Tommie Sports - Baseball
It's a Tommie Tuesday! Baseball wins NCAA title with walk-off hit in 12th inning
W, 6-4; W, 3-2Wooster (M), May 26, 2009
Senior Dan Leslie's one-out walk-off single in the 12th inning gave St. Thomas a 3-2 victory over Wooster (Ohio) to cap a Tuesday sweep that let the Tommies take the 2009 Division III College World Series baseball championship.
Coach Dennis Denning's Tommies (41-13) won six NCAA playoff elimination games at regionals and nationals to win the program's second national championship. They beat two different All-American pitchers from Wooster on Tuesday to close out a remarkable season of twists and turns and claim supremecy over 381 Division III programs.
Tommie junior Matt Olson -- who was named the CWS's Most Outstanding Player -- worked a 3-2 count then singled to lead off the 12th inning, his third hit of the game and 11th hit in six Appleton games. It was the eighth time on the game the Toms had the leadoff batter on base.
Olson was bunted to second by Brian Schmitz. Leslie worked a 3-2 count before he stroked a game-winning single through the hole into left field.
Junior Brandon Stone, in his first pitching appearance in 16 days and first in 12 NCAA playoff games, retired 20 of the 23 batters he faced in seven shutout innings in relief to get the win for St. Thomas. Stone struck out four and had no walks.
Louie Salmen, Ben Wartman and Tim Kahle each had two hits for the Tommies, who outhit Wooster 12-8 and capped a 10-2 NCAA playoff run that included a 17-inning win and a 12-inning championship win. The Toms hit into five double plays and left 12 on base but still outlasted the hard-luck Scots (43-11).
UST, which finished 16-4 in May, is now 16-6 in four College World Series appearances. The baseball title is the institution's 13th national team championship and first since the 2005 Tommie softball crown.
All-American Mark Miller pitched all 11 1-3 innings for the Scots in a gutsy performance. Freshman Bryce Gapinski (3-0 in postseason, 4-0 in May) started for UST and worked five innings. Stone relieved to start the sixth.
St. Thomas pitchers finished with a 2.12 ERA over 12 NCAA playoff games covering 119 innings. That included a 3-0 run in four strong games by All-American Matt Schuld and a 3-0 run in four strong games by freshmen Gapinski and John Licht.
The Tommies committed just three errors in their last nine NCAA playoff games. They won three elimination games Monday and Tuesday with 12 runs over 30 innings with no home runs, one triple, two doubles and 27 singles. Two of the nine runs scored today came via squeeze bunts.
Good Start
The Toms scored one in the third inning for a 1-0 lead on a walk, a Wartman single, a bunt and Kahle's infield single.
Wooster countered with Stu Beath's leadoff single and Matt Groezinger's two-run home run in the top of the fourth inning for a 2-1 lead. It was the first time UST trailed in six NCAA playoff elimination games.
In the Tommie sixth, Olson singled, Schmitz walked, a bunt moved the runners up, and Larson hit a sac fly to tie the game.
The Toms loaded the bases in the ninth with two outs but a diving stop and slick play by Wooster at first base got the third out. UST also had runners at first and second with none out in the 11th and didn't score. But Stone kept Wooster in check to keep the chances coming.
Leslie, Stone, Matt McQuillan and Matt Schuld joined Olson on the CWS All-Tournament team.
Game 1 box score:
http://www.tommiesports.com/bsbl/stats/5-26-bb1.htm
Game 2 box score:
http://www.tommiesports.com/bsbl/stats/5-26-bb2.htm
Click here for live stats link and final box score:
http://www.titans.uwosh.edu/livestats3/xlive.htm
Click here for D#Baseball.com story:
Leslie's walk-off hit created a once-in-a-lifetime moment for the Tommies. (Mike Ekern photo)
Brandon Stone pitched seven shutout innings with just three baserunners in his first game since May 10. (Mike Ekern photo)
Catcher Ben Wartman had two hits and threw two runners out trying to steal. (Mike Ekern photo)
Roy Larson (center) had a game-tying sac fly in the sixth inning. (Mike Ekern photo)
Matt McQuillan had two hits in the first game. (Mike Ekern photo)
Game 1: UST 6, Wooster 4
Matt Schuld won his school-record 12th game of the season and St. Thomas broke a 4-4 tie with two ninth-inning runs in Tuesday's 6-4 baseball victory over Wooster (Ohio) in the 11 a.m. battle at the College World Series in Appleton, Wis.
Five different players had RBIs for the Tommies (40-13), who forced a 2:30 p.m. rematch for the national championship.
The Tommies are looking to win the school's second NCAA title in baseball and 13th national title in six different sports. Wooster's lone NCAA team title came in 1975 in men's golf.
After a three-run lead was lost in the eighth inning, UST regained the lead in the top of the ninth. Brian Schmitz' RBI single broke a 4-4 tie and Dan Leslie's squeeze bunt plated the sixth run. It was the second squeeze bunt of the game to score a run for the Tommies.
Two All-American pitchers battled -- Schuld for the Tommies and Justin McDowell for Wooster.
Schuld allowed five hits and one walk in seven innings with five strikeouts before giving up three runs in the eighth. Schuld gave up a two-out single and a two-out double in the fifth inning for Wooster's first run. In the eighth, a home run just inside the foul pole in left field, a single, a walk, a bunt and a double tied the game. After an intentional walk, Schuld got two fly ball outs to end the threat. Schuld also gave up a leadoff single in the ninth but retired the last three batters to keep UST alive.
For the seventh time in eight games, the Tommies had no errors. Louie Salmen had a diving stop and putout in the seventh inning, and Tom Wippler made some crisp plays at first base.
The Toms had 13 hits and stranded 11 runners, with two others tagged out on the bases and a double-play to end a threat in the sixth with one out and runners at first and third. Roy Larson, Schmitz and Leslie each had three hits and Matt McQuillan had two singles. Matt Olson was hit by pitch three times, scored twice and has now reached base in 40 consecutive games.
The Toms, who had a baserunner in all but the eighth inning, scored two run in the fourth inning and two runs in the seventh inning.
In the fourth, Leslie singled, Larson had an infield single and the pair took second and third on a bunt. UST scored on Salmen's RBI squeeze bunt, then made it 2-0 on Brady Field's RBI single.
In the seventh, Olson reached with two outs on a hit batsman. he took third on Schmitz' single. Leslie and Larson followed with RBI singles.
Click here for live video link:
http://all-access.cbssports.com/player.html?code=ncaa&media=128545
Click here for live stats link:
http://www.titans.uwosh.edu/livestats3/xlive.htm
EMAIL ARTICLE
