University of St. Thomas Athletics
40-9
Wheaton (Mass.)
41-9
Baseball gets 17 hits, still falls 13-9 in NCAAs
5/28/2012 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
By DOUG HENNES
APPLETON, Wis. -- As St. Thomas has worked its way through the 2012 season and built a 40-8 record, game in and game out the trademarks have been sterling pitching and solid defense.
Both were in short supply on Monday night, however, and as a result the Tommies fell 13-9 to Wheaton in the winners' bracket game of the NCAA Division III College World Series. They will need to win three consecutive games over the next two days, starting at noon Tuesday against SUNY-Cortland, to capture their third national title.
Wheaton scored eight early runs - three unearned - and added four late in the game to hold off the Tommies, who loaded the bases in the ninth with nobody out but could scratch out only one run. The 13 runs were the most St. Thomas gave up all season.
"It came down to Bryce (Gapinski) having a tough start," Coach Chris Olean said of his senior southpaw, who came into the game 9-0 with a 1.51 ERA. "We dug a big hole and couldn't quite climb out."
When St. Thomas closed to within a run at 9-8 in the top of the eighth, Wheaton sealed the win with a four-run bottom half. The Lyons had only three hits in the inning, but Tommie pitchers hit two batters, walked one and threw three wild pitches, two of which scored runs.
The Tommies jumped on Wheaton starter Nolan Corr in the first for three runs on five hits and three Lyon errors. Tim Kuzniar singled and scored on a double by Dylan Thomas, who came in on a Charles Bruchu single to right. Bruchu made it 3-0 after two Wheaton errors sandwiched a Nick Reichert single.
Wheaton narrowed the gap to 3-1 in the bottom of the first on a triple and a passed ball, but the Tommies got the run back in the second when Bruchu doubled in Kuzniar. The extra base hit chased Corr, the first of five Wheaton pitchers.
An error on a grounder and Dan Gusovsky's first home run of the season brought Wheaton to within 4-3 in the second, but the Tommies got back one run in the third when J.D. Dorgan doubled into the right corner and Dan Reichert singled him home.
Wheaton went ahead 8-5 in the third when it batted around to score five runs on six hits and two St. Thomas errors. Two singles, another two-run home run, two more singles and two fielding errors forced Olean to pull Gapinski. Reliever Josh Kubitschek gave up a single that scored the final two (unearned) runs.
Comeback Not Enough
The Tommies closed to within 8-7 in the sixth. Justin Novak walked and Jack Hogan drove him in with a triple to left center. Kuzniar followed with an RBI sacrifice fly.
The Lyons increased their lead to 9-7 in the sixth and St. Thomas closed to 9-8 in the eighth when Bruchu singled in Hogan. But Wheaton responded with four runs by batting through the order again, getting only three hits but capitalizing on the walk, hit batters and wild pitches to seemingly put the game away.
St. Thomas loaded the bases with nobody out in the ninth but could score only once, when Hogan's one-out single drove in Dorgan. Kuzniar and Thomas each came to the plate as the tying run, but struck out and grounded out to third. The Tommies stranded 10 runners in the game - five in the last two innings.
"We never quit," Olean said, referring to the bases-loaded ninth. "I have no complaints about our effort, but if you play a sloppy game you can't expect to win in the national tournament. These teams are too good."
St. Thomas outhit Wheaton 17-16, with the top seven batters in the lineup having multi-hit games. First baseman Dan Reichert led the way with four hits, and Bruchu was 3 for 5 with three RBI.
Been Here Before
Olean and Reichert said the Tommies can bounce back to win three straight games, as they did in 2009, when Wooster defeated them 3-0 in the third-round game. They outlasted Carthage 3-1 the next day and then beat Wooster 6-4 and 3-2 in 12 innings to win the title.
"If we can get through tomorrow (Tuesday), then we're in pretty good shape," Olean said. "I'll take that chance with our pitching."
"It was a tough loss, but we've bounced back before," Reichert said. "We just need better pitching and defense than we had today."
If the Tommies defeat Cortland, they will play either Wheaton or Marietta at 11 a.m. Wednesday. Marietta would be the opponent if it defeats Wheaton on Tuesday, but if Wheaton wins the Tommies would need to defeat the Lyons twice on Wednesday.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Corey Laliberte (4-2)
L: Gapinski (9-1)
S: Ryan Grant (14)
Batting:
2B: Thomas 1 ; Bruchu 1 ; Dorgan 1 ; D. Reichert 1
3B: Hogan 1
RBI: Hogan 2 ; Kuzniar 1 ; Thomas 1 ; Bruchu 3 ; D. Reichert 1
SH: Novak 1
SF: Kuzniar 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hogan 2 ; Kuzniar 2 ; Thomas 1 ; Bruchu 1 ; Dorgan 1 ; D. Reichert 1 ; Novak 1
SB: Hogan 1 ; Dorgan 1
HBP: Miller 1
PO: D. Reichert 1
Batting:
2B: Hal Landers 1 ; Apolinar De la Cruz 1 ; Kevin Foley 1
3B: Sean Ryan 1
HR: Apolinar De la Cruz 1 ; Dan Gusovsky 1
RBI: Dan Haugh 3 ; Apolinar De la Cruz 3 ; Dan Gusovsky 2 ; John Keating 2
SH: Sean Ryan 1
SF: Dan Haugh 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Hal Landers 2 ; Eric Jensen 1 ; Sean Ryan 3 ; Dan Haugh 1 ; Apolinar De la Cruz 3 ; Dan Gusovsky 2 ; Kevin Foley 1
SB: Sean Ryan 1 ; Kevin Foley 1 ; John Keating 1
HBP: Eric Jensen 1 ; Sean Ryan 1
