University of St. Thomas Athletics
Sunday, April 24
St. Paul, Minn.
1:00 p.m.
8
vs
6
Northern Colorado
Carl Cano retired the final three batters with a runner on third base to record his first collegiate win
Baseball wins the weekend again, continues hot streak
4/24/2022 4:27:00 PM | Baseball
St. Paul, Minn. - Matthew Enck's go-ahead single in the eighth inning and Carl Cano's clutch pitching in the ninth helped Tommie Baseball edge Northern Colorado, 8-6, in the final contest of a three-game conference series at Koch Diamond.
St. Thomas has won five of its last six games. On another cold and windy day at the diamond, the Purple (10-22 overall, 4-8 Summit) rang up 13 strikeouts and outhit UNC 11-6.
After taking two of three games last weekend in Texas against Tarleton State, the Toms went 2-1 this weekend at home against the Bears (10-28, 6-9) for their first series win in Summit League play.
Buoyed by Avery Lehman's early two-run triple, the Toms led 6-2 after seven innings. But the Bears erupted in the top of the eighth inning. A wild pitch on a swinging third strike started the rally, and a walk, a sac bunt and three hits produced four runs for a 6-6 tie.
St. Thomas answered with two runs in the bottom of the eighth. Sam Kulesa's one out single, Tanner Marsh's walk, and Enck's two-strike RBI single made it 7-6. Pinch runner Jake Porter took third on a fly out and scored an insurance run on Brigs Richartz' RBI single to extend the lead to 8-6.
Cano picked up his first college pitching win as he rebounded from a rough outing on Saturday where he allowed three runs in relief in a 7-4 loss. On Sunday, the freshman reliever from Bay Port, Wis., gave up a two-out, two-run single in the eighth to tie the game before getting the final out of the inning. Cano allowed a leadoff triple in the ninth inning to bring the tying run to home plate, then got two ground outs and a strikeout to secure the victory.
Chris Chiriboga started and left with a 3-2 lead after four innings. He allowed two runs on two hits and five walks and struck out eight.
Jack Blesch relieved and faced the minimum nine batters over his first three innings, as one UNC batter who walked was erased by a double play. UNC's bats came alive in the eighth inning. Blesch gave up two hits, a walk and a baserunner that reached on the third strike wild pitch before giving way to Cano.
Enck, Lehman and freshman Ben Vujovich each had two hits to lead the Tommies.
Tommie Notes
The Purple were 0-8 in Sunday games this season before securing this victory over the Bears.
St. Thomas is slated to play its fourth and final game of 2022 against Minnesota next Wednesday night at Siebert Field. The Toms will return home to play a conference series against Western Illinois next Friday through Sunday April 29 and 30 and May 1.
Enck had a team-best five hits on the weekend series. After a slow start at the plate this season, the redshirt sophomore from Edina, Minn., is batting .371 (13-for-35) with 10 runs over his last 11 games. He caught fire late in the 2021 season and batted .351 over 16 postseason games (20-of-57) with 16 runs scored to help lead St. Thomas to a national runner-up finish.
Tommie coach Chris Olean has used 15 different pitchers over the last seven games (5-2 team record).
In that same seven-game span, the Toms are batting .292 (74-for-253) after hitting just .212 over their first 25 games.
St. Thomas has won five of its last six games. On another cold and windy day at the diamond, the Purple (10-22 overall, 4-8 Summit) rang up 13 strikeouts and outhit UNC 11-6.
After taking two of three games last weekend in Texas against Tarleton State, the Toms went 2-1 this weekend at home against the Bears (10-28, 6-9) for their first series win in Summit League play.
Buoyed by Avery Lehman's early two-run triple, the Toms led 6-2 after seven innings. But the Bears erupted in the top of the eighth inning. A wild pitch on a swinging third strike started the rally, and a walk, a sac bunt and three hits produced four runs for a 6-6 tie.
St. Thomas answered with two runs in the bottom of the eighth. Sam Kulesa's one out single, Tanner Marsh's walk, and Enck's two-strike RBI single made it 7-6. Pinch runner Jake Porter took third on a fly out and scored an insurance run on Brigs Richartz' RBI single to extend the lead to 8-6.
Cano picked up his first college pitching win as he rebounded from a rough outing on Saturday where he allowed three runs in relief in a 7-4 loss. On Sunday, the freshman reliever from Bay Port, Wis., gave up a two-out, two-run single in the eighth to tie the game before getting the final out of the inning. Cano allowed a leadoff triple in the ninth inning to bring the tying run to home plate, then got two ground outs and a strikeout to secure the victory.
Chris Chiriboga started and left with a 3-2 lead after four innings. He allowed two runs on two hits and five walks and struck out eight.
Jack Blesch relieved and faced the minimum nine batters over his first three innings, as one UNC batter who walked was erased by a double play. UNC's bats came alive in the eighth inning. Blesch gave up two hits, a walk and a baserunner that reached on the third strike wild pitch before giving way to Cano.
Enck, Lehman and freshman Ben Vujovich each had two hits to lead the Tommies.
Tommie Notes
The Purple were 0-8 in Sunday games this season before securing this victory over the Bears.
St. Thomas is slated to play its fourth and final game of 2022 against Minnesota next Wednesday night at Siebert Field. The Toms will return home to play a conference series against Western Illinois next Friday through Sunday April 29 and 30 and May 1.
Enck had a team-best five hits on the weekend series. After a slow start at the plate this season, the redshirt sophomore from Edina, Minn., is batting .371 (13-for-35) with 10 runs over his last 11 games. He caught fire late in the 2021 season and batted .351 over 16 postseason games (20-of-57) with 16 runs scored to help lead St. Thomas to a national runner-up finish.
Tommie coach Chris Olean has used 15 different pitchers over the last seven games (5-2 team record).
In that same seven-game span, the Toms are batting .292 (74-for-253) after hitting just .212 over their first 25 games.
Players Mentioned
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