Despite a gritty performance by pitcher Steve Maher, the top-seeded St. Thomas baseball team fell to St. Scholastica 1-0 Wednesday, in the opening round of the Midwest Regional of the NCAA tournament in Whitewater, Wis.

With the loss, the Tommies face a must-win scenario for the rest of the double-elimination regional. St. Thomas will play the loser of the No. 2-seed Wis.-Stevens Point/No. 5-seed Benedictine (Ill.) game at noon Thursday.

The Tommies struggled to find the timely hit they needed all game, leaving nine runners on base.

Catcher J.D. Dorgan had a solid day at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a hit by pitch. Also contributing for the Tommies was center fielder Ben Podobinski, going 1-for-3 with a walk.

The Tommies committed three errors, including a crucial throwing error in the seventh to give the Saints their lone run of the game.

St. Thomas rallied in the bottom of the ninth with back-to-back hits by Dorgan and third baseman Jack Hogan, but the team didn’t score.

Maher threw eight and 1/3 innings, allowing only one unearned run and striking out three.

Kyle Jonas can be reached at jona7984@stthomas.edu.