ST. PETER –- St. Thomas' quest for an undefeated MIAC season ended Monday with a 9-3 loss to Gustavus Adolphus, but the Tommies bounced back to take the second game, 7-0, and finish 19-1 in the conference.

No team has finished 20-0 in the MIAC since it went to a 20-game format in 1984. The 1996 and 1999 Tommies also finished 19-1.

"We showed a little bit of rust in the first game, and a little bit of complacency," Coach Chris Olean said of his team, which won its 10th consecutive regular season conference title and will be the No. 1 seed in the MIAC playoffs this weekend. "We put some good hits together in the second game and looked sharp. We'll be ready for the playoffs."

UST's Bryce Gapinski scattered five hits over six innings to pick up the game-two victory, improve to 7-0 on the season, and lower his ERA to 1.99. The senior lefty is 26-5 in his St. Thomas career, tying him for the seventh most wins in MIAC history.

The Toms (31-6) had a 30-game conference regular-season win streak halted in the opener.

In the first game, the Gusties jumped on St. Thomas starter Steve Maher, who came in with a 10-0 record, for four runs in the first inning and one in the second. Maher lasted into the fifth but left with no outs and the bases loaded. Gustavus extended its lead to 7-1 with a single off the pitcher's mound rubber and reliever Mark Ulrich.

Gustie southpaw Grant Soderberg improved to 3-5 on the season with a complete game, holding the Tommies to four hits. St. Thomas scored in the third on a Sam Miller double and passed ball and in the sixth on a Dylan Thomas two-run home run.

The Tommies broke open a 1-0 game in the nightcap with six runs on six hits in the fifth inning. Doubles by Thomas, Charles Bruchu and Ryan Gerber drove in four of the six runs. Gerber was 3-for-4 on the day with three RBI.

Thomas had three hits and a walk on the day and extended hit hittng streak to nine games.

Next up for the Tommies are the double-elimination MIAC playoffs, which start Friday at Veterans Field in Minnetonka. They will play a 3 p.m. game against fourth-seed St. Mary's. In the second game, runner-up St. John's will face third-seed Bethel, with the winners and losers of the first-round games to face each other on Saturday. The title game will be played on Sunday.

Click here for Game 1 box:

https://gustavus.edu/athletics/bb/archives/2012/stats/ust1.htm

Click here for Game 2 box:

https://gustavus.edu/athletics/bb/archives/2012/stats/ust2.htm