Sat. NCAA Baseball: Shutout win lifts Toms to College World Series

W, 11-2; W, 5-0
St. Olaf (M), May 16, 2009

Senior Dan Leslie threw a seven-hit shutout in his first mound appearance of the season to lead No. 18-ranked St. Thomas to a 5-0 win over St. Olaf in Saturday NCAA regional championship baseball game in Oshkosh, Wis. 

The Tommies (36-12) won three elimination games in 24 hours and are heading back to the College World Series for the first time since 2001. UST made three consecutive trips to the eight-team national tournament from 1999-2001 capped by the 2001 NCAA championship.

This was Leslie's first pitching start since May 17, 2007. He was one of the elite young pitchers in Division III as a two-time All-Region honoree with a 12-5 won-loss record in 2006 and 2007. But an arm injury limited him to just 4 1-3 innings in three relief appearances in 2008. The Toms' regular third baseman since 2007, Leslie didn't pitch at all in 2009 until today.

The Toms scored all five runs in the second inning, capped by junior Matt Olson's three-run home run. Sophomores Taylor Rahm and Matt McQuillan each had five hits on the two Saturday victories.

UST's bats started meekly in this tournament, but the Toms managed some big innings when they needed them. They used a four-run inning to erase a 3-0 deficit vs. Stevens Point; used a late seven-run inning to pass St. Scholastica; and posted nine- and five-run uprisings on Saturday to sweep St. Olaf.

Since late March, Olson has reached base in 35 consecutive games (31 with at least one hit). He went 9-for-20 with six runs and five RBI in his last five regional games.

Uphill Climb

St. Thomas came into today needing two wins over a hot St. Olaf team that was 16-2 since mid-April, including six postseason wins in the last week. But UST never trailed in either game as it pounded 30 hits and scored 16 runs in two nine-inning victories on the day to claim the championship. The Tommies beat St. Olaf All-American Todd Mathison in game two to claim the regional.

St. Thomas played the regional without their No. 2 and 4 starters, then needed a region playoff record 17 innings to win its first game. UST rallied from mid-game deficits of 3-0 and 4-0 to win their first two region games, then lost 5-2 to St. Olaf on Friday. But Coach Dennis Denning's team won three elimination games with no errors while outscoring UW-Stevens Point and St. Olaf by a 22-2 margin.

Eight Tommie pitchers combined for a 1.74 ERA in 62 innings in the 5-1 finish in the regional. They surrendured just two runs in the last 32 innings of the tournament.

Six Tommies made the 11-player All-Tournament team, led by Rahm, who was named MVP. Leslie, Olson, Schuld, Brian Schmitz and John Licht rounded out the Tommie honorees.

UST won today's first game vs. the Oles, 11-2 behind seven strong innings by Matt Schuld and a 16-hit attack. Schuld (10-1 season record) beat the Oles for the third time in 2009 and became just the third Tommie pitcher to reach 10 victories in one season. UST's season wins record is 11 set in 1987 by Joe Meyer, and Jim Cummings went 10-0 in 1997.

UST and rival St. Olaf went 4-4 in eight meetings this season and now have played 21 postseason games in the last 15 years. In the last seven days, St. Olaf scored a Sunday sweep by a 27-1 margin to take the conference playoff championship, only to have St. Thomas grab the momentum and run to a pair of victories today.

The Toms were in a regional last-day "rematch/if neccessary" title game for the first time since 2001, also in Oshkosh, when they lost 6-4 in 10 innings to Ripon then came back to beat the Redhawks 10-4 to take the region crown.

St. Thomas will open play next Friday night at 7:45 in the eight-team national tourney to be held in Appleton, Wis. UST will face the Oregon regional winner, either Chapman or Pomona.

Click here for game 1 box score:

http://www.titans.uwosh.edu/2009OshkoshBaseballRegional/Game10.html

Click here for game 2 box score:

http://www.titans.uwosh.edu/2009OshkoshBaseballRegional/Game11.html

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Sat. Game 1 -- UST 11, St. Olaf 2

St. Thomas exploded for nine runs in the top of the sixth inning en route to an 11-2 win over St. Olaf in today's first NCAA regional baseball game in Oshkosh, Wis.  St. Thomas forced a 2:45 p.m. rematch today for the championship.

UST has secured a 35-win season for the eighth time in 15 years under Coach Dennis Denning.

Taylor Rahm had a three-run homer in a 3-for-5 day. Matt McQuillan went 3-for-6 and Matt Olson and Brady Field each had two hits as UST outhit the Oles

UST's Matt Schuld and STO's Brandon Agneberg both started on two days rest. Schuld allowed eight hits, four walks and one run in seven innings and beat the Oles for the third time this season.

UST led off the first inning with two singles and scored an unearned run. The Oles scored one run in the second inning and stranded runners at second and third base in the third inning. UST added a run in the fifth inning on Brian Schmitz' two-out RBI double. UST had a runner tagged out at home and hit into two double plays before the big breakthrough inning.