GRAND CHUTE, Wis. -- St. Thomas 14-game baseball winning streak came to an end Sunday night with a 10-4 loss to UW-Whitewater in the winners' bracket of the NCAA Division III World Series.
The win moved the No. 2-ranked Warhawks into the championship game on Tuesday. The No. 6-ranked Tommies need to win an elimination game at 3:30 p.m. Monday against the winner of the noon game between Southern Maine and Emory, then beat Whitewater twice on Tuesday to win their third national title. UST is assured of a top-three national finish.
St. Thomas (39-8) had runners on base in every inning except the third but stranded eight, including six in scoring position, and had two inning-ending double plays. Whitewater (43-7) busted open a 4-3 game in the eighth inning with six runs on five hits.
This is the third straight World Series in which the Tommies have won their first two games but lost their third in the double-elimination tournament. They bounced back in 2009 to win three straight games and the championship, and won their third game two years ago but lost on the final day to finish in third place.
Coach Chris Olean said his team needs to focus on the Monday game and not look ahead to the possibility of a rematch with Whitewater.
"We just need to come out and play better baseball," he said. "If we can get to Tuesday, we have a chance. We have good pitching left."
Early UST Lead
St. Thomas broke on top 1-0 in the fourth inning. Tim Kuzniar lined a one-out single off the head of Whitewater pitcher Brock Liston, who stayed in the game after a 10-minute delay. He gave up a single to J.D. Dorgan and a walk before balking in Kuzniar, and was pulled.
Whitewater tied the game in the bottom of the inning on a Casey Power home run off Steve Maher. It was Power's second homer in two days, but it could have been worse for the Tommies -- earlier in Power's at-bat, catcher J.D. Dorgan threw out a Warhawk trying to steal second base.
The Warhawks jumped ahead 4-1 in the fifth. With two out and a runner on first, Maher gave up a single and hit two batters (forcing in one run) to load the bases. Jared Fon sliced a single to right to knock in two for the three-run lead.
St. Thomas cut the Whitewater lead to 4-3 in the eighth. Kelvin Stroik and Jack Hogan walked with one out and Kuzniar doubled home Stroik. Hogan scored on a Dorgan sacrifice fly but Kuzniar was stranded on third on an inning-ending groundout.
Whitewater responded with six runs in the bottom of the eighth off relievers Greg Clute and Tommy Danczyk to salt away the game. The Warhawks sent 10 batters to the plate and pounded out four singles and a double in the inning. One error led to three unearned runs.
The Tommies picked up their final run in the ninth when Ben Podobinski doubled home Sam Miller, who had singled. It was the 199th hit of Podobinski's three-year St. Thomas career.
Miller, Dorgan and Kuzniar each had two hits.