The magic of the Knox baseball team’s 2008 Midwest Conference Championship Tournament run did not carry over in to the team’s first round NCAA Tournament game on Wednesday (May 14) at E.J. Schneider Field in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

The Prairie Fire committed seven errors and were out-hit 17-5 en route to a 15-1 loss to St. Thomas (MN), the No. 1 seed in the UW-Oshkosh Regional and the nation’s No. 9 team.

Freshman starter Colin Davis was steady early for Knox, but St. Thomas broke the game open in the fourth inning. A pair of errors helped the Tommies score five runs to go up 8-0, including a three-run home run with two outs that followed a throwing error on a routine grounder to third.

Knox got on the board in the eighth, as Greg Leibach started the frame with a double to right center. He moved to third on Luke Hunter's flyout and scored on John Curtin's sacrifice fly to left.

Knox will have a chance to begin a new winning streak when the Prairie Fire face  St. Scholastica at 10 a.m. on Thursday in the elimination round.

The yearly Midwest Conference Baseball award winners were released along with the 2008 North and South Division All-Conference Teams on Tuesday, May 13. St. Norbert swept the North Division awards as junior shortstop Adam Frost (right) repeated as North Player of the Year, sophomore Trevin Hillesheim was named Pitcher of the Year and Tom Winske won Coach of the Year honors for the fifth time in his career.

MWC Champion Knox captured two of the three awards in the South, led by Player of the Year Paul Bennett (left) and three-time Coach of the Year Jami Isaacson. Grinnell junior Rick Berdelle rounded out the group by being honored with Pitcher of the Year accolades.

2008 All-Conference/Awards Winners

The Knox baseball team will travel north for its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, as the Prairie Fire were placed in the UW-Oshkosh Regional in Oshkosh, Wisconsin when the field was announced on Monday, May 12.

Knox (15-23) is seeded sixth in the six-team field and will face top-seeded St. Thomas (31-7) at Oshkosh North High School's E.J. Schneider Field on Wednesday, May 14 at 10 a.m. The winner and loser of the contest will matchup up against the winner and loser of UW-Whitewater (35-8) vs. St. Scholastica (32-4), respectively, in the second round.

The Prairie Fire enter the NCAA tourney as an automatic qualifier after winning the 2008 MWC Championship Tournament in historic fashion, becoming the first team in conference history to come from the loser’s bracket and win the tourney. St. Thomas is also an automatic qualifier, as the Tommies followed a regular-season title in the MIAC by winning the conference tournament crown.

The MWC representative has faced St. Thomas in the NCAA Tournament six times since 2000, posting a 2-4 record head-to-head.

The South Division squads appeared to be an afterthought entering the 2008 Midwest Conference Baseball Championship Tournament on May 9 and 10. Monmouth came into the tourney having lost nine of 13, while host Knox did not reach double-digit overall victories until it earned the hosting rights with a pair of wins in the MWC South Playoff on April 27. Meanwhile, Ripon had tallied 25 wins and a national top 25 ranking before dropping three of four to St. Norbert in its regular-season conference series finale, giving the Green Knights the North title and 24 victories.

Jami Isaacson's (right) Prairie Fire made themselves relevant on Saturday with an unprecedented tournament run that ranks among the great underdog achievements in league history. Knox won the 2008 MWC Championship, its fourth overall and first since 1993, and the conference’s automatic qualifier to the 2008 NCAA Tournament with three wins, including 4-2 and 5-4 wins over Ripon in the finals. No team in conference history had ever come from the loser’s bracket and won the two title games since the double-elimination conference tourney format was instituted in 1989.

The Prairie Fire setup the historic sweep when they eliminated St. Norbert in Saturday’s morning contest after scoring four runs in the top of the 10th inning to register a 6-2 extra inning win.

The story of the tournament was the coming of age of the Prairie Fire pitching staff, as a contingent of six pitchers, including three freshmen, combined to throw every inning of the tourney. The group combined to limit the St. Norbert and Ripon offenses, whose 2008 editions both rank in the top 5 in conference history in runs scored, to 10 total earned runs in four games. Freshman Jordan Ball (13.2 IP, 1 ER, 1 save) and junior Sammy Almohandis (9.2 IP, 0 ER) made three appearances apiece during the two-day tournament, as Almohandis earned a win and two saves with no earned runs allowed. Freshman Colin Davis (8.2 IP, 5 ER), sophomore Spencer McNeil (1-0, 4.1 IP, 1 ER) and freshman Justin Cutter (1-0, 7.0 IP, 6 ER) made two appearances each, while sophomore Aaron Juarez was the winner in the first finals contest against Ripon after tossing 2.2 innings of scoreless ball in relief. Ball was on the mound for the final out of the tournament, as he highlighted three innings of hitless relief by striking out Bryant Bullock to give Knox the title. Juarez and Cutter’s respective finals victories over Ripon were the first wins of the season for both players.

