How was your Memorial Day Monday? For 25 players in St. Thomas Baseball uniforms, it was indeed a Memorable Monday at the diamond.
The No. 19-ranked Tommies outboxed the hard-nosed Pacific Boxers over two grueling Monday games to win the NCAA Collegeville Regional.
In the winner-take-all contest, after watching their 8-4 seventh-inning lead turn into a 9-8 deficit, the Toms erupted for five runs of their own in the top of the ninth inning and posted a 13-9 victory.
Earlier in the day, St. Thomas fell behind 4-0 after two innings before recording a 7-4 comeback win to force a rematch game.
The Purple accomplished the second-game comeback off Pacific ace starter Will Clark, who came in with an 8-0 record and was asked to be the closer for the ninth inning.
An error put Josh Thorp aboard to start the comeback. Matthew Enck's bunt single, and a throwing error on another bunt by Max Moris tied the game 9-9. Sam Kulesa's sac fly put the Toms ahead, 10-9, and they added three more on RBI hits by Jake Porter and Charlie Bartholomew and a sac fly by Charlie Eldredge.
True freshman Jack Blesch started and allowed four runs and no walks with six strikeouts before leaving with an 8-4 lead. But Pacific (34-15) scored five times in the last of the seventh and had the momentum. Andrew Tri got the last six outs with no runs allowed and the Tommie five-spot was the difference.
That made it three elimination-game wins in 24 hours for the Purple (34-8), who are playing their final Division III season. Monday's two victories also avenged a 10-1 loss to Pacific incurred on Sunday afternoon in a winners'-bracket game
Ten true or redshirt freshmen played big roles in the Toms' regional championship.
Coming Up
Next up for St. Thomas is a berth in the eight-team College World Series later this week in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. This will be St. Thomas' seventh World Series appearance since 1999 -- the season when current head coach Chris Olean was an All-America pitcher and led an NCAA runner-up finish.
Five Tommies made the Regional All-Tournament Team: Porter and Eldredge, plus pitchers Graham Laubscher, T.J. Constertina and Kolby Gartner.
St. Thomas improved to 20-3 over its last 23 games, including a 6-0 record in games decided by one or two runs. The Purple have scored 63 runs in their eight postseason wins -- 36 of them coming in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings.