Shortstop Jon Kinsel’s three-run homer sparked the No. 2-ranked St. Thomas baseball team to a 4-1 victory in the first game against Concordia-Moorhead Tuesday afternoon at Koch Diamond.
The home run marked Kinsel’s first as a Tommie, making for a more exciting third inning after the game got off to a slow start. St. Thomas didn’t register a hit until the third inning, an inning where four Tommie runs put the team up 4-0.
“It’s pretty cool,” Kinsel said of his first career home run in 78 varsity games. “Got to pitch up, put some bat on it and got a little bit of luck out there.”
With the wins, the Tommies (24-4 overall, 12-0 MIAC) hold a 16-game winning streak on the season. The team also holds a 35-game home-field winning streak.
Coach Chris Olean said Concordia (12-10 overall, 5-5 MIAC) is always tough to play against.
“They do swing the bat a lot better than what they showed today. Our pitchers just did a really nice job,” Olean said. “I still think that’s going to be a team that’s around in the playoffs.”
Pitcher Steve Maher threw a complete game three-hitter.
“Jon had that big hit which kind of pushed us over the top, and Steve threw the ball extremely well, and that’s all we needed,” Olean said.
Maher allowed one run with one strikeout and two walks. His only run of the game came from Concordia outfielder Devin Johnson’s homer in the fifth inning.
Coming into today’s games, Kinsel said the team expected to sweep.
“That’s our goal everyday is to get wins,” Kinsel said. “We expected the pitchers to pitch well and defense behind them, and definitely to hit the ball.”
Tommie batters roar in game two victory
Pitcher Dylan Thomas’ dominant performance on the mound helped the Tommies to a 10-1 game two victory. Thomas let up one run on three hits, recording nine strikeouts.
“I pitched well. I had good defense behind me,” Thomas said. “Tthe sticks came alive in the beginning and that’s all I needed.”
St. Thomas broke the game open early, scoring four runs in the first inning. First baseman Tyler Peterson had an RBI double to center field bringing in Kinsel, who reached base on a single to left field.
Still in the first inning, outfielder Tim Kuzniar rounded the bases on a three-run blast to right field. Kuzniar recorded three hits in the game accounting for three runs and four RBIs.
“We’ve been playing solid defense, great pitching and great hitting,” Thomas said. “We’ve put up a lot of runs in the last few days. It’s very relieving for us pitchers to know that our bats are gonna come through no matter what.”
The Tommies widened their lead when second baseman Sam Miller scored in the second inning. After stealing second and advancing to third on a right fielder Kelvin Stroik single, Miller was summoned home after a balk by the Cobber’s pitcher.
Five runs was not enough as the Tommies tallied another four in the bottom of the third inning bringing the score to 9-0 and once more in the fourth finalizing the score at 10-0. Concordia’s only run came on a Johnson single to right in the fourth.
“We’ve been hitting the ball pretty well. Pitching has been pretty good. We’ve just overall been playing pretty good baseball,” Olean said. “The big thing for us is to try and keep it going.”
If the weather permits, St. Thomas will play the University of Minnesota Wednesday at Siebert Field. The Tommies’ next MIAC game will be at Carleton Thursday.
Anne Becken can be reached at beck9626@stthomas.edu.