The top-seeded St. Thomas baseball team hit the ball hard the entire day but couldn’t seem to catch a break, falling to fourth-seeded Case Western (Ohio) 7-3 Friday in an NCAA Midwest Regional elimination game in Whitewater, Wis.

The Tommies finished the season with a record of 34-7, including a 1-2 record in the regional.

“We hit some balls hard and they just didn’t fall,” coach Chris Olean said. “When your hits aren’t falling it makes it really tough to put some offense together, but I’m proud of them, they competed.”

The Tommies recorded only six hits on the afternoon. Center fielder Ben Podobinski went 1-for-2 with an RBI double, a walk and a run scored for an offense that sputtered much of the afternoon.

“I just want to thank the seniors; every one of them stepped up,” Podobinski said. “It makes me want to come back harder next year, work hard in the summer and make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

The Tommies gave up three runs in the second inning, two of which were unearned. Right fielder Ryan Gerber answered in the third inning with a leadoff single to right field and later scored on a double-play ball.

All-American pitcher/designated hitter Dylan Thomas hit an RBI sac-fly to left field to score Podobinski in the top of the sixth inning and pulled the Tommies within 4-2.

Thomas is one of four seniors who leave the St. Thomas program this year, along with pitchers Josh Kubitschek, Mark Dominik and shortstop Jon Kinsel.

“It’s tough to talk about, but I love these guys and they’ve always been there and have always backed me up,” Thomas said. “The fact that I’ve made such great friendships just in these past two years is fantastic, and that’s what I’ll remember most.”

The Tommies surrendered two more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, but just as they did in the third inning, answered in the top of the seventh inning with a Podobinski RBI double to left field.

“We wanted to see some pitches from (Spartan pitcher Kevin Johnstone); he was getting up in the pitch count,” Podobinski said. “I was just looking for a fastball, trying to drive it, not pull off of it and drive it the other way.”

First baseman Tyler Peterson hit a moonshot to deep left field in the eighth inning, that without the wind, likely could have cleared the fence.

The Tommies threatened in the ninth inning, putting two runners on with none out. After pinch hitter Christiaan Wabers’ double play, right fielder Kelvin Stroik grounded out to the pitcher to end the game and St. Thomas’ season.

“We played good all year. We had a pretty tough schedule,” Olean said. “We had a lot of guys step up.”

Olean was proud of the his seniors and all that they did for the program in their time.

“It was especially pleasing to me just in terms of their development,” Olean said. “They all contributed in a big way and we’ll certainly miss ‘em.”

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