If you are a fan of short, crisp and flawless college baseball games... there was a lot NOT to like in Friday night's elimination game at the MIAC playoffs between top-seed St. Thomas and second-seed Gustavus in humid conditions in Collegeville.
But if you enjoy watching two tired but gritty MIAC teams trading blows and momentum over three hours, there was much to appreciate.
And if you are a Tommie fan, there was an obvious bonus: your team's 10-8 comeback victory that extends their run in the league playoffs.
Friday night's marathon contest produced 18 runs, 12 Tommie hits, 12 Gustie hits, 12 walks, 12 strikeouts, 12 Toms left on base, seven Gusties stranded, seven errors, a fly ball lost in the lights, five pitching changes, and a textbook RBI squeeze bunt.
St. Thomas (28-6) rallied from deficits of 2-1, 4-2 and 6-4 before surging for four runs in the eighth inning to go ahead and adding two insurance runs in the ninth.
Gustavus (27-7) scored once in the bottom of the ninth and brought the tying run to the plate with one out, but a fly out and ground out ended the game.
The Purple play third-seed St. Mary's on Saturday and need to beat the Cardinals twice to claim the playoff crown and the automatic NCAA playoff berth. St. Mary's ended St. Thomas' 13-game winning streak earlier Friday with a 6-3 comeback win of its own.
In the Toms' last six nine-inning games, they are 5-1, in large part by outscoring opponents 24-4 in the eighth and ninth innings.
Redshirt sophomore T.J. Constertina, pitching in relief for the second day in a row, got the final eight outs for the Toms and battled to escape jams in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings. He struck out three and allowed one earned run.
Charlie Bartholomew's two-run double capped a four-run eighth. In the last inning, Matthew Enck beat out an infield roller to drive in the ninth run, and Avery Lehman's squeeze bunt single scored the 10th run.
Redshirt sophomore Mike Wallace, playing just his third varsity game for St. Thomas, had a pair of RBI hits on the night. Wallace is batting 7-for-11 in the tournament. Avery Lehman is 6-for-12 with a walk and four runs scored in the same three-game stretch.
Ethan Mocchi had a 4-for-5 game with three RBI to lead the Gusties.