The No. 4-ranked Tommie softball scored a pair of 10-2 victories in six innings over the Bethel royals in Sunday’s miac opener in Arden Hills. Chase Shortly had four hits and six RBI in the sweep for St. Thomas.

The Tommies opens its home season Wednesday with two MIAC games against St. Ben’s.

Tommie baseball scored a 3-1 win over Bethel to cap Sunday’s road doubleheader sweep in conference play in Arden Hills. Sophomore lefty Graham Laubscher allowed no earned runs in his first career nine-inning complete-game victory.

St. Thomas opens its home season Wednesday with two MIAC games against Macalester.

In the NCAA Final Four, Tom Izzo drew up the perfect play at the perfect moment, sending michigan state past duke for a spot in the Final Four. This will be Izzo’s eighth Final Four and a chance for a second national championship.

The other three Final Four coaches all will be the new kids at the dance.

Chris Beard’s nomadic journey struck a vein of gold in his 12th coaching stop at Texas Tech, with a gritty pack of ball-hawking players grasping the program’s first Final Four. They will face Izzo’s Spartans next Saturday in Minneapolis.

Virginia’s Tony Bennett finally got over the hump in his 10th season with the Cavaliers, putting them in position for a different kind of history after last year’s historic first-round flameout against No. 16 University of Maryland-Baltimore.

And Bruce Pearl found some gems at Auburn after a bitter split with Tennessee, guiding the Tigers to Minneapolis where they’ll face Virginia despite the cloud of a federal investigation hanging over the program.

Althea Larson can be reached at lars2360@stthomas.edu.