By Jim Dixon
D3sports.com
St. Thomas found themselves in a familiar situation, needing a run to stay alive in the game and more to win it outright. St. Thomas did it all as they defeated No. 1 Washington 6-4 to win bracket one in the 2021 D-III College World Series here on Perfect Game Field.
- D3baseball.com World Series Scoreboard
- World Series Stories: Day one | Day two
- D-III World Series Record Book
- The D3baseball.com World Series Program
- D-III World Series Bracket
- 2021 was anything but usual
St. Thomas advances to the D-III Championship Series. They will learn their opponent either tonight or tomorrow depending on the results of the two games tonight.
"Washington was as every bit as good as we thought," said St. Thomas head coach Chris Olean. "I expected a close ball game."
"It was an historic year for our program," said Washington head coach Pat Bloom. "It did not end the way we wanted. I am proud of the guys and we had a special group of seniors."
Down one in the ninth, St. Thomas scored three and shut down any WashU comeback attempt with a 1-2-3 inning. Miscues by the pitcher contributed to the winning effort. Matthew Enck was hit by a pitch and in an effort by Max Moris to sacrifice him to second, the pitcher threw the ball into the dugout, putting runners on second and third. Two batters later, Avery Lehman's squeeze bunt worked to perfection plating the tying run. Following a walk to Jake Porter, Charlie Bartholomew and Kyle Halverson each had RBI singles for the winning runs.
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| St. Thomas shortstop Matthew Enck throws the ball to first Photo by Steve Frommell, d3photography.com | More photos from this game |
St. Thomas struck first as they did yesterday in their game with WashU. Sam Kulesa reached on and error by the WashU third baseman and was erased as Lehman reached on the fielders choice. Lehman stole second to put himself into scoring position and that is what he did on Porter's single to left. The Tommies put two more runners on base but left them stranded.
St. Thomas added to their lead in the top of the sixth inning. With two outs Charlie Eldredge doubled to left center. Designated hitter Josh Thorp then lifted a ball that cleared the head of the centerfielder, giving Thorp a triple and a run balled in. A close play at first on a Enck ground out was ruled an out and St. Thomas head coach Chris Olean requested a review. Then the umpires return with the call confirmed, the inning was over.
Washington got on board in their part of the sixth, scoring twice to even the score at 2-2. A one-out home run by Bo Anderson removed the shutout. Kaden Bernhard singled through the middle of the infield and took second on a balk by the Tommies pitcher. Hunter Goldberg continued his fine series with a RBI single to right.
St. Thomas took no time in responding. Kulesa safety got him on first and moved to second on a Lehman ground out. Porter grounded out to short but the throw to first was wide and Kulsea scored the tie breaker.
WashU also showed their comeback spirit and took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the seventh. The spark plugs in this mornings game got on track. Tim Van Kirk and Magnus Dunn each had singles and moved up 90 feet on Caleb Durbin's sacrifice bunt. Clayton Miller, the starting pitcher who moved to designated hitter when he was relieved on the mound, drove a ball to right field to plate the speed Van Kirk and Dunn.
TJ Constertina earned the win. he allowed no runs and no hits or walks. He struck out three. Kolby Gartner started the game for St. Thomas. in six ining, he gave up two runs, all earned, on six hits and a walk. He sruckout seven.
Kyle Coates took the loss in relief. He ptch 0.2 innings and allowed two runs, all earned, on two hits and a walk. The Washington starter, Clayton Miller pitched five innings in his first start. He allowed 1 run, earned,on three hits and a walk.
Bartholomew and Halverson each had two hits for St. Thomas while Durbin and Anderson had two for WashU. Miller was the only batter with multiple RBIs (2) and Kulesa runs (2).