Sophomore pitcher Evan Esch dominated on the mound, tossing six scoreless innings and giving St. Thomas baseball a quality start in a 2-1 walk-off win over North Dakota State Saturday.
Esch and junior reliever Duke Coborn held the Bison (10-25 overall, 6-4 Summit League) scoreless until the ninth inning. Junior second baseman Sam Kuelsa singled for a walk-off win, the team’s first at home in the 2023 season.
“Evan threw great, kept us right there. Duke came in and did a really nice job too… then Sam was clutch,” head coach Chris Olean said. “It was a pretty cleanly played game.”
Esch broke the trend of allowing early runs after the Tommies gave up a combined seven runs in the first innings of Friday’s doubleheader. Esch did not give up a hit until the third inning.
The Tommies stuck first for a change. Sophomore outfielder Ben Vujovich doubled down the right field line driving in first-year first baseman Joe Roder from first, putting the Tommies up 1-0 in the bottom of the second.
Esch and first-year NDSU starter Parker Puetz kept each other on their toes through the first six innings.
“Evan was a pretty good matchup for them based on what they like to do, and he executed all day,” Olean said.
Both pitchers held the offensive scoreless for six frames before NDSU broke through for a run at the top of the ninth to tie it 1-1.
Coborn relieved Esch in the top of the seventh, allowing one run over three innings and striking out three. He came away the Tommies’ winning pitcher.
Kuelsa laced a single over the infielders’ heads giving Roder enough time to score the winning run from second.
“It was nice to hit a walk-off,” Kuelsa said. “I’m just happy I could do it for them.”
The Tommies take on the Minnesota Golden Gophers Wednesday, April 19 in Minneapolis at 6 p.m.
Annabelle Wiskus can be reached at wisk9881@stthomas.edu.
Sam Larson can be reached at lars4378@stthomas.edu.