University of St. Thomas Athletics
UW-Stevens Point
Baseball has four named All-MIAC
5/13/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
St. Thomas had four players named to the 27-man All-MIAC baseball first team.
Roy Larson (JR-Eagan), Louie Salmen (SR-St. Paul/Cretin-Derham Hall), Brian Schmitz (SR-Lakeville/North) and Matt Schuld (JR-Plymouth/Robbinsdale Armstrong) all made the first team for the first time in their careers. In addition, Matt McQuillan (SO-St. Paul/Cretin-Derham Hall) was named to the All-Sportsmanship team.
In Coach Dennis Denning's 15-year era, UST has been at or near the top of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference standings. The Tommies have 11 titles, three runner-up finishes and one third place. The third-place finish came in 2001, when UST rebounded to win the NCAA title. St. Thomas has a current streak of seven MIAC championships. St. Thomas has qualified for the conference playoffs all 10 years and won seven of those tournaments. Denning's teams have played 150 MIAC doubleheaders, with 103 sweeps and 43 splits while being swept just four times.
Roy Larson hit .382 in 19 conference games and recorded 21 hits, 11 runs, five doubles, two triples, 10 RBI and seven walks. In all games he posted 55 hits, 33 runs, eight doubles, three triples, two home runs, 37 RBI and 15 walks.
Louie Salmen batted .425 in conference play, finishing in the top 10. In 16 conference games he had 17 hits, seven runs, four doubles, one home run, 11 RBI and four walks. In all games he hit .304 and had 31 hits, 15 runs, seven doubles, two homers, 18 RBI and 10 walks.
Brian Schmitz hit .347 in 18 conference games. He also had 17 hits, 11 runs, five doubles, 17 RBI, and three home runs. His three home runs in conference play placed him at sixth in the conference. In all games he hit .360 and had 49 hits, 26 runs, 15 doubles, five home runs, 39 RBI and 16 walks.
Matt Schuld cemented his status as the team ace holding conference opponents to a batting average of .235, which was fifth best in the conference. In six conference appearances Schuld posted an ERA of 4.10 and a record of 3-1. He pitched two complete games and had 27 strikeouts against only six walks. In all games he had an ERA of 3.40 and a record of 10-1. In 16 total appearances he notched five complete games, 83 strikeouts, 31 walks, and one save. Schuld held all opponents to a .236 batting average.
Schuld, who was also named to the 2009 D3Baseball.com All-America team, is 17-3 in 23 career starts. He's 10-1 overall this season and needs one victory to tie a school record for seasons wins. He's 7-0 this season vs. nationally- or regionally ranked St. Scholastica, St. Olaf, UW-Whitewater and UW-Oshkosh. He also beat Division I Minnesota as he allowed three runs in six innings of a 6-3 win. In March 2008, he threw six shutout innings vs. Trinity (Ct.) but allowed two runs in the seventh before leaving in a 7-2 loss. At the 2008 regional, he allowed two runs in 10 innings in an extra-inning loss to UW-Whitewater. He threw 168 pitches in the first 12 innings last week in a 17-inning win over UW-Stevens Point (three earned runs), then came back on two days rest and threw 120 pitches over seven innings (two earned runs) in an elimination-game win over St. Olaf.
McQuillan batted .327 in 19 conference games and recorded 16 hits, eight runs, two doubles, one triple, eight RBI and four walks. In all games he hit .373, which was second best on the team. He also had 56 hits, 39 runs, nine doubles, two triples, 10 RBI, 10 walks and 12 stolen bases.