at Knox 5, Ripon 4 – Knox came from behind twice to become the first team in league history to come from the loser’s bracket and win the league championship, while also earning the first NCAA Tournament berth in school history. Ripon scored a run in the top of the first, but Knox answered with three runs in the bottom of the frame off three hits and a wild pitch. Ripon reclaimed a 4-3 advantage with two runs in the fourth, but Knox rallied once again, following a walk, a hit and an error with a pair of ground outs that plated runs and gave the Prairie Fire a 5-4 lead. Jordan Ball (right) threw the final three innings of the game in relief for Knox and did nit allow a hit. Coupled with the performance of starter Justin Cutter, who threw the first six innings, Ball and Cutter allowed three baserunners in the final five innings.

at Knox 4, Ripon 2 – The Prairie Fire used four pitchers to stave off the Red Hawk offense and force a second title game, as Ripon stranded 12 baserunners in the contest. Knox took a 2-0 lead in the third after Kevin Malone’s (right) RBI triple scored Graeff and Malone came home on Adam Estergard’s single. Ripon cut the lead to 2-1 in the fourth, before the Prairie Fire added two more runs on Paul Bennett’s RBI double. Ripon scored a run in the bottom of the ninth on Nick Beaman’s sacrifice fly, but Sammy Almohandis struck out the next hitter to pick up the save. Aaron Juarez was the winning pitcher in relief, allowing three hits and no runs in 2.2 innings.

at Knox 6, St. Norbert 2 (10 inn.) – Knox advanced to the title round after scoring four unearned runs with two outs in the tenth. A walk, an error and back-to-back singles from Greg Leibach (right) and Luke Hunter plated a pair runs and then both came around to score on the second error of the frame. Winning pitcher Sammy Almohandis loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning, but got MWC home run leader Jared Yost to flyout and end the game. Knox plated singles runs in the fourth and sixth innings, before St. Norbert plated single runs in the seventh and eighth frames to force extra innings. Jordan Ball started for Knox and allowed no earned runs on four hits threw 6.1 innings before giving way to Almohandis. Tony Jandron drove in a run for the Green Knights, while Leibach and Hunter tallied two RBI apiece.

Knox 10, at Monmouth 5 – Knox kept its hopes alive and set up an elimination showdown against St. Norbert on Saturday by beating Monmouth for the fifth time in six tries this season. Monmouth scored three times in the top of the first, but the Prairie Fire took back the momentum with a second-inning grand slam off the bat of George Nicholson. The Scots responded with two runs in the fourth to cut Knox’s lead to 6-5, but Knox matched the total in the bottom half of the frame. Sammy Almohandis (right) then came on in relief and limited Monmouth to one hit and no runs over the final five innings to earn the save. Almohandis finished with five RBI, while Nate Ayers added two hits and two RBI.

Ripon 4, St. Norbert 2 – The Red Hawks advanced to Saturday’s title game from the winner’s bracket and are now one win away from their fifth consecutive league title. Ripon took a 2-1 lead in the second inning on Brett Wegner’s two-run home run over the leftfield wall, before adding the game-winning run in the fifth when Nate Paul was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to score Wegner. Mike Lloyd (right) was the complete-game winner for Ripon, as the junior held the Green Knights to three hits and one earned run. Cory Fuller led the Green Knight offense with two hits, including an RBI single in the sixth inning that cut Ripon’s lead to 3-2.

St. Norbert 16, at Monmouth 1 – The Green Knights jumped on the Scots pitching in the third inning, scoring nine runs on six hits and three errors with two outs to take a 10-0 lead. St. Norbert plated six runs over the next three innings en route to a seven-inning mercy rule victory. Brett Birkholz and Tony Jandron (right), both homered for St. Norbert, driving in four and three runs, respectively, in the contest. Jandron started and threw five innings to pick up the victory. Ryan Priola led Monmouth with three hits.

Ripon 6, at Knox 3 – Ripon jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning and then rallied from a 2-1 deficit to take the lead for good with four runs in the fifth frame. Three straight singles loaded the bases and set the stage for the comeback, as Alex Duros (right) cleared the bags with a three-RBI double and then came around to score on Brett Wegner’s RBI single. Red Hawk starter Bob Bruce threw eight innings to earn the win, scattering seven hits while allowing two earned runs. John Curtin had three hits and an RBI for the Prairie Fire.

