ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Crown came into the final day of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference baseball tournament needing to defeat the UW-Superior baseball team twice for its first trip to the NCAA tournament Saturday at Reynolds Field. 
 
The Polars did just that, getting three home runs in the first game to overcome a three-run first-inning deficit in the opener and a 15-strikeout complete game from right-hander Eric Newman in the second game to end the Yellowjackets' Cinderella run to the UMAC championship series.
 
UWS, the No. 4-seed in the tournament, beat top seed Northwestern Thursday and No. 2 Crown Friday to earn a spot on the final day, and closes the season 19-21 overall.
 
Playing as the home team in the first game by virtue of being the 2-0 team entering the day, Superior jumped on Crown starter Jacob Shirley quickly, sending seven players to the plate. Nick Fredrikson (Minneapolis, Minn./St. Anthony Village) got things going with a leadoff double down the left-field line before Ben Rhodes (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) was hit by a pitch. Payton Steiner (Baraboo, Wis./Baraboo) moved the runners up with a groundball to the right side. Isaac Fugere (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East) followed, lining a two-run double to left.
 
Christian Garcia (Blue Springs, Mo./Blue Springs) then singled to second base, and with runners on the corners, Sam McNosky (Minneapolis, Minn./DeLaSalle) lifted a sacrifice fly to right field, plating Fugere to extend the lead to 3-0.
 
Crown (30-13) knotted the game when Bailey Sarto took an 0-1 pitch from righty Matt Tappe (St. Anthony, Minn./St. Anthony Village) down the line in left and over the wall with two out. Alejandro Molina gave the Polars the lead in the fourth with a two-run shot with one gone in the fourth after Kyle Schroedle was hit by a pitch to begin the frame.
 
Seth Betts hit a two-out RBI double and Schroedle followed with a run-scoring single as Crown built its lead to 7-3 in the top of the fifth. The 'Jackets responded in the bottom of the inning when Ben Rhodes (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) hit an RBI single to left, scoring his brother, Jonny Rhodes (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior), to make it 7-4.
 
That spelled the end of the day for Shirley, who was relieved by Jacob Van Dam. Steiner greeted Van Dam with a sac fly to center that scored Fredrikson to cut the deficit to two.
 
Tappe walked Sarto and hit Betts to start the seventh and Schroedle launched a three-run homer to center, pushing the lead to 10-5. Crown later added RBI hits in the inning from Aaron Clogston (single to center) and Mason Brock (double to left center) on either side of a Blake Boggs double-play ball that scored a run for the final margin off of Jack Rheineck (St. Louis Park, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret's School).
 
Van Dam (1-2) allowed just two hits and a walk, earning the win in 4 2/3 frames out of the bullpen. He struck out five.
 
Tappe (5-4) went six-plus innings, scattering 10 hits and 11 earned runs with one walk.
 
Brock was 4-for-6 with two doubles, a run scored and one driven in to pace the Polars' 15-hit attack. Schroedle added four RBIs.
 
Fredrikson was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs out of the leadoff spot for UWS.
 
Newman was masterful in the clincher for Crown, yielding just six hits and one earned run, throwing 153 pitches to improve to 8-2 on the year. He fanned eight-of-nine batters from the fourth through the seventh inning, keeping UWS out of rhythm.
 
Crown scored three times in the first off of senior lefty Ryan Rodriguez (Chaska, Minn./Chaska) -- who came back after throwing 147 pitches Friday -- to take the lead. A Steiner sac fly to right field in the bottom of the inning scored Fredrikson to shave the deficit to 3-1.
 
Ryan Rodriguez (Chaska, Minn./Chaska) worked the first two frames before freshman Ethan Coady (Toronto, Ontario/Etobicoke School of the Arts) came on in the third to retire the Polars in order. UWS crept closer in its half of the frame, manufacturing a run to make it 3-2. Ryan Castaneda's (San Pedro, Calif./Junipero Serra) grounder to first base scored Ben Rhodes (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior), who had walked, moved to second on a Steiner single and third on a Fugere sacrifice bunt. 
 
Crown, however, added single runs in the fourth and seventh, scoring twice more in the fifth, as UWS could not mount a serious threat the rest of the way.
 
Ryan Rodriguez (Chaska, Minn./Chaska) (7-5) took the loss, allowing three runs, one walk and five hits. Coady pitched one out into the fifth surrendering three hits and three runs. Bryce Flanagan (Brainerd, Minn./Brainerd Senior) came back the day after his 125-pitch complete game to give his team the final 4 2/3 innings on 54 more pitches.
 
Brock, Betts, Schroedle and Molina each collected a pair of hits for Crown. Steiner finished 2-for-3 with a double a sac fly for UWS.
 
The loss signaled the end of the collegiate careers of 10 UWS seniors -- Dante Bender (Gurney, Wis./Hurley), James Besaw (Oak Harbor, Wash./Oak Harbor), Will Bess (Tucson, Ariz./Sahuaro), David Dibble (Kenosha, Wis./Tremper), Gunner Johnson (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior), Mike Rodriguez (Chicago, Ill./Gordon Tech), Ryan Rodriguez (Chaska, Minn./Chaska), Nick Shea (Pengilly, Minn./Greenway), Castaneda and Flanagan.