University of St. Thomas Athletics
Wednesday, March 15
Iowa City, Iowa
2:00 p.m. Central
at
Iowa
Photo by: Collin Boyles
Iowa welcomes in St. Thomas Baseball for mid-week game
3/14/2023 9:32:00 AM | Baseball
St. Paul, Minn. -- St. Thomas Baseball travels to face Iowa on Wednesday, March 15 at 2:05 p.m. (CT) at Duane Banks Field in Iowa City, Iowa.
The Tommies come off a weekend in which a four-game series at UIC was canceled due to forecasted weather and cold conditions. St. Thomas plays Iowa in a non-conference, nine-inning game before opening Summit League play March 17-19 at Oral Roberts.
Saint Louis Series (Last Time Out)
• St. Thomas continued the 2023 campaign travelling to St. Louis, Missouri for a series Mar. 4-5 to take on the Billikens.
• The Tommies and Billikens, as part of a schedule change, played a doubleheader on Saturday followed by a Sunday afternoon game.
• UST lost all three games over the weekend, by final scores of 4-1, 6-5, and 5-2.
• In Game One, sophomore pitcher Walker Retz started off strong throwing 5.0 innings with just three hits and three walks allowed, tossing five strikeouts. He didn't allow a hit until the bottom of the fourth inning to SLU and left five Billiken baserunners stranded during his outing.
• In the seventh inning, Parker Mathieson tied the game 1-1 off of a sac fly, before Saint Louis scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning.
• Game Two started off with Matthew Enck recording a bases loaded RBI single giving the Tommies a quick 1-0 lead.
• Brigs Richartz led off the fifth inning with a single, and one Billiken error later the Tommies got up 3-0 at the end of the fifth inning.
• Saint Louis tied the game with a leadoff home run in the eighth inning which eventually led to the game going into extra innings, in which the Tommies lost in the bottom half of the 13th due to two UST errors with bases loaded.
• In Game Three to close out the weekend series, SLU swept Tommie Baseball with a 5-2 win, extending their winning streak to seven games.
• Evan Esch and Jacob Mrosko each worked 4.0 innings for the Tommies and combined to strike out six and walk three with three earned runs allowed.
Extra Innings Play
• The Tommies and Saint Louis went to extra innings in Game Two of the double header on Saturday in a thrilling 13-inning game.
• Tying the game with a leadoff home run in the eighth inning, SLU forced the game into an extra innings affair. The Tommies left one runner on base in each of the 10th, 11th, and 12th innings before taking the lead in the 13th with a Joe Roder double, followed by RBI singles from Enck and O'Connell.
• The Billikens put its first three batters on base in the home half of the 13th to set up a game-tying, two-RBI single with no outs. Two St. Thomas errors ensued while a bases load, hit by pitch ended the game.
The Enck Attack
• Junior Matthew Enck went 5-for-11 in the three-game series, including a 2-of-3 performance from the plate in game one to lead the Tommies.
• Enck finished game two with another two-hit game, this time going 2-of-4 with two RBI, two walks, and one run scored.
St. Thomas' Pitching Success
• Kolby Gartner made his third start of the season, going 7.2 innings with seven hits and one walk allowed with three strikeouts. He now sits at 21.0 IP on the year, recording 15 strikeouts, 5 walks, and a 3.00 ERA in those appearances.
• Evan Esch and Jacob Mrosko combined for 8.0 innings in the closing game of the series for the Purple, combining for six strikeouts, three walks, and three earned runs allowed.
• St. Thomas currently has three of the top five pitchers in the Summit League based off of ERA with Kolby Gartner (3rd), Walker Retz (4th), and Jacob Mrosko (5th).
Next Up for the Tommies
• St. Thomas is set to face Iowa (11-3) on Wednesday, March 15 in Iowa City, Iowa for a single game.
• Iowa began the season with three straight wins and 10 wins over its first 11 games, including four games with double-digit runs.
• After winning seven straight, Iowa dropped two games of a three-game series at Texas Tech on March 10-12. The No. 23 ranked Hawkeyes dropped the first two games, 17-5 and 8-3, before salvaging the series with a 10-9 win.
• Brennen Dorighi leads the team with a .382 batting average, 21 hits, 18 RBI, eight walks and a .462 on-base percentage. Iowa has four batters hitting above .300, including Keaton Anthony who leads the team with 19 runs, six doubles and four home runs. Brody Brecht (1-0) leads the starting rotation with a 2.19 ERA in 12.1 innings and three appearances, including a team-best 22 strikeouts. Will Christopherson (1-0) leads the bullpen with a 0.00 ERA in 6.1 innings.
