APPLETON, Wis. — Despite left fielder Tim Kuzniar’s eighth-inning RBI double that cut the Tommies’ deficit to one, the St. Thomas baseball team lost 10-4 to Wisconsin-Whitewater Sunday in the NCAA Division-III Championships at Fox Cities Stadium.

Kuzniar’s double made the score 4-3 in favor of the Warhawks, but the St. Thomas bullpen was unable to keep the score close and surrendered six runs in the bottom half of the inning to put the game out of reach. Coach Chris Olean said Whitewater’s late offensive charge put him in a difficult situation.

“It’s one of those situations where we’re losing in a game and you have to decide if you want to bring in a reliever,” Olean said. “(Pitcher Tommy Danczyk) has done it for us all year, but it just wasn’t his night.”

Pitcher Greg Clute entered the game with two outs in the sixth inning in relief of starter Steve Maher, and after getting the third out in the sixth, he worked a scoreless seventh inning as well. In the eighth inning, Clute gave up base hits to Warhawks third baseman Jared Fon and first baseman Casey Power before being lifted in favor of Danczyk.

Danczyk gave up four runs, but only one earned run, as the Warhawks extended their lead to 10-3. Catcher J.D. Dorgan attributed the big inning to the Warhawks’ skilled hitting.

“They’re a good hitting team,” Dorgan said. “I wouldn’t say he was missing his spots. They just put the barrel on the ball.”

A tense moment delayed the game in the fourth inning when a ball off Kuzniar’s bat struck the Warhawks’ starting pitcher Brock Liston in the side of the head. Kuzniar reached first base on the play, and, following a lengthy delay, Liston was able to stay in the game. In the next at bat, Dorgan singled and designated hitter Waylon Bemboom walked to load the bases before Liston balked to advance Kuzniar to home for the game’s first run.

Whitewater responded to tie the game on Power’s solo home run off Maher to left field and added three more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to take a 4-1 lead. The Warhawks went on to lead for the remainder of the game.

Despite trailing 10-3 in the ninth inning, the Tommies added one more run in the top of the ninth when center fielder Ben Podobinski doubled to score second baseman Sam Miller, but it was not enough for St. Thomas.

Olean said the team needs to focus on Monday’s game in which they will face another team that is “scrappy and hungry to win.”

St. Thomas will play at 3:30 p.m. Monday against the winner between Emory University (Ga.) and Southern Maine for the chance to play Whitewater in the national championship.

Tom Pitzen can be reached at pitz2014@stthomas.edu.