ALL-LMC BASEBALL AWARDS ANNOUNCED
MADISON, Wis. -- The All-Lake Michigan Conference baseball awards for the 2006 season have just been announced by the conference office. The awards include a 15-player All-LMC team, followed by honorable mention players, a ten-player All-Rookie team as well as player, rookie and coach of the year awards. All awards are voted on by the conference's head coaches.

Concordia University's Adam Rohlinger (West Bend, Wis.) claimed Lake Michigan Conference player of the year honors. Rohlinger was named LMC rookie of the year in 2003. The senior designated hitter led the conference in batting (.433 in 19 conference games), slugging percentage (.750) and on-base percentage (.575). Rohlinger was also fourth in runs scored (24), second in RBIs (24), and first in walks (19). His Falcons finished second in the LMC with a 14-7 record, and 22-18 overall.

Alex Berta of Edgewood College was named LMC rookie of the year. Berta (Normal, Ill.) was the co-leader (Andy Becker, Concordia) in the conference in hits with 32, and batted .410 in 21 conference games, fourth best in the league . He was also third in runs scored (26)

Al Brisack was named LMC coach of the year for the second consecutive season, leading Edgewood (28-13, 17-4 LMC) to its second consecutive conference championship.

--May 16, 2006-- [2006 All-LMC Baseball Awards]

NCAA DIVISION III BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP FIELD ANNOUNCED
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The NCAA Division III Baseball Committee has announced the 53 teams that will compete in the Division III Baseball Championship. Lake Michigan Conference automatic qualifier Dominican University (21-19) will play in the regional hosted by UW-Stevens Point in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin.

The seven-team double-elimination regional will take place May 17-21 at Witter Field. The seventh-seeded Stars of Dominican University will take on second-seeded St. Olaf College (28-8) this Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. The winner will advance to play the winner of No. 3 University of St. Thomas (Minn.) (29-9) and No. 6 Coe College (26-17) at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, while the losers of the two games will play on Thursday at 9:30 a.m.

The other teams competing at the regional are top-seeded Ripon College (32-5), No. 4 College of St. Scholastica (36-4), and regional host UW-Stevens Point (29-15), the No. 5 seed. The winner of the regional will advance to the finals, hosted by Lawrence University and UW-Oshkosh, which take place May 26-30 at Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton, Wisconsin.

--May 15, 2006-- [Regional Host Website] [Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. Regional bracket]
[05/17 result: St. Olaf 17, Dominican 8 -box score- -recap-] [05/18 result: St. Thomas (Minn.) 22, Dominican 3 -box score- - recap-]

DOMINICAN BASEBALL CLAIMS FIRST LMC TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP
SHEBOYGAN, Wis. -- The Dominican University baseball team claimed its first-ever Lake Michigan Conference (LMC) Tournament championship on Saturday with wins over number-one seed Edgewood College 7-3 and number-two seed Marian College 6-2.

The Stars (21-19) finished the season with the program’s first 20-win season and claimed its first trip to the NCAA Division III National Tournament with its run through the conference tournament. After rain washed out Friday’s games, the conference shifted from a double-elimination format to a single-elimination format with the winner claiming the LMC’s automatic bid to the national tournament.

--May 14, 2006-- [Release provided by Dominican's Sports Information Department]

TOP FOUR TO SQUARE OFF IN FINAL LMC BASEBALL TOURNAMENT
MADISON, Wis. -- The final Lake Michigan Conference event will take place this weekend at the 2006 LMC Baseball Tournament. The top four LMC baseball teams will compete in the double-elimination tournament hosted by Lakeland College at Wildwood Park in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.

The four teams competing include Edgewood College (28-12, 17-4 LMC), Marian College (21-17, 14-7), Concordia University (22-17, 14-7) and Dominican University (19-19, 13-8). The tournament champion receives the LMC's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship.

Top-seeded Edgewood will square off versus No. 4 Dominican, while No. 2 Marian will take on No. 3 Concordia. Both games are scheduled for a 10am first-pitch on Friday, with the Edgewood vs. Dominican game taking place at Wildwood Park, and the Marian vs. Concordia game taking place at Muskie Park on the Lakeland campus. All remaining games will be played at Wildwood Park.

The Eagles of Edgewood College enter the event as defending tournament champions, and also won the last two regular season crowns. The Eagles recorded a 7-2 record versus the tournament teams, losing once apiece to Marian and Dominican. The Eagles look to return to the NCAA Division III Championship, in witch they were runners-up at the 2005 Illinois Wesleyan Regional.

The Marian College Sabres look win their first tournament tile since 2000, and ninth tournament title overall. Marian went 4-5 versus the other three tournament teams, winning only one series, 2-1, over Concordia. The series win was good enough to give them the tie-breaker over the Falcons for the No. 2 seed, which in turn gives them the 'home team' honor in the game against the Falcons.

Concordia won the tournament championship in 2004, their only conference tournament championship in Falcon baseball history. The Falcons recorded a 3-6 record versus the tournament teams this season, which includes a 2-1 series win over Dominican. Their current 22 wins is a best in recent program history.

The Dominican Stars claimed the last spot in the tourney with a 13-8 conference record, two games better than fifth place Lakeland (11-10 LMC). The Stars compiled a 4-5 record versus the top three teams, winning the series over Marian, 2-1.

The four teams are the top four conference teams in both batting and pitching in overall games, and nearly the same in conference-only contests (Dominican 5th in pitching). The stats foreshadow an exciting tournament to be played in the LMC finale.

The tournament's first five games will be played on Friday (10am, 2pm, 5pm, 8pm), while the remaining sixth, and possibly seventh will take place on Saturday. All game times are approximate, pending completion of prior games. Tickets for the tournament will be available at the gate.

--May 8, 2006-- [Tournament Bracket including game times] [Host Lakeland's tournament site]

EDGEWOOD BASEBALL UNANIMOUS FAVORITE IN PRESEASON COACHES' POLL
MADISON, Wis. -- The Edgewood College baseball team was unanimously picked to win the 2006 Lake Michigan Conference championship according to the preseason coaches' poll released today.

Edgewood (29-17, 16-2 LMC), won both the 2005 LMC regular season and tournament championships en route to finishing second at a NCAA regional. The Eagles tallied 64 points on all eight first place votes in the poll.

Marian College (21-22, 13-5) was picked second with 54 points, while Concordia University (21-18, 12-6) was picked third with 47. Lakeland College (14-28, 9-9) totaled 35 points for a fourth place finish.

LMC-newcomer Dominican University (18-15) and Milwaukee School of Engineering (12-29, 7-11) were picked to tie for fifth, both with 34 points. Wisconsin Lutheran College (11-30, 6-12) and Maranatha Baptist Bible College (6-29, 0-18) rounded out the final two spots.

2006 Preseason Coaches’ Poll
1. Edgewood (8) - 64
2. Marian - 54
3. Concordia - 47
4. Lakeland - 35
5. Dominican - 34
5. MSOE - 34
7. Wis. Lutheran - 22
8. Maranatha - 8

--March 6, 2006--  [ 2006 LMC Baseball & Softball Media Guide]