St. Thomas won its second game against MIAC co-champion Macalester 11-7 after losing to Hamline 4-3 earlier in the day. Now the Tommies have to win two straight games Sunday to claim the MIAC championship.

St. Thomas trailed 7-5 in the sixth inning of the second game when freshman Tim Kuzniar and senior Tim Kahle led a Tommie rally to score three runs and take the lead. St. Thomas added three more runs in the ninth inning for a total of 11.

The game was set to start at 6 p.m., but there was a rain delay of almost an hour. Tommie players played hackey sack with baseballs and ran fake football plays to stay warm.

“We were just trying to stay loose and have a little fun,” junior Charles Bruchu said. “When its cold and wet like this you’ve got to.”

The Tommies got seven hits and seven runs from freshman Dan Reichert, senior J.B. Korte and Kuzniar, the bottom three batters in their order. Kahle and Bruchu each had two runs batted in at the top of the Tommie order.

Junior John Licht started the game for the Tommies, allowing four runs while pitching into the fifth inning. Freshman Tommy Danczyk gave up three runs in less than two innings but got the win for St. Thomas. Freshman Jared Dehmer pitched a scoreless seventh inning, and freshman Mark Ulrich shut down the Scots in the eight and ninth innings.

Bobby DeMeuleneare and Jimmy Belfont each had two runs batted in for the Scots, who made a splash in the MIAC playoffs despite being predicted to finish eighth in a preseason coach poll.

The victory gives St. Thomas another shot at Hamline Sunday after the Tommies fell to the Pipers Saturday afternoon.

Although St. Thomas will have to win two straight tomorrow for the MIAC playoff championship, the Pipers, who are undefeated in the tournament, need to win just one game.

Alex Keil can be reached at amkeil@stthomas.edu.