University of St. Thomas Athletics
15-8, 7-3
St. Olaf
16-8, 7-4
Late (very late) heroics let Baseball salvage split at St. Olaf
4/20/2019 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Down to its last strike and trailing 13-12 in the ninth inning, visiting Tommie Baseball was on the ropes. But it didn't go down for the count.
St. Thomas used Kyle Halverson's two-out, two-strike, two-run double to ignite a three-run inning, and Andrew Tri shut the door over 1 2-3 innings of relief in a 15-13 victory over St. Olaf and a split of Saturday's MIAC doubleheader in Northfield.
The Oles won game one, 3-2, as Luke Dahl homered twice, including a solo shot in the fifth inning that snapped a 2-2 tie. The Toms left seven on base.
St. Thomas (16-8 overall, 8-3 MIAC) remain atop the standings just past the halfway point of the 20-game league season, with St. John's (9-5), Gustavus (7-4), the Oles (7-5) and St. Mary's (8-6) close behind.
Game two lasted 3:28 on the watch; had five lead changes; had 11 pitchers used; and included nine runners left on base for each team with 47 total baserunners and 16 hits apiece. St. Olaf's T.J. Rogers went 5-for-5 with a walk, while Tommie Sam Cobbs went 4-for-5 with a walk.
The Tommies came into today with a 1-18 record over the last three seasons when trailing after eight innings.
St. Thomas sophomore Matt Dolan hit his first varsity home run, a three-run shot in the fifth inning, that tied the game 8-8.
But a bases-loaded double let St. Olaf regain the lead, and the Oles led 13-9 after seven innings.
In the top of the eighth inning, the Toms loaded the bases with nobody out. They used an RBI walk, a sacrifice fly and a run-scoring error to pull within 13-12.
The Oles put two aboard via bases on balls with one out in the bottom of the eighth, but Tri came on to get two outs keep the deficit at 13-12.
Down to its last two outs in the top of the ninth inning, Dan Bollingberg's one-out single put the tying run on base. Chandler Schaefbauer's two-out walk brought up Halverson, who worked a 2-2 count before crushing a pitch to the gap in left to score two. Halverson scored on Cobbs' RBI single.
The Oles got a leadoff single in the ninth to bring the tying run to the plate, but Tri retired the last three batters to let the Purple take a split.
Avery Lehman went 3-for-6, while Bollingberg, John Thorp and Jake Husnick each had two hits.
Tommie senior Henry DeCaster took his second loss of the season in the opener. He allowed three runs and four hits with no walks and seven strikeouts in six innings.
St. Thomas is off for Easter Sunday. It resumes a suspended game at Gustavus on Monday as the visiting team in a game tied 5-5 after 10 innings. The Toms also play St. John's at home Tuesday in a doubleheader.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hunter Barber (4-2)
L: DeCaster, Henry (4-2)
S: Sam Westermeyer (1)
Batting:
2B: Lehman, Avery 1 ; Cobbs, Sam 1 ; Cummings, Tommy 1
RBI: Lehman, Avery 1 ; Cummings, Tommy 1
SF: Cummings, Tommy 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Halverson, Kyle 1 ; Dolan, Matt 1
SB: Bollingberg, Dan 1
HBP: Schaefbauer, Chandler 1
Batting:
2B: Dylan Blake 1
HR: Luke Dahl 2
RBI: Luke Dahl 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Matthew Muller 1 ; Luke Dahl 2
CS: Matthew Muller 1