Leading Off
• St. Thomas began 2023 1-3 during Opening Weekend at CSU Ba- kersfield on Feb. 17-19.
• The Tommies fell in the first two games of the series by a combined 11-1 before coming away with an 8-4 win in game three of the four-game series.
• Junior Kolby Gartner (0-1) tossed eight strikeouts in 5.1 innings during game one, totaling seven through the first 4.0 frames. He allowed just two baserunners through five innings.
• Sophomore Jacob Mrosko took a no-hitter into the sixth inning in game two before it was broken up on a one-out double down the left field line. Mrosko exited before three runs were scored in the sixth by CSUB.
• Of CSUB's 25 runs in the series, 11 were scored in the sixth inning.
Summit League Ranks (As of 3/13/23)
Team
2nd in Earned Run Average, 4.68
6th in Fielding Percentage, 0.953 percent
Individual - Hitting
15th in On-Bast Percentage, .400 OB%, Max Moris
18th in Batting Average, .297 AVG, Brigs Richarts
t-16th in Stolen Bases, 2 SB, Dylan O'Connell
25th in Batting Average, .280 AVG, Max Moris
Individual - Pitching
2nd in Opposing Batting Average, .173 AVG, Kolby Gartner
3rd in Earned Run Average, 3.00 ERA, Kolby Gartner
t-3rd in Innings Pitched, 21.0 IP, Kolby Gartner
5th in Opposing Batting Average, .220 AVG, Jacob Mrosko
7th in Earned Run Average, 4.77 ERA, Jacob Mrosko
8th in Earned Run Average, 4.91 ERA, Evan Esch
Individual - Fielding
5th in Caught Stealing By, 2, Charlie Bartholomew
9th in Putouts, 59 total putouts, Charlie Bartholomew
9th in Assists, 22 total assists, Sam Kulesa
Sixth Inning Blues
• The Tommies have allowed 52 runs this season, 17 of which have come in the sixth inning. The second and eighth innings have not been kind either, as 35 of the 52 runs allowed have come in those three frames combined.
Preseason Headlines
• Freshmen Dylan O'Connell (3B) and Nolan Kemp (RHP) were named the St. Thomas Player and Pitcher to Watch, as released in the 2023 Summit League Preseason Coaches' Poll.
• St. Thomas was selected to finish fifth in the Summit Preseason Poll.
• Dylan O'Connell was named the 2023 Preseason Summit League Freshman of the Year by D1Baseball.com and Perfect Game.
• Ben Vujovich was named to the 2023 Preseason Summit League All-Conference Team by Perfect Game.
First Impressions
• St. Thomas will play six programs for the first time ever in 2023, including CSU Bakersfield, Sacramento State, Saint Louis, UIC, Kansas State, and Air Force.
A Look Back at 2022
• St. Thomas comes off a 16-29 overall record during the 2022 season, finishing fifth in the Summit League with a 10-14 record.
• The Tommies return 25 student-athletes from the 2022 roster and bring in 12 newcomers.
• The Tommies lost 16 games by one or two runs in 2022.
• St. Thomas earned notable wins over the 2022 Summit League Regular Season Champions North Dakota State, 6-0 on April 9 in St. Paul, Minn., and the Summit League Tournament Champions Oral Roberts, 4-3 on May 7 in Tulsa, Okla.
• In 2022 the Tommies ranked eighth in the nation with 208 earned runs allowed, tied for 20th with 10.27 K/9 Innings, tied for 34th with 8.42 H/9 Innings, tied for 52nd with a .974 fielding percentage, and tied for 82nd with an ERA of 4.90.
• The Tommies set a program record with 438 total strikeouts and in K/9 (10.27).
• St. Thomas garnered two player of the week and two pitcher of the week honors from the Summit League last season. Among the returners, Kolby Gartner was named the Pitcher of the Week once, Sam Kulesa the Player of the Week once and Brigs Richartz the Player of the Week once.
Leading the Pack
• Chris Olean begins his 14th season with St. Thomas in 2023. He has totaled an overall record of 354-177-1 (339-148-1 in NCAA Division III) since being named the head coach prior to the 2010 season.
• Olean is a three-time NCAA DIII Region Coach of the Year and closed out its DIII era by winning championships in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) and region en route to a national runner-up finish and 37-10 record.
• During the last 12 DIII seasons the Purple won eight MIAC Championships, capped by third-place national finishes in both 2012 and 2014, in addition to the runner-up finish in 2021.
• Olean mentored seven DIII All-American pitchers. He was voted MIAC and Midwest Region Coach of the Year in 2012, 2013, and 2021. In addition, Olean works with the Tommie pitching staff, which was a perennial top-10 group in DIII baseball.
