University of St. Thomas Athletics
Mount Mercy
Game Notes - Baseball plays Wednesday non-conference games in Iowa
3/15/2022 2:23:00 PM | Baseball
Road Trip
Tommie Baseball (2-10 overall) added a pair of nine-inning games to its schedule. It will travel to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for Wednesday March 16 games hosted by Mount Mary University. First pitch is 11 a.m. for a game against Mount Mercy (10-6), and approximately 2 p.m. for a battle against Iowa Wesleyan (7-11).
The Mount Mercy game will be No. 500 on the 13th-year head coaching career of St. Thomas' Chris Olean (340 wins).
The Tommies have seven one- or two-run losses among their 10 defeats. Last weekend, the Purple lost 9-0 and 3-2 in Evanston, Ill., against Big Ten member Northwestern University.
Follow
The live video for both Wednesday games can be accessed here: https://www.heartconferencenetwork.com/
Mount Mercy/Iowa Wesleyan Talk
Mount Mercy went 2-4 in February but has an 8-2 record in March. Grad student Kaimana Souza-Paaluhi leads the team in hitting at .345, with 20 RBI and two home runs in 16 games. Pitcher Kobey Schlotman has recorded three wins and 24 strikeouts in four starts. The Mustangs are 8-2 at home.
Iowa Wesleyan went 3-13 in February and has gone 4-8 so far in March goi9ng into two non-conference games Tuesday in St. Louis. Senior Cristian Cordero is a top hitter with a .329 batting average, 22 runs, 20 RBIs and five home runs in 73 at bats. Sophomore Luis Ayesa has posted a 3-2 mound record of 3-2 in six starts. He has 21 strikeouts on the season.
March Through March
St. Thomas has had five games erased so far this month by rain or cold weather. The Toms are 0-5 in March with seven more games this month. They are set to play a March 25-27 road series for their Summit League debut against the University of Omaha. Their home opener is March 30 against Viterbo.
Did You Know?
Over eight starts and one relief stint, St. Thomas starting pitchers Walker Retz, Devon Schewe and Kolby Gartner have combined to build a 1.76 ERA with 60 strikeouts and 18 walks over 45.2 innings. Schewe has a 5-to-1 K-to-walk ratio.
The Tommies' staff ERA is 4.15 with 128 strikeouts and 59 walks over 102 innings.
More Tommie Buzz
St. Thomas ranks 15th nationally in strikeouts per nine innings at 11.3. The Toms also rank in the top 85 among all 301 D-I teams in ERA at 4.15.
Individually among D-I national leaders, Devon Schewe's 13.85 Ks per nine ranks in the top 35. The averages for Graham Laubscher (12.46) and Walker Retz (12.38) also rank in the top 75.
The Tommies had gone 19 games without hitting a home run -- dating back to May in the 2021 Division III national playoffs -- before Sam Kulesa slapped a solo HR on Sunday in game two at Northwestern... Kulesa doubled in his first D-I plate appearance Feb. 18 at Florida International.
In the Toms' first D-I win, 2-0 on Feb. 25 vs. Sacred Heart, Retz and Laubscher combined on a three-hit shutout with 18 strikeouts.
Kolby Gartner struck out the side in the first inning of his D-I debut. A rare Division I two-sport athlete, he was the starting punter for St. Thomas Football last fall and averaged 44.4 yards on 33 punts for the 7-3 Tommies.
Charlie Bartholomew has struck out just four times in 46 plate appearances in 2022. He has 58 hits in 51 career games, including four two-hit games in a row at one stretch this season.
Max Moris has hit safely in eight of his last nine games.
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