St. Schlolastica earned a ninth straight entry to the Division III baseball tournament as one of 56 teams assigned to eight NCAA regionals announced Monday. The Saints (27-9) were placed in the Midwest Regional in Whitewater, Wis., opening against the University of St. Thomas of St. Paul (33-5) at noon Wednesday.
The Saints are seeded sixth among six Midwest Regional teams while defending champion St. Thomas is ranked first and No. 2 overall in Division III. Double-elimination play continues through Saturday.
St. Scholastica has won seven straight games and claimed a 17th straight Upper Midwest Athletic Conference playoff title Saturday at Wade Stadium and an automatic NCAA tournament berth.
St. Thomas is in the NCAA tournament for the 18th time in 19 years after winning Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular season and playoff championships. The Tommies have won 25 of their last 26 games.
St. Scholastica and St. Thomas have met 24 times the past 10 years, including a doubleheader split March 4 at the Metrodome with the Saints winning 3-2 and the Tommies winning 6-3.
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In the 2012 Division III regional in Whitewater, St. Scholastica won its first two games before losing to St. Thomas 22-2 and Wisconsin-Whitewater 6-5. St. Thomas defeated Whitewater 10-6 for the title. Andy Schwantes, Thomas Rogers and Parker Olson of the Saints were named to the all-regional team.
Other first-round Midwest Regional pairings Wednesday are Wisconsin-Stevens Point (35-9) against Benedictine University (32-10) of Lisle, Ill., at 3 p.m. and Wisconsin-Whitewater (34-7) meeting Case Western Reserve (27-12) of Cleveland, Ohio, at 6 p.m.
