MIAC BASEBALL PLAYOFF HOME PAGE

ARDEN HILLS, Minn. -- Bethel University's baseball team returns to the MIAC Playoffs for the fifth time in the last six years (after missing the postseason from 2000-2011). The Royals earned the No. 1 seed by sharing the regular-season championship and edging St. Thomas in the tie-breaker. 
 
As a result BU will face No. 4-seeded Macalester College in the opening round at Saint John's University on Thursday, May 11 at 7 p.m. The two teams split their regular season series in Arden Hills by final scores of 1-3 and 2-1.
 
The winner and loser of Thursday's game will take on the winner and loser of Thursday's other quarterfinal matchup in Cold Spring, Minn., between No. 2-seeded St. Thomas and No. 3-seeded Saint John's. The winners play Friday, May 12 at 3 p.m. at Saint John's, while the losers play at the same time at Cold Spring. (Tournament schedule)

Tickets, which are $8 for adults and $3 for students are good for the entire day. Children five and under are free.
 

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New trend
The Royals won the MIAC regular season championship for the second time in three years. Prior to 2015's title, Bethel had never been crowned conference champions.
 
Ranking the Royals
Bethel has been flirting at the edge of both the D3baseball Top 25 Poll and the ABCA/Collegiate Baseball Top 30 Poll all season long. Heading into the postseason BU is ranked No. 28 in the D3baseball Top 25 Poll and No. 33 in the ABCA/Collegiate Baseball Top 30 Poll. 
 
Additionally, Bethel is currently ranked No. 6 in the NCAA Midwest region rankings. The Royals were slotted No. 7 last week, so despite going 3-2 over the last seven days and dropping down in both the other polls, Bethel was rewarded for playing stronger competition.
 
Nationally known
Bethel is among the nation's leaders in many statistical categories. The Royals are ranked No. 2 among all NCAA Division III programs (379 total) in fielding percentage (.983), No. 5 in walks and hits per innings pitched (WHIP) (1.15) and walks allowed per nine innings pitched (2.30), No. 7 in earned run average (3.05), No. 11 in shutouts (6) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.08), No. 12 in win-loss percentage (.795), and No. 13 in hits allowed per nine innings (8.09) and sacrifice flies (27).
 
New marks
The Royals set a new MIAC record for fielding percentage, as BU finished the regular season with a mark of .985 against conference opponents. The previous record (.983) was set by St. Thomas in 2013.

The senior class also set a program record for wins over a four-year time span (103-48) and Bryce Marquardt set new individual records for Bethel's baseball program, as his 205 career hits and 147 career runs are both new individual records for the Royals.
 

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2017 MIAC BASEBALL PLAYOFFS - TEAMS AND LINKS
 

Seed	Team	MIAC	Overall
No. 1	Bethel	16-4	31-8
No. 2	St. Thomas	16-4	25-14
No. 3	Saint John's	14-6	25-11
No. 4	Macalester	12-8	23-15

2017 MIAC BASEBALL PLAYOFFS - LOCATION AND SCHEDULE

LOCATIONS: BECKER PARK (SJU) & COLD SPRING BASEBALL PARK 

Thursday, May 12 
Game 1: No. 1 Bethel vs. No. 4 Macalester | 7 p.m. | Becker Park (SJU) |
Game 2: No. 2 St. Thomas vs. No. 3 Saint John's | 7 p.m. | Cold Spring Baseball Park | 

Friday, May 13 
Game 3: Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner | Location: Becker Park | 3 p.m. | 
Game 4: Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser | Location: Cold Spring | 3 p.m. |
Game 5: Game 4 Winner vs. Game 3 Loser | Location: Becker Park | 7 p.m. |

Saturday, May 14 
Game 6: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner | Location: Becker Park | 12 p.m. | 
Game 7: Game 6 Rematch (If Necessary) | Location: Becker Park | 3 p.m. |