University of St. Thomas Athletics
Thursday, May 19
St. Paul, Minn.
3:00 p.m.
14-29, 8-14
6
vs
4
Omaha
24-27, 12-10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Omaha
0
0
4
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
5
0
St. Thomas
0
0
0
0
5
0
1
0
X
6
15
2
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Schlecht, Sam (1-0)
L: Blunt (1-2)
S: Cano, Carl (2)
Batting:
2B: Rosario 1 ; Hmielewski 1
RBI: Boeve 1 ; Hmielewski 1 ; Hurdle 1
SH: Hurdle 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Denk 1 ; Lombardi 1 ; Boeve 1 ; Rosario 1
HBP: D. Reetz 1
Batting:
2B: Bartholomew, Charlie 1
3B: Kulesa, Sam 1 ; Vujovich, Ben 1
HR: Richartz, Brigs 1
RBI: Halverson, Kyle 1 ; Richartz, Brigs 3 ; Bartholomew, Charlie 1 ; Pieri, Kirby 1
SH: Bartholomew, Charlie 1
SF: Halverson, Kyle 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kulesa, Sam 1 ; Moris, Max 2 ; Richartz, Brigs 1 ; Bartholomew, Charlie 1 ; Enck, Matthew 1
CS: Enck, Matthew 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
4
RBI
3
AB
3
R
1
H
3
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
C
/ Baseball
IF
/ Baseball
IF
/ BaseballIF
/ Baseball
C
/ BaseballC/IF
/ Baseball
P
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
Sam Kulesa had two hits and two slick defense plays in the comeback win
Photo by: Wesley Dean
Freshmen step up in Baseball's comeback win over Omaha
5/19/2022 8:19:00 PM | Baseball
St. Paul, Minn. - Senior Day for the 2022 Tommie Baseball season comes Friday May 20 with the final home game of the season at Koch Diamond.
But Thursday's Summit League series opener at Koch against Omaha could be called "Freshman Day," as three St. Thomas rookies made game-changing contributions in the Purple's 6-4 comeback victory.
The Tommies (14-29 overall, 8-14) secured at least a share of fifth place in the Summit League standings with two games to go as they outhit the Mavs 15-4. Their 15 hits were a season high. They have won five of their last seven games at home and ended a four-game losing streak.
Freshman Brigs Richartz' 4-for-4 day included a game-tying three-run homer to right field in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Menomonie, Wis., native ended a recent slump at the plate as he went 4-for-4 with a season-best four hits. The sixth-inning equalizer was his third home run of the season and first in 12 games.
In just his second college pitching appearance, freshman righthander Sam Schlecht kept the game close over 4 1-3 shutout innings of middle relief to gain his first college pitching win. The Wayzata High grad came in with two outs and the bases full and the home team trailing 4-0 in the fourth inning. He got a fly out to end that threat, and retired 12 of the first 13 batters he faced before giving up a double and a walk with the Toms leading just 5-4. But Schlecht got an inning-ending strikeout to finish out a scoreless run.
A third freshman, Carl Cano, earned his second save of the season as he retired six of the seven batters he faced over the last two innings to close out the victory. Four St. Thomas pitchers combined to strike out nine.
Tommie pitching was helped in the late innings by four slick Tommie defensive putouts. Sam Kulesa executed two diving plays at second base to deny base hits and his relays beat two runners. Shortstop Matthew Enck made a running catch to snare a pop up in foul territory, and also went far to his right in the hole to grab a ball and gun down a runner by a half step. Kulesa and Enck each had two hits at the plate, as well.
Charlie Bartholomew, previously feared lost for the season with a hand injury, returned after six games out and went 3-for-3 to raise his team-best batting average to .309. He doubled and scored on Kirby Pieri's RBI single in the sixth for a 5-4 lead. Bartholomew also added an RBI single in the seventh inning for a key insurance run.
Senior Kyle Halverson drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly. Freshman Ben Vujovich also had two hits for his 11th multiple-hit game of the season.
After starting the season 3-15 in games decided by one or two runs, St. Thomas is 5-1 in similar games since April 15.
Thursday's 3 p.m. game had a two-hour weather delay with lightning, hail and rain halting the game in the home half of the first inning. Both starting pitchers were replaced after their brief stints due to the long delay. The game ended at 8 p.m. with darkness looming.
The teams play again Friday at Koch Diamond (3 p.m.), with the three-game series finale set for 5 p.m. Saturday in Miesville, Minn., at the Mudhens' ballpark.
Omaha (24-27, 12-10), coming off an extra-inning road win over Minnesota on Tuesday, has already secured a conference playoff berth and a top-four league finish.
But Thursday's Summit League series opener at Koch against Omaha could be called "Freshman Day," as three St. Thomas rookies made game-changing contributions in the Purple's 6-4 comeback victory.
The Tommies (14-29 overall, 8-14) secured at least a share of fifth place in the Summit League standings with two games to go as they outhit the Mavs 15-4. Their 15 hits were a season high. They have won five of their last seven games at home and ended a four-game losing streak.
Freshman Brigs Richartz' 4-for-4 day included a game-tying three-run homer to right field in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Menomonie, Wis., native ended a recent slump at the plate as he went 4-for-4 with a season-best four hits. The sixth-inning equalizer was his third home run of the season and first in 12 games.
In just his second college pitching appearance, freshman righthander Sam Schlecht kept the game close over 4 1-3 shutout innings of middle relief to gain his first college pitching win. The Wayzata High grad came in with two outs and the bases full and the home team trailing 4-0 in the fourth inning. He got a fly out to end that threat, and retired 12 of the first 13 batters he faced before giving up a double and a walk with the Toms leading just 5-4. But Schlecht got an inning-ending strikeout to finish out a scoreless run.
A third freshman, Carl Cano, earned his second save of the season as he retired six of the seven batters he faced over the last two innings to close out the victory. Four St. Thomas pitchers combined to strike out nine.
Tommie pitching was helped in the late innings by four slick Tommie defensive putouts. Sam Kulesa executed two diving plays at second base to deny base hits and his relays beat two runners. Shortstop Matthew Enck made a running catch to snare a pop up in foul territory, and also went far to his right in the hole to grab a ball and gun down a runner by a half step. Kulesa and Enck each had two hits at the plate, as well.
Charlie Bartholomew, previously feared lost for the season with a hand injury, returned after six games out and went 3-for-3 to raise his team-best batting average to .309. He doubled and scored on Kirby Pieri's RBI single in the sixth for a 5-4 lead. Bartholomew also added an RBI single in the seventh inning for a key insurance run.
Senior Kyle Halverson drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly. Freshman Ben Vujovich also had two hits for his 11th multiple-hit game of the season.
After starting the season 3-15 in games decided by one or two runs, St. Thomas is 5-1 in similar games since April 15.
Thursday's 3 p.m. game had a two-hour weather delay with lightning, hail and rain halting the game in the home half of the first inning. Both starting pitchers were replaced after their brief stints due to the long delay. The game ended at 8 p.m. with darkness looming.
The teams play again Friday at Koch Diamond (3 p.m.), with the three-game series finale set for 5 p.m. Saturday in Miesville, Minn., at the Mudhens' ballpark.
Omaha (24-27, 12-10), coming off an extra-inning road win over Minnesota on Tuesday, has already secured a conference playoff berth and a top-four league finish.
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