya Ashok and Maya Patty led all scorers with two runs for St. Olaf. St. Ben's had four different players make it to home plate in the loss. The Oles advanced to the championship game where they were bested by Bethel 5-0. The Bennies fall to 28-8 overall and now await the NCAA Tournament selection announcements.

PREVIEWS:

- The Wild will face the Blues in St. Louis in game four of the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Minnesota currently leads the series 2-1 and has the chance to move one game closer to advancing to the second round, while the Blues could tie things up with a win. Pre-game coverage starts at 3:15 p.m. on AM 1390 and 93.9 FM Granite City Sports.

- The Lynx (0-1) will host the Mystics (1-0) Sunday night. Both teams will be missing some key players due to overseas commitments, injuries, and other personal reasons. The Lynx finished 2-1 against the Mystics last season. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. at Target Center.