University of St. Thomas Athletics
Wooster
Baseball: Tireless Toms find a way to bring trophy home
5/26/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
By DOUG HENNES
GRAND CHUTE, Wis. -- St. Thomas kept knocking politely on the door in Tuesday's NCAA Division III championship baseball game, putting runners on base in the ninth, 10th and 11th 
innings, but kept getting turned away.
Dan Leslie finally knocked down the door in the 12th inning, hitting a one-out, full-count single to left field to score a streaking Matt Olson from second base. That capped a six-hour, doubleheader sweep and delivered St. Thomas its second World Series title in nine years, 3-2, over the College of Wooster.
Time and time again in the late innings, the Tommies stood poised on the edge of the dugout ready to celebrate. UST put runners in scoring position but were continually foiled by the Scots' All-American Matt Miller, who pitched the entire game.
Foiled, that is, until Leslie's hit, which one teammate called "sweet redemption." Leslie had lost to Wooster, 3-0, on Sunday night and was held hitless in the first 11 innings of the title game, grounding into double plays in the eighth and 10th innings.
"I was just looking for a pitch to hit, and to hit it hard," he said of his final-inning heroics. "I didn't hit it too solid, but it turned out all right."
It certainly did. Olson had broke from second base on the 3-2 pitch to Leslie and already was at third by 
the time the ball reached the outfield grass. He easily slid into home for the win, far ahead of the Wooster throw, and was engulfed by teammates at the plate.
"This is just . . . just amazing," Olson said as he waited to do an interview with CBS Television. "I was ready to score. All I wanted to do is get home. I was hoping we wouldn't try to tie our NCAA record for 17 innings (a 5-4 win May 20 in the regionals over UW-Stevens Point)."
The winning slide capped a brilliant NCAA playoffs streak for Olson, who was chosen World Series Most Outstanding Player and made the all-tournament team along with Leslie, Matt McQuillan and pitchers Matt Schuld and Brandon Stone.
Olson had three hits in the title game, was hit by a pitch three consecutive times in the first game and scored four of the Tommies' nine runs on the day. He hit .500 for the national tournament after hitting .486 in the Midwest regionals.
Coach Dennis Denning characteristically stood on the sidelines and quietly watched the pandemonium at 
home plate. When it came time to accept the championship trophy, Denning held it aloft and was surrounded by his players, who hoisted them to their shoulders.
"I thought about fighting it," Denning said, "but I was up in the air before I knew it and I couldn't do anything about it. My legs were shaking and my knees were shaking."
Denning credited the wins over Wooster to attention to baseball fundamentals -- good pitching, good defense, timely hitting and smart running. The Tommies had only one error on the day, executed eight sacrifice bunts to get runners into scoring position and pulled off two suicide squeezes for crucial runs in the opener.
"We had to play 'small' ball," Denning said. "We're not a power team. We had only one extra base hit all day."
Denning admitted some frustration with the Tommies' inability to score more runs in the title game. They opened eight of the 12 innings with runners on first but grounded in five double plays and left 13 men on base. "We just couldn't finish them off," he said. "Miller was tough."
PHOTOS: Above, from top: Dan Leslie, Matt Olson, Coach Dennis Denning
Tommies grab lead
St. Thomas scored first in the second game. Louie Salmen came around in the third inning after a walk, 
single, sacrifice bunt and a Tim Kahle RBI-infield chopper. But Wooster bounced right back to take its first lead of the day off freshman starter Bryce Gapinski after opening the fourth with a single and Matt Groezinger's 12th home run of the season.
The Tommies put two on base in the fifth but couldn't score, and tied the game at 2-2 in the sixth. Matt Olson opened with a single, moved to second on a Brian Schmitz walk, to third on a Dan Leslie sacrifice bunt and scored on a Roy Larson sacrifice fly.
