Sun. Wrap: Men's Tennis, Softball shine

Tommie Men's Tennis (13-1) rallied for a 5-4 win over Bethel in a hard-fought conference battle Sunday at the St. Paul Academy courts.

UST senior Luke Elifson won a three-set decision at first singles for the deciding point with an 11-9 margin over BU's Matt Schull in the tie-breaker.

The Tommies trailed 2-1 after doubles but pulled out the match victory. Ben Wait won both of his matches to help St. Thomas hang on. Wait won 7-5, 6-2 in singles after an 8-4 doubles victory with Burke Anderson.

UST won three matches on three different courts in a 27-hour span this weekend.

The Toms are scheduled to face Gustavus and Carleton next Saturday and Sunday at the SPA courts to close the regular season.

UST Men def. Bethel University 5-4

Singles:

#1.) Luke Elifson (UST) def. Matt Schull (BU) 6-0, 5-7, 11-9

#2.) Kolin Kiekhoefer (BU) def. Scott Wall (UST) 6-0, 6-1

#3.) Hunter Fernelius (BU) def. Burke Anderson (UST) 6-4, 6-1

#4.) Martin Beck (UST) def. Jakob Bartels (BU) 6-3, 6-2

#5.) Tom Runde (UST) def. Noah Ridgway (BU) 6-2, 6-4

#6.) Ben Wait (UST) def. Henry Morris (BU) 7-5, 6-2

Doubles:

#1.) Matt Schull & Hunter Fernelius (BU) def. Martin Beck & Luke Elifson (UST) 8-3

#2.) Kolin Kiekhoefer & Noah Ridgway (BU) def. Matt Kavanagh & Scott Wall (UST) 8-5

#3.) Burke Anderson & Ben Wait (UST) def. Jakob Bartels & Henry Morris (BU) 8-4

Softball

St. Thomas secured the program's 18th consecutive 30-win season and swept into the MIAC softball lead with Sunday's 8-4, 5-0 home sweep over previous conference leader St. Ben's.

St. Thomas (31-7 overall, 16-4 MIAC) has won seven in a row and 11 of its last 12 games. It closes the conference season next weekend with two games at Bethel. Coach John Tschida's team is in position to win or share the MIAC crown with a good finish and is chasing the program's 15th regular-season title in the last 18 seasons.

UST's Melissa Barry had five hits on the day for UST, which never trailed in four weekend wins over Gustavus and St. Ben's. Jessica Eppenberger threw a five-hit shutout with no walks in the nightcap against a CSB team that came in averaging seven runs a game and had not been shutout all season.

Jenna Bromen went 2-for-3 wth three RBI and Chase Shortly had two sacrifice fly RBIs in game one. In game two, UST scored on a passed ball and wild pitch for a 2-0 lead. Carolyn Osdoba had a pinch RBI single, and Dana Connelly added an RBI hit.

Women's Golf

St. Thomas placed fifth out of 14 teams at the two-day, 36-hole Bethel tournament.

Men's Golf

St. Thomas teams sit in sixth and eighth place out of 16 teams after 18 holes Sunday at the Gustavus Bobby Kreig Invite.

The tourney concludes with 36 holes on Monday.

The Tommie No. 2 team shot 304, while the No. 1 UST squad shot 304. Riley Gannon led the Tommies after shootig three-under 69.

Team Leaders

Player Leaders

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Burke Anderson

Martin Beck

Luke Elifson

Matt Kavanagh

Tom Runde

Ben Wait

Scott Wall

University of St. Thomas Athletics