D3baseball.com Daily Dose

Gustavus third baseman Tory Herman digs a ball out of the dirt to throw out an Ole in the third inning

I’m finally getting settled back in at the home office after covering just one game of the MIAC Championship and play-in. St. Olaf exploited every single opportunity Gustavus Adolphus gave them in their 15-6 victory. St. Olaf was supposed to face St. Thomas 30 minutes after they shuttered the Gusties’ 2008 season.

But Mother Nature showed up in the 3rd inning of the play-in and never left. Rain was expected, the start of the first game was moved from 1pm to 11am in an attempt to get both games in before the field was unplayable. However, that was not the case. MIAC Executive Director Dan McKane, Asst. Executive Director

The grounds crew tends to the home plate area following the completion of the Gustavus/St. Olaf game.

Matt Ten Haken, St. Olaf head coach Matt MacDonald and St. Thomas’ Dennis Denning met just off the third base line at 2pm. It didn’t take long for them to make the postponement official and it was no surprise to the fans in the stands — the grounds crew, comprising the head coaches from Bethel, Carleton, Augsburg and two more, had already tarped, drained and staked both the pitching mound and the home plate area.

A photographer came up to me and asked the question I have heard posed each of the last three years: What happens if they don’t get the game(s) in tomorrow? The NCAA requires that Pool A conferences submit their auto qualifier at 6pm Eastern tomorrow. Most conferences want to have their auto qualifier to come from a tournament but they are allowed to determine it in whatever manner they wish.

Dan McKane shed some light on this particular situation for me this evening explaining that all games will be 9 innings in the MIAC tournament, they have no intention of slimming either games tomorrow down to 7 innings to fit them in before the deadline. In addition to that, he added that the committee is willing to let the MIAC complete their games a bit late.

But that brings up the question of what if the field is unplayable? St. Thomas gets the AQ for the MIAC having won the regular season title with an 18-2 conference record.

Gustavus right fielder Spencer Campion makes a catch in the fifth inning

St. Olaf turned four double plays in the game.