The St. Thomas baseball team swept St. Olaf to start MIAC conference play Saturday afternoon in a doubleheader 2-1 and 8-1 at Koch Diamond behind strong outings from the St. Thomas pitching staff.
Baseball coach Chris Olean said he was happy with the two MIAC wins, but the team is looking to build upon its errors.
“I would say it’s a turn in the right direction, but we still have a ways to go offensively. DeCaster did a nice job at least keeping us in the game … Ryan Zimmerman came in and did a great job at the end,” Olean said. “Game two is a little bit of a different story. Mitch Larson threw awesome. He just had really impeccable command and put that one away early.”
Starter Henry DeCaster struck out nine and allowed one earned run in 5.1 innings before Grant Gunderson faced three hitters in relief. Ryan Zimmerman closed the game and earned the save.
The Oles stranded 11 runners while the St. Thomas pitching staff totaled 11 strikeouts.
In the second game Mitch Larson struck out 10 in eight shutout innings. Alex Ogren replace Larson in the ninth and allowed St. Olaf’s only run.
Larson said all his pitches were working, and he was trying to help put his team in the best position to win.
“Lately I have been feeling pretty good out there. I am just trying to do the same thing. Not trying to do anything different,” Larson said.
Game one
The Oles loaded the bases in the top of the fifth inning, but the Tommies worked their way out of a jam. St. Olaf third baseman Dylan Blake struck out swinging for what should have been the third out, but reached on a wild pitch. Catcher Anthony Winters recovered the ball and stepped on home plate to retire the Oles.
Outfielder Travis McDonald reached on a RBI fielder’s choice single in the sixth inning scoring the Oles’ lone run.
Shortstop Zach Gottfredsen doubled to left field and advanced to third on a passed ball with two outs before Sam Schneider hit a diving single to leftfield scoring Gottfredsen to take a 1-0 lead in the first inning.
Gottfredsen crossed home plate in the bottom of the third inning as the Tommies took a 2-0 lead on an RBI double by Sam Cobbs. Gottfredsen reached on a throwing error by Blake.
Though the Oles outhit the Tommies 7-4, St. Thomas pulled away with the victory.
Game two
The Tommies continued their success in the second game rallying four runs in the first inning on six hits. Schneider added a run in the fifth inning, and Jake Smith continued the Tommies success at the plate in the sixth inning with a three-run home run.
Smith said with two strikes he was looking for a fastball on the outside corner, but the Ole pitcher surprised him with a curveball on the inside corner and “he was just on time.”
“The best ones are the ones you don’t feel, and that was definitely one of them. So I got lucky on a pitch and got some backspin on it to carry it out. It felt good,” Smith said. “Definitely feels good to get a jolt especially with two other guys on base.”
Smith contributed three RBIs while Gottfredsen, Cobbs, Hunter Hart and Rock Cates and Schneider each added one.
The Tommies swept UW-Stout in the home opener Thursday adding to their four game winning streak.
The Tommies are on the road this week playing Augsburg Wednesday, April 5 and Concordia-Moorhead Saturday, April 8.
“Both those teams can hit. We are going to have to swing to compete with them. They are going to score some runs,” Olean said. “Four tough games coming up.”
Carolyn Meyer can be reached at cameyer@stthomas.edu.