Minnesota Scene: Macalester, Bethel meet for MIAC baseball title; MSU Mankato baseball, softball wins

Macalester jumped to a 7-2 lead and held off St. Thomas 7-6 Friday afternoon and then Bethel rallied to eliminate the Tommies with a 3-2 victory Friday night in the MIAC playoffs at Collegeville.

Earlier in the day, Bethel broke a 1-1 tie with a sixth-inning run to beat St. John's 2-1 and knock out the Johnnies from the double-elimination tournament.

Macalester jumped to its early lead mainly on the strength of a grand slam by second baseman Quentin Stuart. St. Thomas, which tied for the regular-season title with Bethel, scored two runs in the seventh and eighth innings to move within one run.

Macalester and Bethel play at noon at St. John's, with another game immediately following if Bethel wins. The playoff champion receives an automatic berth in the NCAA Division III tournament, which begins next week.

Live video is available here.

NSIC baseball

Top-seeded Minnesota State Mankato won 6-3 over third-seeded St. Cloud State in the NSIC baseball tournament semifinal Friday at Joe Faber Field. The Mavericks (43-9) advanced to Saturday's championship against the winner of an elimination game between the Huskies and Minnesota Duluth.

Sinking four consecutive birdies to open his round Friday, defending champion Ryan Helminen carded a 6-under par 66 at the Minnesota Golf Champions tournament at Dellwood Country Club.

Helminen owns a three-stroke lead over Sammy Schmitz and Jeff Sorenson entering Saturday's second round.

"It seemed pretty easy the first nine holes — I could do no wrong and then, obviously, reality on the back. I hit a couple squirrely shots and was grinding," Helminen said.