MIAC Baseball Athletes-of-the-Week

MIAC Baseball Player-of-the-Week

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Dylan Graves, Saint John's
Mora, Minn. / Mora

Saint John's claimed its first MIAC Baseball Playoff title over the weekend with sophomore Dylan Graves (Mora, Minn.) leaving his mark on the Johnnies' tournament championship. The centerfielder batted in the neighborhood of .400 over SJU's four tournament games (3-1 record), had a two-homer game to start the postseason run and played sparkling defense in centerfield without an error all weekend. For the tournament, Graves hit .389 (7-for-18) with four runs, four RBI, two home runs, a .722 slugging percentage and a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage on 10 chances.For his clutch Playoff performance, Graves has been named the final MIAC Baseball Player-of-the-Week for the 2012 season.

Graves was the driving force in SJU's tournament-opening win over Bethel, going 2-for-4 with two home runs and four RBI in the 7-3 win. He followed with another tremendous performance in a narrow 4-2 win over Saint Mary's in the second round. Graves was 4-for-5 against the Cardinals with a run scored and a hit in the Johnnies' eighth-inning rally that won the game. He added a big hit and scored a run in SJU's seven-run inning that blew open Sunday's championship game, and he halted St. Thomas' comeback attempt with a big double play from centerfield later in the game, catching an apparent sacrifice fly for one out and cutting down a Tommie runner at third before the run crossed the plate to end the innings.

With the tournament title, Saint John's improved to 29-14 this season, and added the MIAC Playoff Championship to its second-place regular-season finish. The postseason crown also gave SJU the MIAC's automatic bid to the 2012 NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament. The Johnnies were assigned to a six-team regional in McMinniville, Ore., hosted by Linfield. SJU is the No. 6 seed, and will join No. 1 Concorida-Texas, No. 2 Trinity, No. 3 Whitworth, No. 4 La Verne and No. 5 Coe in the double-elimination regional.

MIAC Baseball Pitcher-of-the-Week

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Joey Long, Saint John's
Belvidere, Ill. / Rockford Boylan

In the postseason, every successful team usually leans on a good bullpen and a reliable closer to come through in big spots. That was the case for Saint John's this weekend as it claimed the 2012 MIAC Baseball Playoff championship, with Joey Long (Belividere, Ill./Rockford Boylan) giving the Johnnies a near-perfect performance out of the pen. The SJU closer allowed just one hit and one walk in three appearances (4.0 innings) without allowing a run, striking out three and holding opposing hitters to a batting average of .077. For his postseason performance, Long has been named the final MIAC Baseball Pitcher-of-the-Week for the 2012 season.

In actuality, Long didn't really "come out of the bullpen" for SJU, as he is also the team's starting second baseman. It was from that spot that he moved to the mound for perhaps his biggest outing of the weekend. Long was summoned from second with two on and no outs in the eighth inning of the final game of the championship, and he proceeded to maneuver out of it brilliantly, working two scoreless innings, allowing just one walk and striking out one to preserve the Johnnies' championship win. He also threw a perfect inning against Bethel Friday and allowed his only hit of the weekend while striking out one as he earned the save in Saturday's 4-2 win over Saint Mary's. This season, Long is 1-0 with 10 saves in 19 appearances this spring. The SJU career saves leader has a 2.22 ERA.

With the tournament title, Saint John's improved to 29-14 this season, and added the MIAC Playoff Championship to its second-place regular-season finish. The postseason crown also gave SJU the MIAC's automatic bid to the 2012 NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament. The Johnnies were assigned to a six-team regional in McMinniville, Ore., hosted by Linfield. SJU is the No. 6 seed, and will join No. 1 Concorida-Texas, No. 2 Trinity, No. 3 Whitworth, No. 4 La Verne and No. 5 Coe in the double-elimination regional.
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