University of St. Thomas Athletics
21-16, 0
Oral Roberts
24-17, 0
Ritter shines, Tommies claim season series vs. ORU
4/27/2025 6:03:00 PM | Baseball
TULSA, OKLA. – The University of St. Thomas baseball team has once again won the season series against the Oral Roberts University Golden Eagles. Thanks to a split during Sunday's doubleheader, the Tommies claimed the season series against the 2023 NCAA World Series qualifiers for the second straight year. St. Thomas won Sunday's opener 3-1 behind a near complete game performance by Riane Ritter (Rogers, Minn. / Rogers) before falling in game two by a final score of 2-1. With the split, the Tommies are now 21-17 overall and 15-6 in Summit League play, allowing St. Thomas to maintain its 2.0 game lead in the conference standings.
GAME ONE: ST. THOMAS (3) vs. ORAL ROBERTS (1)
A three-run fifth was all the Tommies and starting pitcher Riane Ritter (Rogers, Minn. / Rogers) needed to secure the series win over the Golden Eagles and win the first game of Sunday's doubleheader. Ritter and Oral Roberts Brendan Asher were wheeling and dealing early in Tulsa, Oklahoma, holding both teams' potent offenses scoreless through 4.0 innings of work. Fortunately for St. Thomas fans, it was the Tommies who broke the 0-0 tie, as Zan Von Schelgel (Downers Grove, Ill. / Saint Viator) ripped a 2-0 home run over the left field fence to give St. Thomas a 2-0 lead in the top of the fifth. Ben Vujovich (Inver Grove Heights, Minn. / Simley) made it 3-0 Tommies later in the inning, hitting a sacrifice fly to give St. Thomas some insurance.
That 3-0 lead was more than enough for Ritter, who put together potentially his best start of the 2025 season. The freshman was two outs away from pitching the second complete game of the weekend and made just one mistake in 8.1 innings of work. Ritter surrendered one run on a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth, but it was no harm, no foul, as St. Thomas went on to win game one by a final score of 3-1. Ritter earned the win, while Max Skillbeck (Minneapolis, Minn. / Southwest) earned his third save of the season, striking out both batters he faced in the bottom of the ninth.
GAME TWO: ST. THOMAS (1) vs. ORAL ROBERTS (2)
St. Thomas struck first in game two, taking a 1-0 lead after back-to-back hits by Brigs Richartz (Menomonie, Wis. / Menomonie) and Matthew Maulik (St. Michael, Minn. / St. Michael-Albertville) resulted in the Tommies first run of the ballgame. The Golden Eagles answered by scoring two runs in the bottom of the inning, taking a 2-1 lead over St. Thomas after two innings of play.
That 2-1 score would hold until the top of the ninth inning, as Oral Roberts halted every Tommies threat through six innings. Thanks to strong pitching performances from Zach Endres (Lakeville, Minn. / North Dakota State) and Bryce Leedle (Markesan, Wis. / Markesan), St. Thomas was able to stay within striking distance of the Golden Eagles and trailed by just one with the heart of its order due up in the top of the ninth. Unfortunately, the Tommies were unable to come up with the equalizer, as they fell in game two by a final score of 2-1.
UP NEXT
St. Thomas will return to Koch Diamond for its next nine contests, starting with Wednesday's nonconference game against Minnesota. The Tommies will host the Gophers for the first time in the DI era before hosting Omaha for a Summit League series May 2-4. First pitch for Wednesday's contest is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. CT in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Ritter, Riane (3-1)
L: Brenden Asher (1-2)
S: Skilbeck, Max (3)
Batting:
HR: Von Schlegell, Zan 1
RBI: Vujovich, Ben 1 ; Von Schlegell, Zan 2
SH: Puder, Adam 1
SF: Vujovich, Ben 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Vos, Joe 1 ; Von Schlegell, Zan 1 ; Puder, Adam 1
CS: Recchio, Tanner 1
Batting:
HR: Cooper Combs 1
RBI: Cooper Combs 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cooper Combs 1