The 2008 Midwest Conference Baseball Championship Tournament finally found a home. The event, which is slated for Friday and Saturday, May 9-10 will be held on the campus of host Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, while two contests will also be played in nearby Monmouth. With the MWC South champion up in the rotation to host in 2008, South schools Grinnell, Illinois College, Knox and Monmouth all posted 6-6 league records, prompting all four teams to play a single-elimination playoff tourney to decide the qualifiers and host. Knox emerged as the South champ for the first since 1986 with a pair of playoff wins, while Monmouth qualified as the No. 2 seed. Ripon and St. Norbert had long since punched their tickets to the league tourney from the North, but met Sunday as the South Playoffs unfolded to decide their seeds for this weekend. The Green Knights emerged as the North champion for the second straight season, taking three-of-four from the nationally ranked Red Hawks. Despite their regular-season setback, Bob Gillespie’s (right) Ripon squad still remains the team to beat, as the Red Hawks have rattled off four consecutive league championships and won eight of the last ten.

2008 MWC Championship Preview

Illinois College’s Jared Theole (left) and Knox’s Paul Bennett (right) were both named to the 2008 CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District V First Team. Both players will now appear on the Academic All-American ballot.

Theole is a junior first basemen who posted a 4.0 grade point average while majoring in Physics. He also hit a team-high .409 this season with 31 runs scored, 19 RBI, two home runs and a .519 slugging percentage.

Bennett, a senior Biology major with a 3.68 GPA, led Knox to its first MWC South Division title since 1986 this season. Bennett leads the Prairie Fire in nearly every offensive category, including batting average (.385), runs (33), hits (47), doubles (11), home runs (7), RBI (26) and slugging percentage (.648 ).

Mike Barthelmess (right) will stay on at Lawrence as the head baseball coach and assistant football coach, Director of Athletics Robert Beeman announced Tuesday (May 7).

A native of Wes ton, Conn., Barthelmess joined the staff as the interim head baseball coach in September 2007 and was chosen to lead the baseball program after a national search.

Barthelmess has head coaching experience in both baseball and football at the NCAA Division III level. A 1983 graduate of Principia College, Barthelmess served as the head baseball coach at his alma mater from 2001-04. He also led the Panthers football program for nine seasons in two different stints. Barthelmess coached the Principia football team from 1990-95 and again from 2003-06.

Barthelmess, who was standout pitcher and quarterback during his collegiate playing days, will coach the quarterbacks for the Vikings, according to head football coach Chris Howard.

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For the first time in league history, a four-team single-elimination playoff tourney was needed on Sunday, May 4 to decide the Midwest Conference’s South Division baseball champion after Grinnell, Illinois College, Knox and Monmouth all finished 6-6 in league play during the regular-season. Knox used the situation to its advantage, winning its first South crown since 1986 after beating Illinois College at home 10-4 and Monmouth on the road 9-7. The Prairie Fire will now host the 2008 MWC Tournament on Friday and Saturday, May 9-10. Monmouth’s 11-7 win over Grinnell that preceded the setback to the Prairie Fire on Sunday earned the team a berth to the league tournament, where they will be joined by Ripon and St. Norbert from the North.

Ripon appeared to be a lock for the North’s top seed in the Conference Tournament, as they entered a Saturday-Sunday series with St. Norbert ranked nationally and needed a split in the four-game series to clinch the division. The Red Hawks took game one 3-2, but dropped game two at St. Norbert on Saturday 7-0. The Green Knights then posted 4-2 and 8-2 wins at Ripon the next day to clinch the North’s top seed for the second straight season and record their first sweep at Ripon since 1978.

A four-team, three-game, single-elimination tournament will be needed to decide the two MWC South playoff qualifiers and the host of the 2008 Midwest Conference Baseball Championship Tournament. The three games will be played on Sunday, May 4 in Monmouth and Galesburg, Illinois. Grinnell travels to Monmouth at 11 a.m. and Knox hosts Illinois College at 11 a.m. in a contest where the Blueboys will be the home team on Knox’s home field. The winners of the 11 a.m. contests will both clinch MWC tourney berths and will meet at 3 p.m. in Monmouth to determine who will host the four-team tournament on May 9-10. Ripon and St. Norbert have already clinched the North Division’s two tourney slots and will meet in Ripon Sunday to decide the North’s top seed. St. Norbert needs a sweep to claim the North for the second straight season, while a split puts the Red Hawks on top.

The picture for the 2008 Midwest Conference Baseball Championship Tournament could become clearer on Saturday and then again, things may just stay the same.

All four South teams: Grinnell, Illinois College, Knox and Monmouth enter the weekend with identical 5-5 conference records. The South regular-season conference finales are set for Saturday, when Knox hosts Illinois College and Monmouth travels to Grinnell, but the odds are against a champion being crowned. Four of the seven possible scenarios (linked below) based on Saturday’s outcomes will require at least one playoff game to decide the South champ, while a pair of splits would leave all four teams at 6-6 and a four-team, three-game, single-elimination qualifying tourney would unfold on Sunday. If the mini-tourney is called upon to crown the South’s top team, it would mark the first time in league history that this scenario has ever played out.