Follow Along
For more information on St. Thomas Baseball, follow along on Twitter at @tommiebase and Instagram at @tommiebaseball
The Tommies come off a weekend in which a four-game series at UIC was canceled due to forecasted weather and cold conditions. St. Thomas plays Iowa in a non-conference, nine-inning game before opening Summit League play March 17-19 at Oral Roberts.
Saint Louis Series (Last Time Out)
• St. Thomas continued the 2023 campaign travelling to St. Louis, Missouri for a series Mar. 4-5 to take on the Billikens.
• The Tommies and Billikens, as part of a schedule change, played a doubleheader on Saturday followed by a Sunday afternoon game.
• UST lost all three games over the weekend, by final scores of 4-1, 6-5, and 5-2.
• In Game One, sophomore pitcher Walker Retz started off strong throwing 5.0 innings with just three hits and three walks allowed, tossing five strikeouts. He didn't allow a hit until the bottom of the fourth inning to SLU and left five Billiken baserunners stranded during his outing.
• In the seventh inning, Parker Mathieson tied the game 1-1 off of a sac fly, before Saint Louis scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning.
• Game Two started off with Matthew Enck recording a bases loaded RBI single giving the Tommies a quick 1-0 lead.
• Brigs Richartz led off the fifth inning with a single, and one Billiken error later the Tommies got up 3-0 at the end of the fifth inning.
• Saint Louis tied the game with a leadoff home run in the eighth inning which eventually led to the game going into extra innings, in which the Tommies lost in the bottom half of the 13th due to two UST errors with bases loaded.
• In Game Three to close out the weekend series, SLU swept Tommie Baseball with a 5-2 win, extending their winning streak to seven games.
• Evan Esch and Jacob Mrosko each worked 4.0 innings for the Tommies and combined to strike out six and walk three with three earned runs allowed.
Extra Innings Play
• The Tommies and Saint Louis went to extra innings in Game Two of the double header on Saturday in a thrilling 13-inning game.
• Tying the game with a leadoff home run in the eighth inning, SLU forced the game into an extra innings affair. The Tommies left one runner on base in each of the 10th, 11th, and 12th innings before taking the lead in the 13th with a Joe Roder double, followed by RBI singles from Enck and O'Connell.
• The Billikens put its first three batters on base in the home half of the 13th to set up a game-tying, two-RBI single with no outs. Two St. Thomas errors ensued while a bases load, hit by pitch ended the game.
The Enck Attack
• Junior Matthew Enck went 5-for-11 in the three-game series, including a 2-of-3 performance from the plate in game one to lead the Tommies.
• Enck finished game two with another two-hit game, this time going 2-of-4 with two RBI, two walks, and one run scored.
St. Thomas' Pitching Success
• Kolby Gartner made his third start of the season, going 7.2 innings with seven hits and one walk allowed with three strikeouts. He now sits at 21.0 IP on the year, recording 15 strikeouts, 5 walks, and a 3.00 ERA in those appearances.
• Evan Esch and Jacob Mrosko combined for 8.0 innings in the closing game of the series for the Purple, combining for six strikeouts, three walks, and three earned runs allowed.
• St. Thomas currently has three of the top five pitchers in the Summit League based off of ERA with Kolby Gartner (3rd), Walker Retz (4th), and Jacob Mrosko (5th).
Next Up for the Tommies
• St. Thomas is set to face Iowa (11-3) on Wednesday, March 15 in Iowa City, Iowa for a single game.
• Iowa began the season with three straight wins and 10 wins over its first 11 games, including four games with double-digit runs.
• After winning seven straight, Iowa dropped two games of a three-game series at Texas Tech on March 10-12. The No. 23 ranked Hawkeyes dropped the first two games, 17-5 and 8-3, before salvaging the series with a 10-9 win.
• Brennen Dorighi leads the team with a .382 batting average, 21 hits, 18 RBI, eight walks and a .462 on-base percentage. Iowa has four batters hitting above .300, including Keaton Anthony who leads the team with 19 runs, six doubles and four home runs. Brody Brecht (1-0) leads the starting rotation with a 2.19 ERA in 12.1 innings and three appearances, including a team-best 22 strikeouts. Will Christopherson (1-0) leads the bullpen with a 0.00 ERA in 6.1 innings.
Leading Off
• St. Thomas began 2023 1-3 during Opening Weekend at CSU Ba- kersfield on Feb. 17-19.
• The Tommies fell in the first two games of the series by a combined 11-1 before coming away with an 8-4 win in game three of the four-game series.
• Junior Kolby Gartner (0-1) tossed eight strikeouts in 5.1 innings during game one, totaling seven through the first 4.0 frames. He allowed just two baserunners through five innings.
• Sophomore Jacob Mrosko took a no-hitter into the sixth inning in game two before it was broken up on a one-out double down the left field line. Mrosko exited before three runs were scored in the sixth by CSUB.
• Of CSUB's 25 runs in the series, 11 were scored in the sixth inning.
Summit League Ranks (As of 3/13/23)
Team
2nd in Earned Run Average, 4.68
6th in Fielding Percentage, 0.953 percent
Individual - Hitting
15th in On-Bast Percentage, .400 OB%, Max Moris
18th in Batting Average, .297 AVG, Brigs Richarts
t-16th in Stolen Bases, 2 SB, Dylan O'Connell
25th in Batting Average, .280 AVG, Max Moris
Individual - Pitching
2nd in Opposing Batting Average, .173 AVG, Kolby Gartner
3rd in Earned Run Average, 3.00 ERA, Kolby Gartner
t-3rd in Innings Pitched, 21.0 IP, Kolby Gartner
5th in Opposing Batting Average, .220 AVG, Jacob Mrosko
7th in Earned Run Average, 4.77 ERA, Jacob Mrosko
8th in Earned Run Average, 4.91 ERA, Evan Esch
Individual - Fielding
5th in Caught Stealing By, 2, Charlie Bartholomew
9th in Putouts, 59 total putouts, Charlie Bartholomew
9th in Assists, 22 total assists, Sam Kulesa
Sixth Inning Blues
• The Tommies have allowed 52 runs this season, 17 of which have come in the sixth inning. The second and eighth innings have not been kind either, as 35 of the 52 runs allowed have come in those three frames combined.
Preseason Headlines
• Freshmen Dylan O'Connell (3B) and Nolan Kemp (RHP) were named the St. Thomas Player and Pitcher to Watch, as released in the 2023 Summit League Preseason Coaches' Poll.
• St. Thomas was selected to finish fifth in the Summit Preseason Poll.
• Dylan O'Connell was named the 2023 Preseason Summit League Freshman of the Year by D1Baseball.com and Perfect Game.
• Ben Vujovich was named to the 2023 Preseason Summit League All-Conference Team by Perfect Game.
First Impressions
• St. Thomas will play six programs for the first time ever in 2023, including CSU Bakersfield, Sacramento State, Saint Louis, UIC, Kansas State, and Air Force.
A Look Back at 2022
• St. Thomas comes off a 16-29 overall record during the 2022 season, finishing fifth in the Summit League with a 10-14 record.
• The Tommies return 25 student-athletes from the 2022 roster and bring in 12 newcomers.
• The Tommies lost 16 games by one or two runs in 2022.
• St. Thomas earned notable wins over the 2022 Summit League Regular Season Champions North Dakota State, 6-0 on April 9 in St. Paul, Minn., and the Summit League Tournament Champions Oral Roberts, 4-3 on May 7 in Tulsa, Okla.
• In 2022 the Tommies ranked eighth in the nation with 208 earned runs allowed, tied for 20th with 10.27 K/9 Innings, tied for 34th with 8.42 H/9 Innings, tied for 52nd with a .974 fielding percentage, and tied for 82nd with an ERA of 4.90.
• The Tommies set a program record with 438 total strikeouts and in K/9 (10.27).
• St. Thomas garnered two player of the week and two pitcher of the week honors from the Summit League last season. Among the returners, Kolby Gartner was named the Pitcher of the Week once, Sam Kulesa the Player of the Week once and Brigs Richartz the Player of the Week once.
Leading the Pack
• Chris Olean begins his 14th season with St. Thomas in 2023. He has totaled an overall record of 354-177-1 (339-148-1 in NCAA Division III) since being named the head coach prior to the 2010 season.
• Olean is a three-time NCAA DIII Region Coach of the Year and closed out its DIII era by winning championships in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) and region en route to a national runner-up finish and 37-10 record.
• During the last 12 DIII seasons the Purple won eight MIAC Championships, capped by third-place national finishes in both 2012 and 2014, in addition to the runner-up finish in 2021.
• Olean mentored seven DIII All-American pitchers. He was voted MIAC and Midwest Region Coach of the Year in 2012, 2013, and 2021. In addition, Olean works with the Tommie pitching staff, which was a perennial top-10 group in DIII baseball.
Follow Along
For more information on St. Thomas Baseball, follow along on Twitter at @tommiebase and Instagram at @tommiebaseball
Players Mentioned
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