University of St. Thomas Athletics
University of Iowa
Tommies head to Iowa for midweek finale
5/4/2026 1:29:00 PM | Baseball
Tommie and Hawkeyes square off in midweek battle
ST. PAUL, MINN.- The St. Thomas Tommies head to Iowa City to take on the Iowa Hawkeye's for the final midweek of the 2026 season.
St. Thomas at Iowa
Tuesday, May 5th (6 p.m. first pitch)
Be sure to follow along for live stats and radio through links found at tommiesports.com/sports/baseball/schedule – and on Twitter @TommieBase and Instagram at @TommieBaseball.
Last time out
The Tommies battled with league leading Oral Roberts all weekend long but ultimately dropped all three games in the series. Easton Fritcher led the offense, hitting .438 on the weekend. Tanner Recchio chipped in a team high four RBIs, while Owen Bond tallied two doubles.
History with Iowa
The Tommies are 0-6 all-time against the Hawkeyes since their first meeting back in 2022. Most recently, St. Thomas fell 7-2 back on March 10th.
Scouting the Hawkeyes
Iowa is 28-18 overall and 12-12 in the Big Ten Conference. The Hawkeyes are led by Gabe Mitchell who is hitting .388 on the year. On the bump, the Hawkeye staff holds a 5.92 ERA.
21 Innings, two days
St. Thomas and Northern Colorado set records for their 21-inning marathon game that took two days to complete. The game was suspended in the 11th inning on Friday, April 17th and picked back up again on April 18th. There were nine scoreless innings before both teams scored two in the 19th. The game ultimately ended via a walk off in the bottom of the 21st.
Reaching the Summit
Junior Owen Bond is making a name for himself amongst Summit League foes. Bond holds a league leading .475 on-base percentage and four triples. Bond is second in the league in batting average with a .362.
Joe Roder also leads the Summit League in walks with 27.
Recchio Off and Running
Tanner Recchio has been causing chaos on the base paths this season as he leads the Summit League with 31 stolen bags and ranks 17th in the country. Recchio leads the league by a 16 base margin, and the next closest is teammate Adam Puder with 15.
Summit League Peak Performers
Tanner Recchio 3/10/26
Joe Roder 3/31/26
2026 Roster
The Tommies welcomed 17 newcomers to the 2026 roster
Roster makeup
Class:
Freshman/Red-shirt freshman: 15
Sophomores: 13
Juniors: 7
Seniors: 4
Graduate Students: 2
State:
Minnestoa: 25
Wisconsin: 8
Colorado: 3
Illinois: 2
Iowa: 2
Nebraska: 1
Leader of the pack
Head Coach Chris Olean enters his 17th season at the helm of the Tommie baseball program in 2026. Olean has totaled a 414-256-1 overall record (338-148-1 in NCAA Division III) since being named 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
Any and all information pertaining to the St. Thomas baseball team can be found at tommiesports.com and on Twitter @TommieBase and Instagram at @TommieBaseball.
