Juniors Jake Smith and Zach Gottfredsen drove in the tying and winning runs with one-out RBI hits as first-place St. Thomas scored a 3-2 walkoff victory over Bethel Tuesday for a split of a key conference baseball twinbill at Koch Diamond.
That turned the tables on Bethel. The Royals had rallied from a 3-0 deficit in its final at-bat to stay alive and win game one, 5-3 in eight innings.
With two games left in the MIAC race, the Tommies (23-13 overall, 15-3 MIAC) maintain a one-game lead over Bethel (29-7, 14-4).
St. Thomas can secure at least a share of the MIAC crown with one win on Saturday in a twinbill at Gustavus, or one Bethel loss Sunday in two games against St. Mary's.
In game two, Tommie sophomore Henry DeCaster (8-0) had a complete-game three-hitter with one earned run and no walks allowed to go wth nine strikeouts.
Smith's leadoff triple and an RBI groundout tied the game 1-1 in the bottom of the sixth. Bethel took a 2-1 lead in the top of the seventh with a two-out bloop RBI hit by John Horner.
BU freshman reliever Jake Marsh, who earned a save in game one by retiring all three Tommies in the eighth inning, came on again to pitch in UST's last at-bat, as Bethel was three outs away from sole possession of the MIAC lead.
The Tommies would not go quietly. Charlie Callahan stroked a single to center to leadoff the inning. Pinch runner David Stevens was bunted to second, and took third on a single by pinch-hitter Hunter Hart.
Smith stayed alive with a few two-strike fouls then laced a double into left-center to tie the game and send the winning run to third. With the infield drawn in, Gottfredsen slapped a single to right to drive home pinch runner Ben Carpenter with the winning run.
Smith finished with three hits in game two and four on the day,
UST's Ryan Zimmerman threw 5 1-3 shutout innings in the opener and allowed three walks and four hits.
Bethel left seven on base in the first six innings but finally broke through in the seventh inning. Down to his last strike with two outs, Mitch Butvilas punched a single into short right field to tie the game 3-3, and the game went to extra innings.
Bethel plated the go-ahead and insurance run in the top of the eighth inning, and was able to close out the 5-3 win.
PHOTO: Zach Gottfredsen was mobbed by teammates after Tuesday's RBI single in the seventh inning let UST walk off with a 3-2 win for a key split.