The Conference Championship Tournament rotates between North and South each season and the South champ is set to host in 2008. Ripon and St. Norbert, who will meet in a pair of Saturday and Sunday doubleheaders for the North crown, have long since clinched the North’s two tourney berths, but have yet to be able to make any travel plans. The Green Knights took three-of-four games from the Red Hawks a year ago to win the division.

The host schools in all playoff scenarios and matchups for Scenario No. 7 were all decided by a random draw.

Click here for South postseason scenarios

All four MWC South schools own 5-5 conference records entering the final Saturday (May 3) of the regular-season, as Illinois College travels to Knox and Grinnell hosts Monmouth.

A detailed look at the seven potential scenarios are available by clicking the link below. Game sites have now been added for potential playoff games and times for all contests will be available on Thursday.

Click here for South postseason scenarios

Ripon entered the Top 25 nationally for the first time this season when the team was ranked No. 25 in the D3Baseball.com/NCBWA weekly poll released on April 21. The Red Hawks are currently 18-3 overall this season, with their lone losses coming against current No. 10 RPI and the University of St. Francis, who entered the week ranked No. 14 in the NAIA.

D3Baseball.com/NCBWA Top 25 Poll

The Time Warner cable network taped game two of the Carroll-St. Norbert doubleheader played in Waukesha on April 20. The contest will be replayed on Time Warner Sports, Channel 32 on the following times and dates...

Ripon dropped a doubleheader at the University of St. Francis in Joliet, Illinois on March 29 in a game that featured a unique father-son coaching matchup. Former Ripon head coach and current USF skipper Gordie Gillespie (left) coached the Red Hawks to 239 wins and five Midwest Conference titles during a 10-season stint at the school from 1996-2005. Gordie’s son Bob (right), who coached the Ripon baseball team from 1980-1995 and then assisted his father for a decade, resumed his head coaching role when Gordie departed for USF in 2006. Adding another dynamic to the family affair was Ripon’s starting second basemen, freshman Scott Gillespie, who managed a pair of hits against his grandfather’s squad.

The elder Gillespie is recognized as the all-time winningest baseball coach in collegiate baseball history and his Saints entered the Ripon game ranked No. 18 nationally in the NAIA.

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St. Norbert and Illinois College have been named as the favorites to win the Midwest Conference’s North and South Divisions, respectively, in the 2008 Midwest Conference Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll.

The Green Knights and All-American Adam Frost (right) took three of four games from Ripon during the 2007 regular-season to claim top honors in the North, but the Red Hawks rebounded to beat the Green Knights twice in the conference championship tournament.

Illinois College looks to unseat eight-time defending champ Monmouth in the South, as the Blueboys and 2007 MWC South Pitcher of the Year Brad Collignon (left) vie for their first division title since 1999.

Click here for 2008 Preseason Coaches Poll

St. Norbert junior shortstop Adam Frost (right) has been named first team All-America on the 2008 D3baseball.com Preseason All-America team. Frost enjoyed one of the best seasons in St. Norbert history in 2007, hitting a robust .471 (74-for-157). He set school season records in at bats (157), runs (tied-52), hits (74), doubles (tied-18), total bases (tied-108) and stolen bases (27). Frost, who also hit four home runs with 33 runs batted in, was named Midwest Conference North Division Player of the Year and also had a 20-game hitting streak.

St. Norbert finished the 2007 season with a 26-10-1 overall record, setting a school record for wins. The Green Knights were 14-2 to win the MWC North Division and finished as the runner-up in the MWC Tournament.

D3Baseball.com Preseason All-American Team

Mike Barthelmess has been named the interim head baseball coach at Lawrence, Director of Athletics Robert Beeman announced Monday (September 10).

Barthelmess assumes the reins of the baseball program after Kenyon College assistant coach T.J. Kohler informed Beeman last week that he had decided not to come to Lawrence. Kohler, who had accepted the position of Lawrence head baseball and assistant football coach in mid-August, cited family concerns as his reason.

Barthelmess, who will join the staff in January, brings head coaching experience to the Vikings. A 1983 graduate of Principia, he was the head baseball coach at his alma mater from 2001-04.

A native of Weston, Conn., Barthelmess also served as Principia's head football coach for nine seasons in two different stints. He coached the Panthers from 1990-95 and again from 2003-06.

Pitching coach Chris Bosio will oversee the Vikings' fall practice schedule. Lawrence returns 26 letterwinners from the squad that finished 12-21 and took third place in the North Division of the Midwest Conference in 2007.

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