Pitcher Dylan Thomas was untouchable on the hill, striking out nine Wisconsin-La Crosse batters to give No. 2 St. Thomas a 2-1 victory in game one of a twinbill Sunday at the Metrodome.
Catcher J.D. Dorgan and first baseman Christiaan Wabers led the charge for the Tommies (5-3).
St. Thomas got on the board in the third inning when Wabers laced an RBI single to left field in his first Tommie varsity at-bat.
“My main focus going into the games was to be aggressive,” Wabers said. “See balls that I could hit, and not let the pitchers get ahead in the count.”
Wabers singled up the middle in the sixth inning and advanced to second base on a bobble by the center fielder. He scored what proved to be the winning run on a Dorgan RBI double down the line.
Coach Chris Olean was pleased with how his team fought, but recognized there are areas to improve upon.
“We faced two tough pitchers,” Olean said. “They battled, but I think we could have had some better at-bats out there.”
Thomas allowed a two-out triple and RBI double in the first inning, but allowed two baserunners and no hits over the final six innings.
“I threw a lot of fastballs and I spotted up,” Thomas said after picking up his first win of the season. “The biggest thing for me was locating fastballs and getting ahead in the count which was huge.”
La Crosse tried to rally back in the top of the seventh with a leadoff walk, but that runner was eventually doubled up on a flyout to right.
Wabers and Dorgan added two hits and an RBI in the win.
St. Thomas outhit the Eagles seven to two and kept the pressure, only striking out four times. The Tommies committed zero errors and made several strong defensive plays. St. Thomas left eight runners on base.
Strong Eagle pitching downs Tommies in game two
The Tommies couldn’t get the bats going and struggled defensively throughout game two in a 4-1 loss to the Eagles. However, it was a first-inning error by La Crosse that allowed St. Thomas to get an early lead.
Outfielder Kelvin Stroik got on base on a fielding error and later scored on an RBI triple to deep center field by outfielder Tim Kuzniar.
A third-inning three-run home run by La Crosse proved to be the difference maker in an otherwise evenly played game.
“Every game is a learning tool for us,” Wabers said. “From now on, we just need to continue to get better every day in practice.”
The Eagles found some energy in the fourth inning with runners on first and second and one out. St. Thomas quickly responded and turned 6-4-3 double-play to end the inning.
The Tommies battled back in the seventh inning with back-to-back singles from Wabers and Dorgan. They managed to get the game-tying run to the plate with two outs, but pinch hitter Ryan Gerber lined out to left field.
Eagle pitcher Joel Effertz struck out seven and gave up only two hits in six innings of work. Effertz set down 17 of the last 19 batters he faced. The Tommies only managed to tally four hits on the game.
“We faced a really tough pitcher, but we just need to have better approaches,” Thomas said. “As long as we stick with it and continue to go out there and play the best we can we’ll be alright.”
The Tommies face the University of Dubuque (Iowa) on March 19 at the Metrodome.
Kyle Jonas can be reached at jona7984@stthomas.edu.