University of St. Thomas Athletics
Omaha
Game Notes - Baseball hosts Omaha in final series of season
5/18/2022 4:10:00 PM | Baseball
St. Paul, Minn. - Tommie Baseball closes out its inaugural Division I season this weekend with a three-game series at home against Omaha, May 19-21. There are 3 p.m. games at Koch Diamond on Thursday and Friday, and a Saturday 5 p.m. game in Miesville, Minn., 35 miles southeast of campus in Dakota County at the home of the Miesville Mudhens town ball team. Tickets will be sold for $8 each and are on sale via Tommiesports.com and on site.
After starting 2022 with a 5-21 won-loss record -- with 15 defeats by one or two runs -- St. Thomas is 8-8 since then. The Toms' staff ERA is a respectable 4.95 with 411 strikeouts and 204 walks over 355 innings., despite having allowed 51 HRs in 39 games.
The Tommies (13-29 overall, 7-14 Summit) played 30-win Oral Roberts tough on May 6-7 in Tulsa, losing a late 6-2 lead and falling 7-6 in 10 innings on Friday night and holding on to win 4-3 on Saturday. ORU took the series by a 2-1 margin with a 14-0 win on May 8. The Purple then lost all three at South Dakota State, 11-4, 9-0 and 11-2. They are tied for fifth place in the seven-team Summit standings with three league games to go. St. Thomas Baseball is ineligible for postseason play this season as a transitioning school seeking full D-I status.
About Omaha
The Mavs (24-26, 12-9) beat Minnesota in 11 innings, 10-7 on Tuesday at Siebert Field. They have qualified for the four-team Summit playoffs. In late March they won two of three at home against St. Thomas, winning 6-1 and 3-2 and losing 8-6. In other league highlights they swept three from Western Illinois; took two of three against Northern Colorado and the Tommies; and went 3-3 vs. Oral Roberts. They are 11-11 in games decided by one or two runs.
Follow UST vs. Omaha
Record Chase
Last season the Tommie pitching staff broke the program record for strikeouts with 438 over 387 innings. Despite the jump to D-I in 2022, the Toms have recorded 411 Ks over 355 innings in 42 games.
Golden Graham
Individually, lefty starter Graham Laubscher ranks among the top 70 in D-I in Ks per nine innings (11.5). Over his last six starts, Laubscher is 3-1 with a 2.48 ERA with 48 Ks in 40 innings.
This weekend he will make his 39th college start and 50th pitching appearance. Laubscher needs seven Ks to become the first NCAA pitcher to strike out 100 in both D-III and D-I in back-to-back seasons. His 93 Ks lead all Summit League pitchers and rank him among the top 35 in D-I. He was a D-III All-America and a CoSIDA Academic All-America in 2021 when he helped the Toms take second in the nation.
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