Senior lefty Bryce Gapinksi threw a four-hit shutout and retired the last 11 batters as No. 7-ranked St. Thomas topped St. Mary's 3-0 in game one of Monday's conference baseball doubleheader at UST's Koch Diamond.
In game two, UST was outhit 7-6 but rallied from deficits of 2-0 and 3-1 to take a 4-3 victory and complete a sweep.
The first-place Toms (18-4 overall 6-0 MIAC) have won nine in a row and play second-place St. John's (4-0 MIAC) Tuesday in a home MIAC twinbill at 2:30 p.m. UST has four comeback wins during its nine-game win streak. Tommie pitchers had 11 strikeouts and issued no walks in Monday's sweep.
The Cardinals (11-12, 0-4) went 3-for-17 on the day with runners in scoring position.
In the nightcap, Justin Novak's two-out, two-run single in the fourth inning gave the Tommies their first lead, and Mark Ulrich retired all six batters he faced to get his first save of the season.
Senior John Licht picthed two scoreless innings in relief and got his first win of 2012. Starter Jared Dehmer, Licht and Ulrich retired 13 of the last 14 SMU batters.
It was a pitchers' day with a stiff breeze blowing in from center field and creating a wind chill under 40 degrees.
Gapinski struck out three and had no walks as he improved to 4-0 on the season and 23-5 on his career. The Cards had a runner tagged out at third base to end the third inning and stranded four runners in scoring position in the first four innings. UST outhit the Cards 7-4.
Charles Bruchu's two-out, two-run triple to right in the bottom of the fourth inning gave St. Thomas a three-run cushion. J.D. Dorgan singled home a run in the third inning. Dorgan and Dylan Thomas had two hits apiece for the winners in game one.
In the nightcap, SMU scored two in the first inning and one in the third and led 3-1. UST got one back in the third inning on a two-out error, then used Novak's two-run single to plate the tying and go-ahead runs in the fourth.
Click here for Game 1 box score:
http://www.tommiesports.com/bsbl/stats/4-9-bb1.htm
Click here for Game 2 box score: