University of St. Thomas Athletics
Friday, April 7
Greeley, Colo.
3:00 p.m. Central
at
Northern Colorado
Photo by: Mark Duffel
Baseball travels to Colorado to face Northern Colorado, Air Force
4/6/2023 2:15:00 PM | Baseball
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- St. Thomas Baseball and Northern Colorado continue the Summit League schedule with a three-game series April 7-9 in Greeley, Colo., before a lone game at Air Force April 10 in Colorado Springs, Colo.
The Tommies and Bears will play at 3 p.m. (CT) Friday, 1 p.m. (CT) Saturday and 1 p.m. (CT) Sunday from Jackson Field with Friday's and Sunday's games being streamed live via FloSports HERE. All three games will provide live stats HERE.
St. Thomas and Air Force will meet for the first time ever at 2 p.m. (CT) from Falcon Field with live video available HERE and live stats available HERE.
Creighton Series (Last Time Out)
• St. Thomas was swept during a three-game, non-conference series at Creighton April 1-2. Originally scheduled to play one game on each Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the Tommies fell in a doubleheader 15-4 (7) and 8-5 on Saturday before a 7-2 loss on Sunday at Charles Schwab Stadium Omaha in Omaha, Neb.
• The Tommies scored first in two of the three games, including a three-run second inning in game one and a one-run first inning in game three. St. Thomas has scored first in nine games this season, going 2-7 in those games.
• Six different student-athletes accounted for the Tommies' six hits in game one before the team totaled 11 hits in game two, tying the second most hits in a game this season (11 on 3/21/23 at KSU, 14 on 3/4/23 at SLU). The Purple hit .314 as a team in game two, a season high batting average as a team.
• Charlie Bartholomew and Max Moris combined for five of the Tommies' seven hits in game three of the series. Bartholomew went 3-of-4 from the plate with one RBI while Moris went 2-for-2 and reached base four times, adding two runs.
Next Up for the Tommies
• St. Thomas travels to Greeley, Colo., for a three-game, Summit League series against Northern Colorado before a lone game Monday, April 10 at Air Force in Colorado Springs, Colo.
• The Bears are led by the outfield duo of Austin Bunn and Jake King, who are the two lone UNC players hoisting a batting average of over .300 on the team. King leads the team with 25 hits on the season while Bunn has tallied 17 runs, 12 RBI's and has an on base percentage of .438.
• The pitching staff are ushered in by sophomore and junior relievers, Kevin Sharp and Murphy Gienger. They've maintained ERAs of 4.32 and 5.18 over a combined 19 pitching appearances. Sharp holds opponents to a .250 batting average, carries a 1.38 WHIP, and has a record of 1-0 coming out of the bullpen. Murphy Gienger has 24.1 innings pitched on the year and has the Bears only save of the season and leads the team with an astonishing 35 strikeouts through just 10 relief pitching appearances.
• Northern Colorado started off the year taking two of three games from Colorado Springs, before losing their next 14 games collectively. The Bears bounced back on Mar. 24 with a win over fellow conference foe South Dakota State (9-7), to end their losing streak.
The Lead Off Man
• Since Brigs Richartz led off the season with a single to center field on the very first pitch, he reached base in a team-best 12 straight games before being denied a 13th in the series finale at Oral Roberts.
• He leads the team with 20 hits, 22 total bases, and eight runs scored. Richartz has led off six games with a base hit and eight games by reaching base.
• Richartz led off the season with a six-game hitting streak, including two multi-hit games. He scored four runs over the first series, Feb. 17-19 at CSU Bakersfield, including a three-run game during the Tommies' 8-4 win over the Roadrunners.
• Hitting third in the lineup for the second time this season in game three, Richartz singled to push his current reached base streak to five games.
Mad Max March Extends to April
• Since the start of March, junior Max Moris has led the Tommies with 17 hits, including seven multi-hit games, while hitting .425 from the plate. He also leads St. Thomas with a .489 on-base percentage, 20 total bases, five runs scored, five walks and three doubles during the nine-game stretch.
• Moris has reached base in each of the last eight games, including a six-game hitting streak. The hitting streak ties Richartz for the longest by the Tommies this season.
Kolby Knowledge
• Kolby Gartner has four starts this season, going a season-low 2.0 innings with three strikeouts, three hits, three walks, and four earned runs allowed in a game one loss at Creighton. He now sits at 23.0 IP on the year, recording 18 strikeouts, eight walks, and a 4.30 ERA in those appearances, his ERA ranking fourth in the Summit League.
• Gartner opened the season for the Tommies on the mound Feb. 17 with eight strikeouts in 5.1 innings at CSU Bakersfield. He followed up with a complete game loss Feb. 25 at Sacramento State, throwing four strikeouts with one walk and one earned run allowed, and went 7.2 innings with three strikeouts, one walk and three earned runs allowed March 4 at Saint Louis.
First to Strike
• The Tommies have scored first in nine of its 18 games this season, going 2-7 in those games. Besides the win at Kansas State, the Toms scored first in five of the last seven games, which all ended in losses.
Summit League Ranks (As of 4/6/23)
Team
3rd in Fielding Percentage, .961
5th in Earned Run Average, 7.52
5th in Opp. Batting Average, .294
Individual - Pitching
2nd in Opposing Batting Average, .190 AVG, Kolby Gartner
2nd in Saves, 1, Evan Esch
4th in Earned Run Average, 4.30 ERA, Kolby Gartner
9th in Opposing Batting Average, .266, Evan Esch
10th in Earned Run Average, 5.66, Evan Esch
Individual - Fielding
T-1st in Fielding Percentage, 1.000, Joe Vos/Ben Vujovich
T-6th in Caught Stealing By, 3, Charlie Bartholomew/Max Moris
8th in Assists, 43 Total Assists, Matthew Enck
9th in Putouts, 115 Total Putouts, Charlie Bartholomew
9th in Caught Stealing By, 1, Brigs Richartz
10th in Assists, 37 Total Assists, Sam Kulesa
Power Five Play
• The Tommies have faced two opponents from the power five conferences this season, going 1-2 in those games. St. Thomas dropped its long game against Iowa 10-1 on March 15 before an 11-3 loss at Kansas State March 21. The Purple came away with a 2-1 win March 22 at Kansas State, marking its second ever win against a power five opponent. The Tommies are 2-11 over the past two seasons against power five conferences.
• The other St. Thomas win came last season with a 6-0 decision over Minnesota.
Leading Off
• The Toms began 2023 1-3 during Opening Weekend at CSU Bakersfield 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 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.
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.
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 356-193-1 (338-148-1 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 and Instagram at @tommiebase
-- St. Thomas Athletics --
The Tommies and Bears will play at 3 p.m. (CT) Friday, 1 p.m. (CT) Saturday and 1 p.m. (CT) Sunday from Jackson Field with Friday's and Sunday's games being streamed live via FloSports HERE. All three games will provide live stats HERE.
St. Thomas and Air Force will meet for the first time ever at 2 p.m. (CT) from Falcon Field with live video available HERE and live stats available HERE.
Creighton Series (Last Time Out)
• St. Thomas was swept during a three-game, non-conference series at Creighton April 1-2. Originally scheduled to play one game on each Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the Tommies fell in a doubleheader 15-4 (7) and 8-5 on Saturday before a 7-2 loss on Sunday at Charles Schwab Stadium Omaha in Omaha, Neb.
• The Tommies scored first in two of the three games, including a three-run second inning in game one and a one-run first inning in game three. St. Thomas has scored first in nine games this season, going 2-7 in those games.
• Six different student-athletes accounted for the Tommies' six hits in game one before the team totaled 11 hits in game two, tying the second most hits in a game this season (11 on 3/21/23 at KSU, 14 on 3/4/23 at SLU). The Purple hit .314 as a team in game two, a season high batting average as a team.
• Charlie Bartholomew and Max Moris combined for five of the Tommies' seven hits in game three of the series. Bartholomew went 3-of-4 from the plate with one RBI while Moris went 2-for-2 and reached base four times, adding two runs.
Next Up for the Tommies
• St. Thomas travels to Greeley, Colo., for a three-game, Summit League series against Northern Colorado before a lone game Monday, April 10 at Air Force in Colorado Springs, Colo.
• The Bears are led by the outfield duo of Austin Bunn and Jake King, who are the two lone UNC players hoisting a batting average of over .300 on the team. King leads the team with 25 hits on the season while Bunn has tallied 17 runs, 12 RBI's and has an on base percentage of .438.
• The pitching staff are ushered in by sophomore and junior relievers, Kevin Sharp and Murphy Gienger. They've maintained ERAs of 4.32 and 5.18 over a combined 19 pitching appearances. Sharp holds opponents to a .250 batting average, carries a 1.38 WHIP, and has a record of 1-0 coming out of the bullpen. Murphy Gienger has 24.1 innings pitched on the year and has the Bears only save of the season and leads the team with an astonishing 35 strikeouts through just 10 relief pitching appearances.
• Northern Colorado started off the year taking two of three games from Colorado Springs, before losing their next 14 games collectively. The Bears bounced back on Mar. 24 with a win over fellow conference foe South Dakota State (9-7), to end their losing streak.
The Lead Off Man
• Since Brigs Richartz led off the season with a single to center field on the very first pitch, he reached base in a team-best 12 straight games before being denied a 13th in the series finale at Oral Roberts.
• He leads the team with 20 hits, 22 total bases, and eight runs scored. Richartz has led off six games with a base hit and eight games by reaching base.
• Richartz led off the season with a six-game hitting streak, including two multi-hit games. He scored four runs over the first series, Feb. 17-19 at CSU Bakersfield, including a three-run game during the Tommies' 8-4 win over the Roadrunners.
• Hitting third in the lineup for the second time this season in game three, Richartz singled to push his current reached base streak to five games.
Mad Max March Extends to April
• Since the start of March, junior Max Moris has led the Tommies with 17 hits, including seven multi-hit games, while hitting .425 from the plate. He also leads St. Thomas with a .489 on-base percentage, 20 total bases, five runs scored, five walks and three doubles during the nine-game stretch.
• Moris has reached base in each of the last eight games, including a six-game hitting streak. The hitting streak ties Richartz for the longest by the Tommies this season.
Kolby Knowledge
• Kolby Gartner has four starts this season, going a season-low 2.0 innings with three strikeouts, three hits, three walks, and four earned runs allowed in a game one loss at Creighton. He now sits at 23.0 IP on the year, recording 18 strikeouts, eight walks, and a 4.30 ERA in those appearances, his ERA ranking fourth in the Summit League.
• Gartner opened the season for the Tommies on the mound Feb. 17 with eight strikeouts in 5.1 innings at CSU Bakersfield. He followed up with a complete game loss Feb. 25 at Sacramento State, throwing four strikeouts with one walk and one earned run allowed, and went 7.2 innings with three strikeouts, one walk and three earned runs allowed March 4 at Saint Louis.
First to Strike
• The Tommies have scored first in nine of its 18 games this season, going 2-7 in those games. Besides the win at Kansas State, the Toms scored first in five of the last seven games, which all ended in losses.
Summit League Ranks (As of 4/6/23)
Team
3rd in Fielding Percentage, .961
5th in Earned Run Average, 7.52
5th in Opp. Batting Average, .294
Individual - Pitching
2nd in Opposing Batting Average, .190 AVG, Kolby Gartner
2nd in Saves, 1, Evan Esch
4th in Earned Run Average, 4.30 ERA, Kolby Gartner
9th in Opposing Batting Average, .266, Evan Esch
10th in Earned Run Average, 5.66, Evan Esch
Individual - Fielding
T-1st in Fielding Percentage, 1.000, Joe Vos/Ben Vujovich
T-6th in Caught Stealing By, 3, Charlie Bartholomew/Max Moris
8th in Assists, 43 Total Assists, Matthew Enck
9th in Putouts, 115 Total Putouts, Charlie Bartholomew
9th in Caught Stealing By, 1, Brigs Richartz
10th in Assists, 37 Total Assists, Sam Kulesa
Power Five Play
• The Tommies have faced two opponents from the power five conferences this season, going 1-2 in those games. St. Thomas dropped its long game against Iowa 10-1 on March 15 before an 11-3 loss at Kansas State March 21. The Purple came away with a 2-1 win March 22 at Kansas State, marking its second ever win against a power five opponent. The Tommies are 2-11 over the past two seasons against power five conferences.
• The other St. Thomas win came last season with a 6-0 decision over Minnesota.
Leading Off
• The Toms began 2023 1-3 during Opening Weekend at CSU Bakersfield 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 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.
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.
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 356-193-1 (338-148-1 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 and Instagram at @tommiebase
-- St. Thomas Athletics --
Players Mentioned
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