Pitching powers Tommies' sweep of Chicago

More news about: St. Thomas-Minn

Steve Maher and Bryce Gapinski had complete-game pitching wins and Tim Kuzniar had five hits and five RBI on the day as No. 19-ranked St. Thomas scored an 8-2, 6-1 baseball sweep of the University of Chicago Friday in Winter Haven Fla.

The Tommies (11-4) improved to 5-2 on its Florida trip, not counting Thursday's exhibition win over the Minnesota Twins Rookie team. They had 18 hits on the day and had just one error.

Chicago (7-3) had just one loss before Friday.

Maher, the reigning National Pitcher of the Week in Division III, is 5-0 this season in five starts. His streak of 28.1 innings without an earned run allowed ended in the top of the seventh when he allowed two runs. In 32.1 innings this season, the sophomore transfer has a 1.11 ERA with 31 strikeouts and five walks.

Gapinski improved to 3-0 on the season and 22-5 on his career as he allowed an unearned run and five hits with no walks and four strikeouts. In 26.2 innings, the senior lefty has 20 strikeouts and just two walks and has a 0.68 ERA.

In game one, Ben Podobinski and Kuzniar each had two hits. UST led 2-0 through four innings then posted six consecutive singles in the fifth inning to extend the lead to 7-0.

In game two, Justin Novak and Kuzniar each had two-run singles as UST built a 6-0 lead through four innings. Kuzniar's 5-for-7 day improved his season average to .349.

UST closes its spring-break trip with a 9 a.m. Saturday nine-inning game vs. Worcester State.