Gapinski had pitched the Tommies to a Saturday night win over Shenandoah but was eager to start Tuesday afternoon on just two days' rest. Denning's advice was simple: "He told me, 'You don't need to overpower these guys. Just hit your spots, and give us as many innings as you can go.' "
That ended up being five, and Stone came in to start the sixth. He hadn't pitched since the MIAC playoff title game on May 10 because of arm soreness, but felt good during practice over the holiday weekend and told Denning he was ready to pitch whenever needed.
Stone retired the Scots' first seven hitters. He gave up singles in the eighth, ninth and 11th innings but allowed only one runner to second base. He threw just 57 pitches -- 42 strikes and 15 balls -- in seven innings of relief, and needed only five pitches to set down the Scots in the 12th.
"Our defense has been good all year, and I knew I had to do my job and throw the ball over the plate," Stone said. As for the aggressive Scots, who went after many first or second pitches, he said: "They crept up on the plate and wanted to hit to right. I knew they'd be hacking away."
Clutch Game 1 Win
In the opener, the Tommies jumped Wooster's other All-American pitcher, Justin McDowell, early by opening the first four innings with singles. But they left four runners on base the first three innings (and 11 for the game) and didn't break through against McDowell until the fourth, when Salmen laid down a suicide squeeze bunt with one out and Leslie at third and Roy Larson at second. Leslie scored easily. On the next pitch, Brady Field hit a single to right to knock in Larson and put the Tommies up 2-0.
"With less than two outs and a man on third, a squeeze always is in the back of your mind," Salmen said. 
McDowell started Salmen with a slider and came back with a fastball. "I got it down and far enough away from the pitcher, and Danny came in."
Wooster picked up a run in the fifth. Schuld, the Tommies' first-team All-American pitcher, picked up two outs but gave up a single and double to deep right-center.
Two innings later, the Tommies picked up another pair of runs, both with two outs. Olson was hit by a pitch for the second consecutive at-bat, went to third on a Brian Schmitz single and came home on a Leslie single. Larson knocked in Schmitz on the Tommies' third consecutive single.
Schuld set down the Scots 1-2-3 in the seventh but ran into trouble in the eighth. Shane Swearingen led off with his first homemrun of the season, and the Scots tied the game on a single, walk, sacrifice bunt and two-run double. Schuld walked a second batter but induced two fly balls to end the inning.
"I was a little tired after the seventh," Schuld said. "I was not making good pitches, throwing too hard and letting the adrenalin take over." When Wooster tied the game on the double and he walked another 
batter, "I stepped off the mound and got a little perspective. I said to myself, 'This is our season,' and I was able to get the last two outs."
St. Thomas bounced right back in the ninth, sending eight hitters to the plate and scoring twice, thanks to three Wooster miscues. McQuillan reached on an error and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. A McDowell pitch hit Olson for the third straight time and Schmitz's third hit of the day scored McQuillan. It was Leslie's turn this time to lay down a perfect suicide squeeze bunt (and his third single of the game), with Olson cruising across the plate.
Schuld had seen Stone warming up in the eighth but wanted to finish. He gave up a single to open the ninth but retired the last three batters. Sean Karpen, who had entered the game with 10 hits in 16 at-bats during the tournament, ended the game by flying out. Karpen went 1 for 4 in each games.
PHOTOS: Above, from top: Brandon Stone, Louie Salmen Matt Schuld
Victory Run
After the players received their championship plaques and had their team photo taken in front of the scoreboard in the outield, they grabbed the trophy and trotted over to the third baseline to the cheers of their parents and fans.
As he reflected afterwards about what the championship means, Denning talked in calm, measured tones and tipped his hat to Wooster. The Scots also lost the Division III title game in 1997, and Denning empathized with what they were going through; the Tommies finished second in 1999 and 2000 before winning their first title in 2001.
"The bus ride home tonight will take 45 minutes," he told reporters of the 280-mile journey, and they laughed.
"If we had lost, it would have seemed like 10 hours," he added, and they nodded.
"I consider ourselves very fortunate."
